Massachusetts · Squirrel · 2026–27 Edition
Massachusetts Squirrel Season 2026–27: Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Gray squirrel season | Statewide | Sep 8 – Nov 29 |
| Gray squirrel season | Statewide | Dec 13 – Feb 27 |
02 — Bag limits
| Daily | 5 |
|---|---|
| Possession | 10 |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (September 8, 2026) 05:49 — 19:37
Rule: Half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset — stated on MassWildlife's Gray Squirrel Hunting Regulations page. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Massachusetts sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Squirrel hunters in Massachusetts need a Massachusetts hunting license — No annual bag limit. Hunting is prohibited on Sundays throughout Massachusetts.
Massachusetts hunting license cost →
Where to hunt public land in Massachusetts — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does squirrel season start in Massachusetts?
The 2026–27 opener is September 8, 2026. See the table above for the full window.
When does squirrel season end in Massachusetts?
The 2026–27 closing date is February 27, 2027.
Is there a difference between fox and gray squirrel rules in Massachusetts?
See the bag limit table above — most states run one combined limit across both species, but this is worth confirming against Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) before you hunt.
How many squirrels can you shoot in Massachusetts per day?
2026–27 bag limits: Daily — 5. Possession — 10. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting squirrel in Massachusetts?
On opening day (September 8, 2026) legal light runs 05:49 to 19:37. The rule is: Half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset — stated on MassWildlife's Gray Squirrel Hunting Regulations page. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Massachusetts sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt squirrels 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 returned HTTP 403 to a direct automated fetch, so the page was read via an r.jina.ai text-extraction proxy of the same official URL, per the research fallback order. It states the season as 'Sept. 8, 2026 – Feb. 27, 2027' (plus a since-closed Jan. 1–Feb. 28, 2026 segment from the prior season, not relevant here), 'Squirrel hunting is closed during the 2-week shotgun deer season', daily bag 5 / possession 10 / no annual limit, hunting hours a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset, and Sunday hunting prohibited. The exact shotgun-season closure dates were not given on the squirrel page itself, so they were cross-checked against MassWildlife's own deer-hunting-regulations page (also mass.gov, also proxied): 'Shotgun Deer Season: Nov. 30 – Dec. 12, 2026', described there as statewide and not zone-restricted ('Beginning the first Monday after Thanksgiving and ending the second Saturday thereafter'). Combining the two official MassWildlife pages gives the closure gap modeled here; the exact day the squirrel season resumes after the shotgun closure is inferred as the day after the shotgun season's published end date, since neither page states a squirrel-specific reopening date.