This is Florida's published 2026-27 season, the whole state at once. A pin reads its deer management unit off the map and cuts this to the seasons, arms and limits that apply there.

Florida deer seasons

2026-27

5 antlered deer per licence year. Five deer a year, of which no more than two may be antlerless — three of the five in DMU D2. The daily limit is two and the possession limit four. Deer taken under the Antlerless Deer Permit Program, the Private Lands Deer Management Permit Program or the Deer Depredation Permit Program, on a licensed game farm or hunting preserve, or any deer that tests positive for CWD, fall outside every one of those numbers. Digest, printed p. 18.

Archery Season
Bows onlyPrinted in 6 columns — check which covers your deer management unit.
Bows and nothing else — not even a crossbow, which has a season of its own.
Zone A — DMU A1
Aug 1–30Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone A — DMU A2
Aug 1–9Either sex
Aug 10–30Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone A — DMU A3
Aug 1–16Either sex
Aug 17–30Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone B
Oct 17 – Nov 15Either sex
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone C
Sep 19 – Oct 18Either sex
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone D
Oct 24 – Nov 25Either sex
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless — three of the five in DMU D2.
- "Archery season — Only bows may be used." A crossbow is not a bow in Florida: it has its own season and its own permit. Digest, printed p. 19.
- Hunter orange is not required during an archery-only season, on public land or private. Digest, printed p. 15.
- Taking deer with the use or aid of dogs is prohibited during the archery, crossbow and muzzleloading gun seasons. Digest, printed p. 15.
- The antler rule applies in every season and by every method: a hunter of 16 or over may not take a buck that fails their unit's minimum. Digest, printed pp. 20-23.
Crossbow Season
Crossbows, bows and airbowsPrinted in 6 columns — check which covers your deer management unit.
A season of its own, overlapping the archery season and running past it.
Zone A — DMU A1
Aug 1 – Sep 4Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone A — DMU A2
Aug 1–9Either sex
Aug 10 – Sep 4Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone A — DMU A3
Aug 1–16Either sex
Aug 17 – Sep 4Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone B
Oct 17 – Nov 20Either sex
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone C
Sep 19 – Oct 23Either sex
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone D
Oct 24 – Nov 25Either sex
Nov 30 – Dec 4Either sex
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless — three of the five in DMU D2.
- "Crossbow season — Only crossbows, bows and airbows may be used." Digest, printed p. 19.
- It needs its own $5 Crossbow Season Permit; the Archery Season Permit does not cover it. Digest, printed p. 11.
- Hunter orange is required on public land here — this is not an archery-only season. Digest, printed p. 15.
- Taking deer with dogs is prohibited during the crossbow season. Digest, printed p. 15.
Muzzleloading Gun Season
Muzzleloaders, crossbows, bows and airbowsPrinted in 4 columns — check which covers your deer management unit.
Between the crossbow and general gun seasons — and in the panhandle, after them too.
Zone A
Sep 5–18Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone B
Nov 21 – Dec 4Either sex
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone C
Oct 24 – Nov 6Either sex
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone D
Dec 5–11Either sex
Feb 22–28Either sex
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless — three of the five in DMU D2.
