Missouri · Bear · 2026 Edition
Missouri Bear Season 2026: Dates, Zones & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Archery, crossbow, muzzleloader, centerfire rifle/handgun (expanding bullets), shotgun (slugs only) — permit-holder's zone only | Black Bear Management Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3 | Oct 17 – Oct 30 |
02 — Bag limits & check-in
| Statewide | One black bear of either sex per season. Only lone bears may be taken — a bear accompanied by another bear, including a female with cubs, is protected; denned bears may not be harvested or disturbed |
|---|---|
| Zone 1 — permits/quota | 1,000 permits allocated, harvest quota of 30 black bears |
| Zone 2 — permits/quota | 750 permits allocated, harvest quota of 22 black bears |
| Zone 3 — permits/quota | 250 permits allocated, harvest quota of 8 black bears |
| Daily quota check | Call 800-668-4045 before hunting each day to confirm the BMZ's harvest quota has not yet been met; the season for a zone ends the moment its quota is reached |
| Biological sample | Submit a premolar tooth within 10 days of harvest |
| License | Missouri residents only may apply (minimum age 11, hunter-education required unless born before Jan 1, 1967); one application per person per year, one permit per BMZ |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (October 17, 2026) 06:51 — 18:58
Rule: One-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset, per MDC's bear-season page. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Missouri sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Bear hunters in Missouri need a Missouri hunting license — a Black Bear Management Zone (BMZ)-specific permit won through MDC's May lottery — resident-only, $25 plus a $10 non-refundable application fee; valid only in the BMZ printed on the permit Check-in or reporting a harvest is typically mandatory; see the row above for Missouri's specific rule.
Missouri hunting license cost →
Where to hunt public land in Missouri — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — Scouting gear
Patterning bear activity before Missouri'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 Missouri?
The earliest 2026 opener is October 17, 2026. See the table above for each method and zone.
When does bear season end in Missouri?
The latest 2026 closing date is October 30, 2026. Individual segments and zones can close earlier — see the table above.
Do I need a separate bear license or tag in Missouri?
a Black Bear Management Zone (BMZ)-specific permit won through MDC's May lottery — resident-only, $25 plus a $10 non-refundable application fee; valid only in the BMZ printed on the permit
How many bears can you shoot in Missouri?
2026 bag limits: Statewide — One black bear of either sex per season. Only lone bears may be taken — a bear accompanied by another bear, including a female with cubs, is protected; denned bears may not be harvested or disturbed. Zone 1 — permits/quota — 1,000 permits allocated, harvest quota of 30 black bears. Zone 2 — permits/quota — 750 permits allocated, harvest quota of 22 black bears. Zone 3 — permits/quota — 250 permits allocated, harvest quota of 8 black bears. Daily quota check — Call 800-668-4045 before hunting each day to confirm the BMZ's harvest quota has not yet been met; the season for a zone ends the moment its quota is reached. Biological sample — Submit a premolar tooth within 10 days of harvest. License — Missouri residents only may apply (minimum age 11, hunter-education required unless born before Jan 1, 1967); one application per person per year, one permit per BMZ. 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 Missouri?
On opening day (October 17, 2026) legal light runs 06:51 to 18:58. The rule is: One-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset, per MDC's bear-season page. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Missouri sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt bear on my own land in Missouri without a license?
Missouri resident landowners with 5 or more acres, and their immediate household, may hunt that land without a permit — except bear, deer, elk, and turkey. Taking deer or turkey under this privilege needs at least 20 contiguous acres, and waterfowl still needs the federal Duck Stamp.
Verified · Missouri Department of Conservation · Last verified 2026-08-15
Publisher's note. Season dates, hunting hours, bag limit, cub/den protection and the daily pre-hunt quota-check-in requirement read directly from MDC's bear-season page. Methods (firearms, muzzleloader, archery, crossbow) and the exact tooth-submission deadline read from MDC's bear-regulations page. Zone boundary descriptions read from MDC's Black Bear Management Zone boundaries/map page. Current 2026 permit and quota totals — 2,000 permits and a 60-bear statewide harvest quota, up from 600 permits/40 bears in prior seasons — confirmed directly from MDC's own newsroom article on the May 2026 application period (mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/mdc-reminds-hunters-apply-elk-bear-permits-may), which explicitly states MDC increased both figures to keep pace with a bear population growing roughly 9% annually; this supersedes the older 600-permit/40-bear figures that still appear on MDC's zone-quota-allocation page, which is dated to the 2021 season and was not the source used for the numbers below. Resident-only restriction and permit cost ($25 plus a $10 non-refundable application fee) confirmed on MDC's bear-permits page. UPDATED 2026-08-15: the per-zone permit/quota split, previously unconfirmed, is now read directly and verbatim from MDC's own '2026 Black Bear Hunting Digest' PDF (mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/Black%20Bear%20Hunting%20Digest_2026_508.pdf, downloaded and extracted with pdftotext since the PDF wasn't machine-readable via a plain fetch) — page 6, 'Permit Allocations and Harvest Quotas': Zone 1 — 1,000 permits, 30-bear quota; Zone 2 — 750 permits, 22-bear quota; Zone 3 — 250 permits, 8-bear quota. These sum exactly to the statewide 2,000 permits / 60-bear quota already confirmed above, corroborating both figures. The same digest also confirms the application window (May 1-31, $10 nonrefundable application fee, one application per person per BMZ, non-transferable) and that drawing results become available beginning July 1 — both already reflected in this file's licenseNote/access fields.