Numerous Changes This Year to Regulations, Including Hunting of Gamebirds on Sundays

With new Delaware hunting licenses going on sale this week, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced the 2024/25 Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide is now available in hard copy from license agents throughout the state, at the DNREC recreational licensing office in the Richardson & Robbins Building at 89 Kings Highway in Dover and in a readily referenced online edition.

The new guide’s cover features the winning photo from this year’s hunting photography contest, “Down in the Salt Marsh” by Mari Grehofsky of Dagsboro, depicting Clayton Townsend and his retriever Maggie, enjoying a beautiful day of duck hunting at the Assawoman Wildlife Area. But the new guide’s contents carry bigger game news: dates for the 2024/25 hunting and trapping seasons, along with a summary of Delaware hunting laws and regulations for harvest of game animals and gamebirds – which for the first time can be hunted legally in Delaware on Sundays.

Sunday hunting is for all gamebird species in the state, to include ducks, geese, doves, turkeys, pen-raised released quail, pheasants, and others. Sunday hunting for gamebirds will be open on privately-owned lands, at landowners’ discretion, and on all State Wildlife Areas.

The expanded Sunday hunting opportunity does not include furbearer species – small game animals such as gray squirrels or rabbits. Sunday deer hunting, which was legalized in 2016, remains open on selected public lands and private property without change to Delaware hunting regulations.

No Sunday hunting of any kind is allowed on Delaware State Forest lands under the Delaware Department of Agriculture, in Delaware State Parks, or Bombay Hook and Prime Hook, the state’s national wildlife refuges. For more information about hunting on Sundays, please refer to the 2024/25 hunting and trapping guide.

Another change for Delaware hunters – and a byproduct of introducing Sunday hunting for gamebirds – is a modification of the state’s traditional waterfowl seasons. When establishing season dates for migratory birds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the flyway councils establish season framework rules that all states must follow. These rules entail decisions on the earliest dates that seasons can open and the latest dates they can end; the number of segments (or “splits,” as in split seasons) that are allowed; the total number of days open to hunting; and the daily bag and possession limits. As such, migratory bird hunters – most prominently those who hunt ducks and Canada geese – will find that Delaware’s season dates for the 2024/25 are slightly different than previous years, as Sundays now count towards the total number of days open to migratory bird hunting.

What this means is that Delaware hunters essentially now have a seven-day week for duck and goose hunting instead of a six-day week, which compresses the state’s waterfowl seasons into a tighter window of opportunities. Duck season, for example, still entails 60 days of hunting, but there will be fewer total weeks of hunting for 2024/25 – 8.5 weeks instead of the traditional 10 weeks when spread out in the past because of Delaware having no Sunday gamebird hunting.

Another aspect of the new migratory gamebird seasons pertaining to Canada geese is that the Atlantic Flyway population for the species is below population objectives – so the season length for Delaware has been reduced this year from 45 days to 30 days. The season reduction (under federal jurisdiction), coupled with the addition of Sunday waterfowl hunting in Delaware, impacted the timing of upcoming season dates more than for any other gamebird species.

Hunters and trappers can also find information in the 2024/25 guide on licensing and permit requirements, including the hunting and trapping license fee structure and information on the Conservation Access Pass used for accessing state wildlife areas. Public land hunting opportunities, hunting and trapping classes offered by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Hunter Education Program, and other helpful hunting, trapping, and wildlife information are also included in the guide.

Hunting licenses and Delaware waterfowl stamps can be purchased online from the DNREC website, at the licensing desk in DNREC’s Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901, and through license agents throughout the state. For more information about Delaware hunting license requirements, visit de.gov/licensing, or call the Division of Fish and Wildlife Recreational Licensing Office at 302-739-9918.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land owned or managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) or LinkedIn.

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