Duck, Canada goose, brant, and antlerless deer hunting season splits open; furbearer trapping seasons open in all three counties

DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife is promoting the December openings of Delaware’s duck, Canada goose, brant, and antlerless deer hunting season splits, as well as the opening of furbearer trapping seasons. Numerous other hunting seasons remain open in December.

Hunters are reminded of expanded Sunday deer hunting opportunities on all Sundays through the end of the deer-hunting season on Feb. 3, 2019, using only those hunting methods legal for the respective established deer hunting seasons. For more information, including Sunday hunting opportunities on state wildlife areas, visit the Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Sunday Hunting webpage.

Hunting and trapping seasons opening in December include:

Hunting:

• Brant: Dec. 1 – Jan. 31, 2019
• Beaver: Dec. 1 – Mar. 20 (private land only)
• Duck, coot, and merganser: Dec. 7 – Jan. 26, 2019
• Antlerless deer: Dec. 8-16, including Sundays, Dec. 9 and 16
• Canada goose (migratory): Dec. 14 – Feb. 2, 2019

Trapping:

• Muskrat, mink, otter, raccoon, opossum, and nutria:
  • New Castle County: Dec. 1 – Mar. 10, 2019 (March 20, 2019 if trapping within embanked meadows)
  • Kent and Sussex Counties: Dec. 15 – Mar. 15, 2019
• Red fox and coyote: Dec. 1 – Mar. 10, 2019
• Beaver: Dec. 1 – Mar. 20, 2019

A Delaware hunting or trapping license or License Exempt Number (LEN) is required to hunt or trap, and most waterfowl hunters require a Delaware waterfowl (duck) stamp. More information on hunting license, trapping license, and Delaware waterfowl stamp requirements is available at Delaware Licenses. Waterfowl and other migratory game bird (except crow) hunters will need a Federal Harvest Information Program (HIP) number. To register for a LEN number or HIP number, hunters and trappers can go to Delaware Hunter and Trapper Registration or call toll free 1-855-335-4868. For hunters age 16 and older, a federal migratory bird stamp is also required to hunt waterfowl.

To purchase a hunting license, hunters born on or after Jan. 1, 1967, must have a basic hunter education safety course card/number. To purchase a trapping license, trappers born on or after Jan. 1, 1978, must have a trapping education course card/number. Hunters and trappers who took a Delaware hunter safety course or trapping education course starting in 2008 can print their hunter safety or trapping education card by going to http://de.gov/huntersafety. Hunters and trappers who took their Delaware hunter safety course or trapping education course before 2008 should call the Hunter Education Office at 302-735-3600, ext. 1 to obtain a hunter safety card or trapper education card.

Registered motor vehicles used to access designated wildlife areas 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 CAP with the purchase of any Delaware hunting license. To obtain a free CAP, or to purchase an additional pass, hunters will need the registration card for the vehicle to which the pass will be assigned.

Delaware hunting licenses, Delaware 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 agents statewide. Federal migratory bird stamps are available at U.S. Post Offices, Bombay Hook and Prime Hook national wildlife refuges, and online at Federal duck stamps.

A trapping license can only be purchased directly from the Division of Fish & Wildlife, and is not available online. Trapping license applications are available online at Delaware Licenses and on page 9 of the 2018-2019 Delaware Hunting & Trapping Guide.

For more information on hunting and trapping, click 2018-2019 Delaware Hunting & Trapping Guide and Wildlife Area Hunting Maps. Hard copies of the guide and newly-updated hunting maps are also available at the license desk in DNREC’s Dover office. More information on hunting and trapping licenses, season details, and Conservation Access Passes is also available by calling the Wildlife Section office at 302-739-9912.

Follow the Division of Fish & Wildlife on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.

Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Vol. 48, No. 328

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