Wisconsin · Squirrel · 2026–27 Edition
Wisconsin Squirrel Season 2026–27: Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Squirrel season | Statewide | Sep 12 – Feb 28 |
02 — Bag limits
| Daily | 5 gray and fox squirrels, combined |
|---|---|
| Possession | 15, combined (three times the daily bag limit) — corroborated via WDNR-hosted PDF and secondary cross-checks, not a live current-year primary page |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (September 12, 2026) 06:04 — 19:33
Rule: 30 minutes before sunrise to 20 minutes after sunset, the statewide Zone A/Northern Area baseline for WDNR's 'Deer, Bear, Elk, Small Game and Fall Turkey' shooting-hours table (squirrel falls under Small Game) — not squirrel-specific, and not the same as a season-date zone split. Zones B-F and the Southern Area apply their own minute adjustments to this baseline based on longitude; check WDNR's shooting-hours zone map for your exact location. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Wisconsin sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Squirrel hunters in Wisconsin need a Wisconsin hunting license — Unlike Wisconsin's rabbit season, squirrel season has no North/South zone split — the same statewide dates and rules apply everywhere.
Wisconsin hunting license cost →
Where to hunt public land in Wisconsin — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does squirrel season start in Wisconsin?
The 2026–27 opener is September 12, 2026. See the table above for the full window.
When does squirrel season end in Wisconsin?
The 2026–27 closing date is February 28, 2027.
Is there a difference between fox and gray squirrel rules in Wisconsin?
See the bag limit table above — most states run one combined limit across both species, but this is worth confirming against Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources before you hunt.
How many squirrels can you shoot in Wisconsin per day?
2026–27 bag limits: Daily — 5 gray and fox squirrels, combined. Possession — 15, combined (three times the daily bag limit) — corroborated via WDNR-hosted PDF and secondary cross-checks, not a live current-year primary page. 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 Wisconsin?
On opening day (September 12, 2026) legal light runs 06:04 to 19:33. The rule is: 30 minutes before sunrise to 20 minutes after sunset, the statewide Zone A/Northern Area baseline for WDNR's 'Deer, Bear, Elk, Small Game and Fall Turkey' shooting-hours table (squirrel falls under Small Game) — not squirrel-specific, and not the same as a season-date zone split. Zones B-F and the Southern Area apply their own minute adjustments to this baseline based on longitude; check WDNR's shooting-hours zone map for your exact location. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Wisconsin sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt squirrels 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 2026-08-15
Publisher's note. The WDNR's own '2026 Wisconsin Hunting and Trapping Season Dates' sheet, hosted on the state's GoWild licensing portal (gowildagent.wi.gov, updated 06/08/2026), lists 'Squirrels (Gray & Fox) — Statewide — Sept. 12 – Feb. 28, 2027.' The live dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/smgame page was also fetched and states the same dates and explicitly confirms there is NO north/south zone split for squirrel — 'the same dates and regulations cover the entire state' — unlike Wisconsin's rabbit season, which does split into North/South zones with a South Zone 9 a.m. opening-day quirk. RE-CHECKED 2026-08-15: the shooting-hours gap is now resolved. WDNR's 'Calculating Shooting Hours' page (dnr.wisconsin.gov/node/119956) links a dedicated 'Deer, Bear, Elk, Small Game and Fall Turkey Shooting Hours' table — squirrel falls under 'Small Game' in that same table, so it shares its base rule with deer/bear/elk/fall turkey (and with this project's already-confirmed Wisconsin rabbit rule): 30 minutes before sunrise to 20 minutes after sunset for Zone A in the Northern Area, with zone-specific minute adjustments (Zones B-F, Northern and Southern Areas) layered on top based on longitude — not a squirrel-specific exception, and not the same thing as a season-date zone split (which squirrel genuinely doesn't have). The exact per-zone-letter minute adjustments are published as a table (referenced via a Minocqua-area outfitter's PDF mirror of the WDNR chart) rather than a single number, so only the statewide Zone-A baseline is recorded in this file's startOffsetMin/endOffsetMin fields, consistent with how this project already records Wisconsin rabbit's identical rule. Bag/possession limits (5 daily, 15 in possession — three times the daily limit) were not found stated on a currently-live WDNR page during this research pass; they are corroborated by a WDNR-hosted regulations booklet PDF (widnr.widen.net/content/7geqxuwlz8/pdf/WM0685_small.pdf, an older cached edition with stale season-closing dates but matching 5/15 bag figures) and independently by current secondary aggregators (eRegulations, HuntWise). Given the consistency across a WDNR-hosted document and independent secondary sources, and that bag-limit ratios like this are structurally stable year to year, this is treated as reliable but flagged here as not confirmed against a live, current-year primary page.