Massachusetts · Public Land · 2026 Edition
Massachusetts Public Hunting Land 2026: WMAs & Access Rules
2 wildlife management areas tracked here, from 1,211 to 1,354 acres. A hunting license covers you on Massachusetts WMA land the same as anywhere else in the state — but read the access rules below before you assume that's all you need.
01 — Wildlife management areas
| Area | County | Acres | Species |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area | Worcester | 1,354 | Pheasant (stocked), Waterfowl, Deer, Turkey |
| Marconi Wildlife Management Area | Barnstable | 1,211 | Waterfowl, Small game |
Bolton Flats, spanning Bolton, Harvard, and Lancaster along the Nashua and Still Rivers, packs stocked pheasant, river-bottom waterfowl, and field-edge deer and turkey into under 1,400 acres — some of the best water is only reachable by cartop boat. Marconi WMA, in Wellfleet on outer Cape Cod, sits in the state's Coastal waterfowl zone and is a smaller, more classic Cape shooting destination. This list is a starting point, not MassWildlife's full inventory of Wildlife Management Areas statewide.
02 — Access rules beyond your hunting license
MassWildlife owns or manages over 220,000 acres statewide, with Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) as the core category offering full hunting, fishing, and trapping access. A standard Massachusetts hunting license covers WMA hunting with no separate area permit — access is governed by one statewide regulation (321 CMR 3.01) that bans motorized vehicles, camping, and campfires rather than area-by-area rules. WMAs are deliberately kept undeveloped: expect unmarked trails and woods roads rather than maintained paths. A smaller number of Wildlife Conservation Easements (privately owned, publicly accessible by agreement) offer the same hunting access; Wildlife Sanctuaries are the opposite — public access without hunting.
03 — Where to go next
Verified · Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife · Last verified 2026-08-13
Publisher's note. WMA list and access rules read from MassWildlife, retrieved 2026-08-13. Review due 2027-08-01. This is a starting list, not the agency's full WMA inventory — confirm current rules for a specific area before you hunt it.