Pennsylvania Squirrel Season 2026–27: Dates & Bag Limits

The 2026–27 opener is September 12, 2026. See the table above for the full window.

The 2026–27 closing date is February 28, 2027.

See the bag limit table above — most states run one combined limit across both species, but this is worth confirming against Pennsylvania Game Commission before you hunt.

2026–27 bag limits: Daily — 6 — red, gray, black and fox squirrel combined. Possession — 18 in the regular season (12 after the second day of the Junior Hunter Special Season). Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.

On opening day (September 12, 2026) legal light runs 06:18 to 19:54. The rule is: Half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset — the PGC digest prints this once as the rule 'for all small and big game', which covers squirrel. Hours shift 4 minutes later per meridian west of the 75th (up to +20 minutes in the far west). Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Pennsylvania sun times for any other date.

Pennsylvania's exemption only covers someone whose primary livelihood is farming that specific land — owner, tenant, family member, or farmhand — who may then hunt and take furbearers on it without a license. Owning rural land you don't farm for a living doesn't qualify; discounted Landowner Hunting Licenses exist separately for owners of 50 or more acres.