General Info
County history coming soon!
County history coming soon!
Not including unincorporated communities
Towns
Barnet
Burke
Danville
Groton
Hardwick
Kirby
Lyndon
Newark
Peacham
Ryegate
Sheffield
St. Johnsbury
Stannard
Sutton
Walden
Waterford
Wheelock
A little bit of contact information for all purpose residential needs.
Coming Soon
For more information visit:
White-tailed Deer
Deer Seasons | Dates | Notes |
Archery | October 7- November 3, 2017 December 2-10, 2017 |
Two deer, only one of which may be a legal buck. |
Youth Deer Weekend | November 4-5, 2017 | One deer of either sex, no antler restriction |
November Rifle | November 11-26, 2017 | One legal buck this season |
Muzzleloader | December 2-10, 2017 | One legal buck unless you have an antlerless permit |
Antlerless permit | December 2-10, 2017 | Available through lottery |
No more than three deer per year, only two may be legal bucks. Only one legal buck may be taken during each season. No antler restrictions apply for Youth Deer Weekend.
Bear Seasons | Dates | Notes |
Early | September 1 through the day before the November Rifle Deer Season | A separate Early Bear Season tag is required to hunt the Early Bear Season. The limit is one bear per calendar year. Baiting is prohibited. Hounds are allowed, provided the person in charge of the dogs has a bear-dog permit, no more than six dogs are used, and no commercial guiding occurs. |
Late | The first nine days of the November Rifle Deer Season |
Successful bear hunting usually means successfully finding concentrated natural food sources in or near prime bear habitat. Early in the season, preferred foods include late-ripening berries, black cherries, and standing corn. As the season progresses, wild apples, beechnuts, and acorns become more important.
Stalking bears in a stand of nut-rich beech trees half way up a mountain on a crisp October afternoon is one of hunting’s most exciting challenges. The reward in terms of harvested meat is also great. When properly prepared, bear meat compares favorably to pork.
Hunters are reminded to collect a small pre-molar tooth from each harvested bear. The collection of a premolar tooth is critical to the bear project as it provides important data for evaluating changes to the age structure of the bear population and for making population estimates.
Moose Seasons | Dates | Requirements |
Archery | Oct 1 – 7 | Resident application fee is $10 Nonresident application fee is $25 Only one application may be submitted per person. Up to 10% of the permits may be issued to nonresidents Fees are nonrefundable |
Regular | 3rd Saturday in October and runs for six consecutive days |
NOTE: Successful applicants must possess a current year’s Vermont hunting license before returning their Permit Form in order to secure the permit. Unsuccessful applicants will not be notified.
Applicants who are successfully drawn in the lottery will be notified by mail and will receive a Moose Hunter’s Guidebook and Permit Form along with instructions to complete the Permit Form.
Turkey Seasons | Dates | Limits |
Youth Weekend | The weekend prior to the opening of spring turkey | One bearded turkey, statewide |
Spring | May 1 – 31 | Two bearded turkeys, statewide |
Fall (Bow and Arrow only) | October 7-20, 2017 | One of either sex, statewide |
Fall (Bow & Arrow or Shotgun) | October 21-29, 2017 | One of either sex, WMUs B, D, G, H, I, J, L, M, O, P, and Q |
Fall (Bow & Arrow or Shotgun) | October 21 – November 5, 2017 | One of either sex, WMUs F, K and N |
Prime turkey habitat consists of a mix of agricultural land and forested areas. Areas where working dairy farms abut mature stands of nut-bearing oak and hickory trees are especially productive. Turkeys are most common in the southwestern foothills, southern Champlain Valley, and low-land portions of the eastern foothills. However, wherever one hunts, the key to success is pre-season scouting and securing landowner permission.
Small Game | Season Dates | Notes |
Cottontail Rabbit Snowshoe Hare | Last Saturday in September – Second Sunday in March | WMUs D & E remain open until March 31 |
Gray Squirrel | September 1 – December 31 | |
Crow | January 15-April 11 and August 19-December 19, 2017 | Crow may only be hunted Friday-Monday |
COTTONTAIL RABBITS
Cottontail rabbits are primarily found in the Southwestern Foothills and Champlain Valley, including the Champlain Islands. They favor the varied habitat in agricultural lowlands, and are commonly encountered in brushy hedgerows, overgrown fields, briar thickets, and shrub-filled creek bottoms. Kicking up cottontails on a crisp fall day is an excellent challenge, whether hunters elect to chase them with a dog and shotgun or stalk them with a .22 rifle.
Snowshoe or Varying Hare are found statewide, but are most abundant in areas with active forest management, particularly in the Green Mountains and Northeast Kingdom. The greatest concentrations of are found in areas with dense, low-growing softwood stands, such as cedar swamps, spruce bogs, and cut-over areas with thickets of young spruce and fir. