Nebraska · Squirrel · 2026–27 Edition
Nebraska Squirrel Season 2026–27: Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Squirrel season | Statewide, except federal or state refuges | Aug 1 – Feb 28 |
02 — Bag limits
| Daily | 7 |
|---|---|
| Possession | 28 |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (August 1, 2026) 06:04 — 20:56
Rule: 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset — stated explicitly for squirrel in Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Order C05 (adopted 2026-06-12, effective 2026-06-19). Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Nebraska sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Squirrel hunters in Nebraska need a Nebraska hunting license.
Nebraska hunting license cost →
Where to hunt public land in Nebraska — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does squirrel season start in Nebraska?
The 2026–27 opener is August 1, 2026. See the table above for the full window.
When does squirrel season end in Nebraska?
The 2026–27 closing date is February 28, 2027.
Is there a difference between fox and gray squirrel rules in Nebraska?
See the bag limit table above — most states run one combined limit across both species, but this is worth confirming against Nebraska Game and Parks Commission before you hunt.
How many squirrels can you shoot in Nebraska per day?
2026–27 bag limits: Daily — 7. Possession — 28. 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 Nebraska?
On opening day (August 1, 2026) legal light runs 06:04 to 20:56. The rule is: 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset — stated explicitly for squirrel in Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Order C05 (adopted 2026-06-12, effective 2026-06-19). Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Nebraska sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt squirrels on my own land in Nebraska without a license?
Nebraska resident farmers or ranchers, and their immediate family living on land they own or lease, may hunt squirrel, cottontail, jackrabbit, prairie grouse, partridge, pheasant, and quail there without a permit or Habitat Stamp. Deer, antelope, elk, and turkey still need their own landowner permit application.
Verified · Nebraska Game and Parks Commission · Last verified 2026-08-14
Publisher's note. outdoornebraska.gov blocked direct fetches as flagged for this batch, so the season-dates page (outdoornebraska.gov/hunt/hunting-seasons/) was first read via an r.jina.ai proxy, which returned 'Aug. 1, 2026-Feb. 28, 2027' for squirrel. To get the actual bag/possession numbers and shooting hours, the underlying regulation was tracked down and read directly: Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Order C05 ('Game Birds (not including turkey, coots and migratory waterfowl), Furbearers, Cottontail Rabbit and Squirrels'), adopted 2026-06-12 and effective 2026-06-19 — i.e. the order actually governing the 2026-27 season, fetched via proxy from its live PDF URL on outdoornebraska.gov. Its squirrel section states verbatim: season 'August 1 through the last day of February, inclusive' (2027 is not a leap year, so that is February 28, 2027, matching the season-dates page); daily bag limit 'Seven (7)'; possession limit 'Twenty-eight (28)'; shooting hours '30 minutes before sunrise to sunset'; open area 'Statewide, except Federal or State refuges, unless otherwise specified.' An earlier search surfaced a conflicting aggregator claim of a possession limit of 12, which appears to be a confusion with an unrelated game-bird possession figure in the same general subject area — Order C05's own squirrel-specific text is unambiguous at 28 and is used here as the authoritative number. The order does not specify particular legal hunting methods for squirrel.