- Only muzzleloaders loaded through the muzzle and fired by wheel lock, flintlock, percussion cap or centrefire primer, 209 primers included. A muzzleloader designed to take powder at the breech may also be used. Digest, printed p. 19.
- Hunter orange is required on public land. Digest, printed p. 15.
- Taking deer with dogs is prohibited during the muzzleloading gun season. Digest, printed p. 15.
- Zone A's muzzleloading season falls between both of its antlerless windows, so it is antlered deer only in every Zone A unit. Digest, printed p. 18.
General Gun Season
Centrefire rifles, shotguns, centrefire handguns, muzzleloaders, pre-charged pneumatic air guns, crossbows and bowsPrinted in 7 columns — check which covers your deer management unit.
The long season, and the one that needs no season permit beyond the deer permit itself.
Zone A — DMU A1
Sep 19 – Oct 18Antlered only
Nov 21 – Jan 3Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year.
Zone A — DMU A2
Sep 19 – Oct 18Antlered only
Nov 21–22Either sex
Nov 23 – Jan 3Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone A — DMU A3
Sep 19 – Oct 18Antlered only
Nov 21–24Either sex
Nov 25 – Jan 3Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone B
Dec 5–25Antlered only
Dec 26 – Jan 3Either sex
Jan 4 – Feb 21Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone C — DMUs C1, C2, C3, C4 and C6
Nov 7–20Antlered only
Nov 21–29Either sex
Nov 30 – Jan 24Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone C — DMU C5
Nov 7 – Dec 6Either sex
Dec 7 – Jan 24Antlered only
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless.
Zone D
Nov 26–29Either sex
Dec 12 – Feb 21Either sex
Two a day, four in possession, five a year of which no more than two antlerless — three of the five in DMU D2.
- This is the only deer season that needs no extra season permit — a hunting licence and the $5 deer permit cover it. Digest, printed p. 11.
- Dogs may be used to take deer during the general gun season where deer-dog hunting is allowed; a statewide deer-dog registration is required, and a separate no-cost permit on WMAs. Digest, printed pp. 15-16.
- Hunter orange — 500 square inches above the waistline — is required on public land. Digest, printed p. 15.
- The antlerless windows inside this season are the shortest of the year in most units: nine days in Zone C, nine in Zone B, two to four in Zone A, and none at all in DMU A1. Digest, printed pp. 18 and 20-23.
Youth Deer Hunt Weekend
Any legal method of take, dogs includedPrinted in 5 columns — check which covers your deer management unit.
One weekend per zone, before the general gun season, for a supervised hunter of fifteen or under.
Zone A — DMU A1
Sep 12–13Antlered only
One deer for the weekend, against the youth's annual limit of five.
Zone A — DMUs A2 and A3
Sep 12–13Either sex
One deer for the weekend, against the youth's annual limit of five.
Zone B
Nov 28–29Either sex
One deer for the weekend, against the youth's annual limit of five.
Zone C
Oct 31 – Nov 1Either sex
One deer for the weekend, against the youth's annual limit of five.
Zone D
Dec 5–6Either sex
One deer for the weekend, against the youth's annual limit of five.
- A hunter 15 or younger may take any deer except a spotted fawn, using any legal method of take including dogs, supervised by an adult of 18 or over. One deer for the weekend, and it counts against the youth's annual statewide bag. Digest, printed p. 19.
- "This weekend does not apply to wildlife management areas." Digest, printed p. 19.
- The zone table still limits antlerless deer by unit: in Zone A only DMUs A2 and A3 are open to antlerless deer on this weekend, and DMU A1 is not. Digest, printed p. 18.
- The unit's antler rule does not bind a hunter of 15 or under: as part of their annual statewide antlered bag they may take one deer a year that fails it, provided it has at least one antler five inches or more. Digest, printed pp. 20-23.

