Maine · Bear · 2026–27 Edition
Maine Bear Season 2026–27: Dates, Zones & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Youth bear hunting with bait | All WMDs | Aug 28 – Aug 29 |
| General hunting season (still-hunting, all legal methods) | All WMDs | Aug 31 – Nov 28 |
| Hunting with bait | All WMDs — bait may be placed starting Aug 1, 2026 | Aug 31 – Sep 26 |
| Bear trapping | All WMDs | Sep 1 – Oct 31 |
| Youth bear hunting with dogs | All WMDs | Sep 12 – Sep 12 |
| Hunting with dogs | All WMDs — dog-training season runs July 1-Aug 27, 2026 (training only, no taking) | Sep 14 – Oct 30 |
02 — Bag limits & check-in
| Statewide | 2 bears per year maximum — 1 by hunting (any legal method) and 1 by trapping; a hunter may not pursue another bear by the same method (hunting vs. trapping) after already killing one that way in the same calendar year |
|---|---|
| Registration | Register the bear within 18 hours of harvest at the first open registration station on the hunter's route; the carcass must carry a tag with the hunter's name, address and license number before it leaves the field; $5 registration fee ($2 retained by the agent) |
| Biological sample | A premolar tooth (upper premolar behind the canine, or a lower premolar if the upper root breaks) must be removed and submitted in the provided envelope at the time of registration, for MDIFW aging |
| Dogs | No more than 6 dogs may be used at one time to hunt bear; hunting bear with dogs during the open firearms season on deer is unlawful |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (August 28, 2026) 05:24 — 19:50
Rule: Half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset — Maine's general rule is written as a prohibition (wild birds and animals may not be hunted from 1/2 hour after sunset until 1/2 hour before sunrise), and its exceptions are coyote, raccoon and migratory game birds, not bear. NOTE: Maine's legal hunting hours are calculated from sunrise/sunset in BANGOR (Eastern Standard Time) and applied statewide, so the times do not track local sunrise in far western or northern Maine. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Maine sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Bear hunters in Maine need a Maine hunting license — resident bear permit $10, non-resident $74 for the full season or $40 for the late season (deer firearms season only, no permit needed then for residents); dog hunters also need a separate dog training and hunting permit Check-in or reporting a harvest is typically mandatory; see the row above for Maine's specific rule.
Where to hunt public land in Maine — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — Scouting gear
Patterning bear activity before Maine's opener usually means glassing feeding areas and running a trail camera through summer — check the state's own rules on baiting before you set one over bait.
- Hunting binoculars on Amazon →
- Trail cameras on Amazon →
- Trail camera SD cards — class, capacity & format explained →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. These are category links, not a single named pick — we run no product tests of our own.
06 — FAQ
When does bear season open in Maine?
The earliest 2026–27 opener is August 28, 2026. See the table above for each method and zone.
When does bear season end in Maine?
The latest 2026–27 closing date is November 28, 2026. Individual segments and zones can close earlier — see the table above.
Do I need a separate bear license or tag in Maine?
resident bear permit $10, non-resident $74 for the full season or $40 for the late season (deer firearms season only, no permit needed then for residents); dog hunters also need a separate dog training and hunting permit
How many bears can you shoot in Maine?
2026–27 bag limits: Statewide — 2 bears per year maximum — 1 by hunting (any legal method) and 1 by trapping; a hunter may not pursue another bear by the same method (hunting vs. trapping) after already killing one that way in the same calendar year. Registration — Register the bear within 18 hours of harvest at the first open registration station on the hunter's route; the carcass must carry a tag with the hunter's name, address and license number before it leaves the field; $5 registration fee ($2 retained by the agent). Biological sample — A premolar tooth (upper premolar behind the canine, or a lower premolar if the upper root breaks) must be removed and submitted in the provided envelope at the time of registration, for MDIFW aging. Dogs — No more than 6 dogs may be used at one time to hunt bear; hunting bear with dogs during the open firearms season on deer is unlawful. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting bear in Maine?
On opening day (August 28, 2026) legal light runs 05:24 to 19:50. The rule is: Half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset — Maine's general rule is written as a prohibition (wild birds and animals may not be hunted from 1/2 hour after sunset until 1/2 hour before sunrise), and its exceptions are coyote, raccoon and migratory game birds, not bear. NOTE: Maine's legal hunting hours are calculated from sunrise/sunset in BANGOR (Eastern Standard Time) and applied statewide, so the times do not track local sunrise in far western or northern Maine. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Maine sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt bear on my own land in Maine without a license?
A Maine resident and their immediate family may hunt without a license on land they're legally entitled to possess and actually live on, if it's 10 or more contiguous acres. Moose still needs a license regardless of land ownership.
Verified · Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife · Last verified 2026-08-14
Publisher's note. Season dates read directly from MDIFW's official '2026-27 Maine Hunting Seasons' summary PDF (Bear table). Maine splits bear hunting into method-based windows within one long overall calendar — a Youth Bait day, the general/still-hunt season, the bait-hunting sub-window (with bait placement allowed from Aug 1), a trapping season, a single Youth Dog day, and the hound-hunting sub-window (preceded by a July 1-Aug 27 dog-training season, not itself a taking season). All apply statewide (WMDs: All) — Maine does not zone bear season geographically the way it zones deer. Registration deadline (18 hours), tooth-submission requirement, and $5 registration fee corroborated on MDIFW's own 'Tagging, Transportation & Registration' and 'Bear Tooth Submission' pages. Bag limit and one-bear-per-method-per-year rule corroborated on MDIFW's 'Bear Hunting: Laws & Rules' page. Not confirmed on an official MDIFW page this round: whether Maine law prohibits taking a cub or a female bear with cubs — secondary sources (Bangor Daily News, hunting-outfitter sites) state this is legal in Maine, unlike many other states, but this was not independently verified against MDIFW's own regulatory text; confirm directly with MDIFW before relying on it. Bear-specific shooting hours were not found — Maine's general half-hour-before-sunrise-to-half-hour-after-sunset rule is assumed but not confirmed as bear-specific.