Massachusetts · Rabbit · 2026–27 Edition
Massachusetts Rabbit Season 2026–27: Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Cottontail Rabbit | Statewide (Zones 1-14) | Oct 17 – Nov 29 |
| Cottontail Rabbit | Statewide (Zones 1-14) | Dec 13 – Feb 28 |
| Snowshoe Hare | Statewide (Zones 1-14) | Oct 17 – Nov 29 |
| Snowshoe Hare | Statewide (Zones 1-14) | Dec 13 – Feb 28 |
02 — Bag limits
| Cottontail rabbit — daily | 5 |
|---|---|
| Cottontail rabbit — possession | 10 (no annual/season limit) |
| Snowshoe hare — daily | 2 |
| Snowshoe hare — possession | 4 (no annual/season limit) |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (October 17, 2026) 06:32 — 00:00
Rule: Half an hour before sunrise (confirmed directly in 321 CMR 3.02(10)) to midnight — an unusually late closing time compared to most states' sunset-based rules. The offset-from-sunset model used elsewhere on this site can't express a fixed clock time directly, so endOffsetMin (361) is computed for the Oct. 17, 2026 opener at Massachusetts's reference coordinates (sunset ≈ 5:59pm EDT that day, so +361 min ≈ midnight); the true rule is 'until midnight' every day of the season, not a fixed 361-minute offset, so this number will drift slightly from actual midnight on other dates as sunset time shifts. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Massachusetts sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Rabbit hunters in Massachusetts need a Massachusetts hunting license — Both species close entirely during Massachusetts's shotgun deer season (Nov. 30 – Dec. 12, 2026) — plan hunts around that gap. Sunday hunting is prohibited statewide under Massachusetts's general no-Sunday-hunting law.
Massachusetts hunting license cost →
Where to hunt public land in Massachusetts — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does rabbit season start in Massachusetts?
The 2026–27 opener is October 17, 2026. See the table above for the full window.
When does rabbit season end in Massachusetts?
The 2026–27 closing date is February 28, 2027.
Is there a closed season on rabbit in Massachusetts?
Yes — see the dates above. Outside that window, taking rabbit is closed in Massachusetts.
How many rabbits can you shoot in Massachusetts per day?
2026–27 bag limits: Cottontail rabbit — daily — 5. Cottontail rabbit — possession — 10 (no annual/season limit). Snowshoe hare — daily — 2. Snowshoe hare — possession — 4 (no annual/season limit). Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting rabbit in Massachusetts?
On opening day (October 17, 2026) legal light runs 06:32 to 00:00. The rule is: Half an hour before sunrise (confirmed directly in 321 CMR 3.02(10)) to midnight — an unusually late closing time compared to most states' sunset-based rules. The offset-from-sunset model used elsewhere on this site can't express a fixed clock time directly, so endOffsetMin (361) is computed for the Oct. 17, 2026 opener at Massachusetts's reference coordinates (sunset ≈ 5:59pm EDT that day, so +361 min ≈ midnight); the true rule is 'until midnight' every day of the season, not a fixed 361-minute offset, so this number will drift slightly from actual midnight on other dates as sunset time shifts. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Massachusetts sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt rabbits on my own land in Massachusetts without a license?
A Massachusetts landowner with 300 or more contiguous undeveloped acres, or a farmer earning at least half their income from farming, may hunt small game on that land without a license. Deer, turkey, or bear on the same land needs a separate Farmer/Landowner permit, which also covers immediate family and resident tenants.
Verified · Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) · Last verified 2026-08-14
Publisher's note. mass.gov's own 'Rabbit and hare hunting regulations' page returned HTTP 403 Forbidden to automated fetch, so the codified rule text (321 CMR 3.02(10), Hunting of Hares and Rabbits) was read directly via a Cornell LII mirror instead. That regulation text, quoted verbatim, confirms: season runs 'from the first Saturday after Columbus Day to the following last day of February' (Columbus Day 2026 = Oct. 12, so first Saturday after = Oct. 17, 2026; last day of February 2027, a non-leap year, = Feb. 28, 2027); cottontail bag 'five... in one day', possession 'not... more than ten'; snowshoe hare bag 'two... in one day', possession 'not... more than four'; and 'there shall be no open season for the hunting or possession of cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hare during the shotgun deer season' — directly confirming the closure trap. Massachusetts's 2026 shotgun deer season runs Nov. 30 – Dec. 12, 2026 (secondary-sourced, consistent with the standard 'Monday after Thanksgiving' formula), which is used to split the methods below. The regulation text I could access only gives the shooting-hours START time ('shall begin at 1/2 hour before sunrise') and was truncated before any end-time clause; the 'ends at midnight' detail comes from mass.gov's own page text as indexed by search (mass.gov itself blocked direct fetch), so that specific detail is lower-confidence than the rest of this file. The Sunday-hunting prohibition is Massachusetts's general no-Sunday-hunting law, not something found in this specific CMR section. Note some aggregators state the season closes Feb. 27, 2027 rather than Feb. 28 — this file uses Feb. 28 per the regulation's own 'last day of February' wording, which is the more authoritative source.