New This Season

What changed since last year, and is therefore easiest to get wrong.

Crossbows and airbows are now allowed during the archery/muzzleloading gun season on 24 North Florida WMAs. Digest, "Major changes", printed p. 4.
Three new public hunting areas have been established: Catlett WMA, 1,563 acres in Clay County; Creek Ranch WMA, 1,342 acres in Polk County; and Lochloosa Slough WMA, 5,247 acres in Alachua County. Digest, printed p. 4.
Everyone hunting or visiting Camp Blanding must now obtain a new landowner-issued access permit, from Blanding.isportsman.net. Digest, printed p. 4.
The FWC prints these as "major" changes and says plainly that there are others: "There are many other changes not listed here. Hunters are responsible for learning requirements and regulations pertaining to the types of hunting they pursue."

Legal Arms

Florida Hunting Regulations 2026-2027 weapon specifications, as the digest prints them.

Archery season

Digest, printed p. 19

Bows

Crossbows
Airbows
Any firearm

Crossbow season

Digest, printed p. 19

Crossbows
Bows
Airbows

Any firearm

Muzzleloading gun season

Digest, printed pp. 13 and 19

Muzzleloaders loaded through the muzzle and fired by wheel lock, flintlock, percussion cap or centrefire primer, 209 primers included
Muzzleloaders designed to take powder at the breech
Crossbows
Bows
Airbows

Centrefire rifles
Shotguns
Handguns
Muzzleloaders firing a single bullet under .30 calibre, or firing two or more balls smaller than 20 gauge

General gun season

Digest, printed pp. 13 and 19

Centrefire rifles
Shotguns
Centrefire handguns
Muzzleloaders
Pre-charged pneumatic air guns
Crossbows
Bows

Firearms using rimfire cartridges
Centrefire semi-automatic rifles with a magazine capacity of more than five rounds
Non-expanding full metal case (military ball) ammunition
Fully automatic firearms
Air guns that are not pre-charged pneumatic, and PCP air guns firing single bullets under .30 calibre
Muzzleloaders firing a single bullet under .30 calibre, or firing two or more balls smaller than 20 gauge

Hunting Hours and Orange

What the state defines as legal light, and what has to be worn in it.

Legal Shooting Hours

Digest, printed p. 14

"Shooting hours for resident game birds, crows and game mammals: one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset." The exception is spring turkey, which closes at sunset — deer keep the full window. Note that Florida spans two time zones: the panhandle west of the Apalachicola River is Central, and this app computes from the sun at your pin rather than from a clock.

Fluorescent Orange

Digest, printed p. 15

At least 500 square inches of daylight fluorescent orange as an outer garment worn above the waistline, which may include a head covering. Public land only, and it binds anyone accompanying a deer hunter as well as the hunter. It does not apply during an archery-only season, and it does not apply on private land at any time — so the crossbow and muzzleloading seasons need it on a WMA and the archery season does not.

Sundays

Digest, which prints no Sunday exception

Florida sets no Sunday restriction on deer hunting. Individual wildlife management areas may close on particular days — check the area's own brochure.

Standing Rules

The parts of the digest that are true every day of the season.

Bag limits

Digest, printed p. 18

Daily bag limit: 2 deer. Possession limit: 4 deer.
Annual bag limit: 5 deer, of which only 2 can be antlerless — except in DMU D2, where 3 of the 5 may be.
Deer taken under the Antlerless Deer Permit Program, the Private Lands Deer Management Permit Program or the Deer Depredation Permit Program, or on a licensed game farm or hunting preserve, are outside the daily, annual and possession limits.
Any deer that tests positive for CWD is also outside all bag limits.
An antlerless deer is one without antlers, or with antlers less than five inches. It is illegal to take a spotted fawn.

Antler point regulations

Digest, printed pp. 18 and 20-23

An antlered deer is one with at least one antler five inches or longer. In DMUs A1, A2, C3 and D1 it must have an antler with at least two points, each an inch or more. In the other eight units it must have three such points, or a main beam of ten inches or more. A hunter 16 or older may not take a deer that fails this in any season or by any method. As part of their annual statewide antlered bag, a hunter 15 or younger may take one deer a year that fails it, so long as it carries an antler of five inches or more.

Dogs

Digest, printed pp. 15-16

Taking deer with the use or aid of dogs is prohibited during the archery, crossbow and muzzleloading gun seasons.
Dogs on leashes may be used to trail wounded deer during all seasons.
A statewide deer-dog registration is required to hunt deer with dogs; on a wildlife management area a no-cost WMA deer-dog permit is required as well. Applications must be submitted no later than 30 days before the final day of the general gun season in the zone where the property lies.
The deer-dog training season runs 15 August to 3 September in Zone A, 31 October to 19 November in Zones B and D, and 3 to 22 October in Zone C.

