Wisconsin · Rabbit · 2026–27 Edition
Wisconsin Rabbit Season 2026–27: Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Cottontail rabbit — Northern Zone | Northern Zone | Sep 12 – Feb 28 |
| Cottontail rabbit — Southern Zone (opens 9:00 a.m.) | Southern Zone | Oct 17 – Feb 28 |
| Snowshoe hare | Statewide | Jan 1 – Dec 31 |
02 — Bag limits
| Cottontail — daily | 3 |
|---|---|
| Cottontail — possession | 9 (three times the daily bag, per WI DNR's small-game limit table) |
| Snowshoe hare | No daily bag limit or possession limit |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (September 12, 2026) 06:04 — 19:33
Rule: Standard Wisconsin hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to 20 minutes after sunset (adjusted by longitude zone A-F). The Southern Zone cottontail opener (Oct. 17) is a DNR-set exception starting at 9:00 a.m. instead of the standard sunrise-based time — believed to apply to opening day only, based on the identical '(9am)' annotation used for Wisconsin's pheasant opener, which Wis. Admin. Code NR 10.06(6)(p) explicitly limits to 'the first day' of the season. The Northern Zone cottontail opener carries no such annotation and is believed to follow standard hours from day one. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Wisconsin sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Rabbit hunters in Wisconsin need a Wisconsin hunting license.
Wisconsin hunting license cost →
Where to hunt public land in Wisconsin — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does rabbit season start in Wisconsin?
The 2026–27 opener is September 12, 2026. See the table above for the full window.
When does rabbit season end in Wisconsin?
The 2026–27 closing date is February 28, 2027.
Is there a closed season on rabbit in Wisconsin?
Yes — see the dates above. Outside that window, taking rabbit is closed in Wisconsin.
How many rabbits can you shoot in Wisconsin per day?
2026–27 bag limits: Cottontail — daily — 3. Cottontail — possession — 9 (three times the daily bag, per WI DNR's small-game limit table). Snowshoe hare — No daily bag limit or possession 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 Wisconsin?
On opening day (September 12, 2026) legal light runs 06:04 to 19:33. The rule is: Standard Wisconsin hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to 20 minutes after sunset (adjusted by longitude zone A-F). The Southern Zone cottontail opener (Oct. 17) is a DNR-set exception starting at 9:00 a.m. instead of the standard sunrise-based time — believed to apply to opening day only, based on the identical '(9am)' annotation used for Wisconsin's pheasant opener, which Wis. Admin. Code NR 10.06(6)(p) explicitly limits to 'the first day' of the season. The Northern Zone cottontail opener carries no such annotation and is believed to follow standard hours from day one. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Wisconsin sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt rabbits on my own land in Wisconsin without a license?
Wisconsin's exemption covers only a specific species list — beaver, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, woodchucks, rabbits, and squirrels — for the owner or occupant and their family on their own land. Deer, turkey, bear, and waterfowl aren't included, and the exempt species can't be taken in the 24 hours before firearm deer season opens.
Verified · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources · Last verified 2026-08-14
Publisher's note. Official '2026 Wisconsin Hunting and Trapping Seasons' PUB-CS-076-2026 season-dates sheet (updated 06/08/2026), read directly. It confirms the North/South cottontail zone split and the South Zone's non-standard 9 a.m. opening-day start ('Oct. 17 (9am)'). Wisconsin's own administrative code (NR 10.06(6)(p), read via a secondary Wisconsin Legislature mirror) documents the same '9 a.m. on the first day' pattern for the pheasant season using the identical annotation style on the same sheet, and an older DNR small-game pamphlet (2013, dnr.wi.gov via wistatedocuments.org) shows the South Zone historically used a different fixed opening hour (noon, in 2013) that the department resets from year to year — so the 9 a.m. rule is treated here as an OPENING-DAY-ONLY exception, not a season-long rule. Days after opening in both zones are believed to follow Wisconsin's standard hunting hours (one-half hour before sunrise to 20 minutes after sunset, adjusted by longitude zone A-F), per the same 2013 pamphlet's general Hunting Hours section — no source found that this general rule has changed since. Snowshoe hare is a genuinely year-round, no-closed-season species in Wisconsin (confirmed on the same current season sheet) and is modeled here as a separate yearRound segment. Bag/possession numbers (cottontail: 3 daily / 9 possession; snowshoe hare: no limit) come from secondary sources (search aggregation of WI DNR's small-game bag-limit table) because the official current bag-limit table page could not be fetched directly this session — flagged as lower confidence than the season dates, which come straight from the primary PDF.