Muzzleloader deer season underway; snow goose starts Tuesday, Oct. 10
DOVER – As more of Delaware’s hunting seasons open this month, hunters are reminded that the state now has Sunday deer hunting, with five Sundays open this season, including Sunday, Oct. 8, during muzzleloader and archery seasons.
Hunting seasons opening in October:
- Muzzleloader deer: Oct. 6-14, including Sunday, Oct. 8
- Antlerless deer: Oct. 16, 20, 21, 23, 27, 28, and 30
- Snow Goose: Oct. 10 – Feb. 10, 2018
- Youth Waterfowl Hunt: Oct. 21
- Ducks, Coots and Mergansers – first season split: Oct. 27 – Nov. 7, 2017
- Mourning Dove – second season split: Oct. 17 – 21
Continuing seasons include:
- Archery and Crossbow Deer: through Jan. 31, 2018
- Coyote hunting season: through Feb. 28, 2018
- Gray squirrel: through Feb. 3, 2018
- Groundhog: July 1 – June 31, 2018
- Moorhens & Gallinules; Sora & Virginia Rails; King & Clapper Rails: through Nov. 9
- Common Snipe: through Dec. 2; Dec. 13 – Jan. 13, 2018
- Crows: through Mar. 31, 2018 (Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays only)
Delaware hunting licenses, state waterfowl stamps, and Conservation Access Passes can be purchased online at Delaware Licenses, at the license desk in DNREC’s Dover office at 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901, or from hunting license dealers statewide. For hunters age 16 and older, a federal migratory bird hunting stamp also is required to hunt teal and geese; federal stamps are available at U.S. Post Offices and online at Federal duck stamps.
To purchase your hunting license, either in person or online, hunters must have a copy of their hunter safety card as proof of taking a basic hunter education safety course. Hunters who took a Delaware hunter safety course after 2008 can print their hunter safety card by going to http://de.gov/huntersafety. Hunters who took their hunter safety course before 2008 should call the Hunter Education Office at 302-735-3600, ext. 1 to obtain a hunter safety card.
New this year, registered motor vehicles used to access designated public lands owned or managed by the Division of Fish & Wildlife are required to display a Conservation Access Pass (CAP). Hunters can opt to receive one free annual vehicle pass with the purchase of any Delaware hunting license. To obtain a free CAP, or to purchase an additional pass, hunters will need to have the registration card for the vehicle to which the pass will be assigned.
For more information on hunting, click 2017-2018 Delaware Hunting & Trapping Guide and Wildlife Area Hunting Maps. Hard copies of guide and newly-updated hunting maps are also available at the license desk in DNREC’s Dover office. More information on hunting licenses, season details and conservation access passes also is available by calling the Wildlife Section office at 302-739-9912. For more information on Sunday deer hunting in Delaware, please visit the Division of Fish & Wildlife website.
Follow the Division of Fish & Wildlife on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.
Vol. 47, No. 218
Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.