Season and permit deadlines

A calendar of upcoming hunting, trapping and fishing seasons and permit application deadlines.

* Indicates date remains the same each year, except some permit deadlines may be extended one day if they fall on a Sunday or Federal Holiday.

January 18

• Winter crow season opens, through March 20.

January 31

• Squirrel season closes.*
• Ruffed grouse seasons closes in zone A (northern zone).*
• Bobcat hunting and trapping season Period 2 closes.

February 11

• Lake Winnebago Sturgeon Spearing Season opens. Season runs for 16 days or until the harvest level is reached. Season hours are 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. daily. The season will close after one day if one of the harvest caps is reached. Sturgeon must be registered by 1:30 p.m. the day they are harvested. There are separate, annual spearing seasons for Lake Winnebago and for the system’s upriver lakes of Butte des Mort, Winneconne and Poygan. Previously the Upriver Season occurred only once every five years but was open to anyone who wanted to participate in it and bought a license. Spearers who wanted to participate in the Upriver Lakes season had to submit an application by Aug. 1. Licenses for the upcoming season must have been purchased by Oct. 31 of the previous year.

February 15

• Coyote trapping season closes.*
• Raccoon trapping and hunting seasons closes.*
• Red and gray fox gun and trapping seasons close.*

February 20

• Ice fishing shelters must be removed from Wisconsin-Iowa boundary waters.*

February 26

• Lake Winnebago Sturgeon Spearing Season closes unless season closes early due to harvest caps being reached.

February 26

• Cottontail rabbit season closes in northern and southern zones.*
• Mink trapping season closes in the northern, southern and Mississippi zones.*

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources  |  101 S. Webster Street . PO Box 7921  |  Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7921

Call 1-888-936-7463 (TTY Access via relay - 711) from 7 a.m. - 10 p.m.

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