Maine · Pheasant · 2026 Edition
Maine Pheasant Season 2026: Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Pheasant season (release-site hunting only — no wild population) | York and Cumberland Counties only — roughly 20 stocked release sites including Baldwin, Buxton, Cornish, Dayton, Gorham and Hollis | Sep 26 – Dec 31 |
02 — Bag limits
| Daily | 2 (either sex) |
|---|---|
| Possession | 4 |
| Weekly closure | No hunting on Sundays, statewide — applies to all hunting in Maine, including pheasant |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (September 26, 2026) 05:58 — 18:55
Rule: Half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset — Maine's general rule. Its migratory-game-bird exception (which ends at sunset) covers waterfowl and woodcock, not ring-necked pheasant, so pheasant keeps the after-sunset half hour. NOTE: Maine's legal hunting hours are calculated from sunrise/sunset in BANGOR (Eastern Standard Time) and applied statewide. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Maine sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Pheasant hunters in Maine need a Maine hunting license — a Pheasant Permit (reported $26-27, sources vary) in addition to a regular Maine hunting license — required only to hunt pheasant in York and Cumberland Counties, the only counties open to the species; revenue funds the birds raised and released by MDIFW's partner rod-and-gun clubs
Where to hunt public land in Maine — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does pheasant season open in Maine?
The earliest 2026 opener is September 26, 2026. See the table above for each segment and zone.
When does pheasant season end in Maine?
The latest 2026 closing date is December 31, 2026. Individual segments and zones can close earlier — see the table above.
Can I shoot hen pheasants in Maine?
See the bag limit table above — most states restrict the daily bag to roosters only, but rules vary and this is worth double-checking against Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife before you hunt.
How many pheasants can you shoot in Maine per day?
2026 bag limits: Daily — 2 (either sex). Possession — 4. Weekly closure — No hunting on Sundays, statewide — applies to all hunting in Maine, including pheasant. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting pheasant in Maine?
On opening day (September 26, 2026) legal light runs 05:58 to 18:55. The rule is: Half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset — Maine's general rule. Its migratory-game-bird exception (which ends at sunset) covers waterfowl and woodcock, not ring-necked pheasant, so pheasant keeps the after-sunset half hour. NOTE: Maine's legal hunting hours are calculated from sunrise/sunset in BANGOR (Eastern Standard Time) and applied statewide. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Maine sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt pheasant 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 2026-08-15
Publisher's note. Season dates and bag/possession limits read directly from MDIFW's official '2026-27 State of Maine Summary of Laws & Rules — Hunting Seasons' PDF (Upland and Migratory Birds table): Pheasant, all WMDs, Sept. 26, 2026 - Dec. 31, 2026, daily bag 2, possession 4. That same PDF also states hunting is prohibited statewide on Sundays. The county restriction (York and Cumberland only — Maine's pheasant program has no wild-sustaining population and exists purely as a put-and-take release), stocking numbers, release sites, and permit fee were cross-checked on MDIFW's own pheasant-hunting page (maine.gov/ifw/hunting-trapping/hunting/species/pheasant/index.html via a text-extraction proxy, since the page redirects and the direct fetch of the season PDF's text failed), which describes ~2,000 pheasants released at ~20 sites in York/Cumberland Counties across three stocking rounds (~Sept. 25-26, Oct. 5, Oct. 19) and a $26 permit — however this page carried no visible 2026-specific date stamp and a secondary aggregator (statehunting.org, reading the same MDIFW material) instead reported ~2,300 birds at 21 sites and a $27 permit. Both figures are given below as a range since the exact current-year numbers could not be pinned to a single page confirmed dated for the 2026-27 season; recommend re-checking MDIFW's pheasant page directly closer to the opener for the final stocking count.