Pennsylvania Pheasant Season 2026–27: Dates & Bag Limits

The earliest 2026–27 opener is October 10, 2026. See the table above for each segment and zone.

The latest 2026–27 closing date is February 28, 2027. Individual segments and zones can close earlier — see the table above.

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 Pennsylvania Game Commission before you hunt.

2026–27 bag limits: Daily — 2 — male and female pheasants may both be taken in all WMUs. Possession — 6. Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas — Closed to pheasant hunting, except as authorized by executive order. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.

On opening day (October 10, 2026) legal light runs 06:47 to 19:06. The rule is: Half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset — the PGC digest prints this once as the rule 'for all small and big game'. Note this is the small-game rule, not the migratory-bird rule: doves, waterfowl and woodcock stop at sunset in Pennsylvania, pheasant does not. Hours shift 4 minutes later per meridian west of the 75th (up to +20 minutes in the far west). Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Pennsylvania sun times for any other date.

Pennsylvania's exemption only covers someone whose primary livelihood is farming that specific land — owner, tenant, family member, or farmhand — who may then hunt and take furbearers on it without a license. Owning rural land you don't farm for a living doesn't qualify; discounted Landowner Hunting Licenses exist separately for owners of 50 or more acres.