Feeding game

Digest, printed p. 16

It is prohibited to take game on lands or waters where corn, wheat, grain, food, minerals or other substances meant to be consumed have been placed, other than by normal agricultural harvesting or planting.
Except that non-migratory game may be hunted in proximity to a year-round game-feeding station on private land, provided the station has been maintained with feed for at least six months before game is taken.
Feeding deer within the CWD Management Zone outside of the deer season is prohibited.

Tagging and Reporting

The clock that starts the moment the deer is down.

Digest, printed p. 16

Every deer must be reported log it before you move it, and report within 24 hours.

Log the harvest before moving the deer from the point of harvest — a printable log is at MyFWC.com/HarvestReport
Report to FWC's harvest reporting system within 24 hours, and before final processing, before any part goes to another person including a processor or taxidermist, and before the deer leaves the state
Report in the Fish|Hunt FL app, at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com, or by calling 888-486-8356 at any hour
You need your FWC Customer ID number, and the report is not complete until a confirmation number is given and recorded

Chronic Wasting Disease

Background, and the rules that apply if you carry a carcass out of a management area.

Digest, printed pp. 14 and 16

CWD was detected in Florida in June 2023, in Holmes County in the panhandle. FWC runs a CWD Management Zone there with its own rules; the rest of the state is under surveillance.

Report a sick or abnormally thin deer, or one dead of unknown causes, to 866-293-9282 (866-CWD-WATCH).
Any deer that tests positive for CWD does not count against any bag limit.
There are restrictions on bringing a carcass into Florida after hunting deer, elk, moose or caribou out of state, and on moving one within the CWD Management Zone.
Feeding deer within the CWD Management Zone outside of the deer season is prohibited.
Current zone boundaries and testing locations are at MyFWC.com/CWD; they change during the season and are not carried here.

Where This App Is Coarser Than the Digest

Said plainly, because an absence is easy to read as a permission.

Every weapon season in Florida needs its own permit. The hunting licence and the $5 deer permit cover the general gun season only — archery, crossbow and muzzleloading each cost another $5, and a crossbow may not be carried on an archery permit.
These are the private-land seasons. The digest states outright that its dates and bag limits do not apply to wildlife management areas, and the WMA brochures are the source for those.
Florida's rut is the least summarisable in the country: FWC's own breeding chronology runs from 22 July in Zone A to 3 March in the Green Swamp, and the department records breeding in every month but May. The rut meter reads the deer management unit your pin is in and uses the median of the average breeding dates FWC maps inside it — mid-August across Zone A, 5 October to 5 November across most of Zone C, 28 November around Tallahassee (DMU C5), late January to early February in the panhandle and in Zone B. Those medians come from five to fifteen sample points apiece, and the points inside one unit can be three months apart, so a pin can still be weeks from its unit's date. Read FWC's own breeding chronology map for the ground you hunt.
The panhandle west of the Apalachicola River is on Central time. The app computes legal light from the sun at your pin rather than from a clock, so it is right either way — but the times shown are in your phone's zone.
DMU A1 has no antlerless season at all and no deer of any kind may be taken in the Florida Keys. A described corner of Collier County in DMU A2 is closed to all deer hunting, and Collier south of I-75 is closed to antlerless deer. Those two closures are prose descriptions in the digest and are not drawn on the map here.
Florida publishes no open statewide parcel service, so there are no property lines on the map here.

Useful Numbers

The agency, when the app cannot answer it.

FWC: 888-486-8356 (888-HUNT-FLORIDA)
Report a harvest: GoOutdoorsFlorida.com or the Fish|Hunt FL app
CWD hotline: 866-293-9282
Wildlife Alert: 888-404-3922

Transcribed from the published 2026-27 Florida digest. Where this app and the digest disagree, the digest is the law. Read the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission digest.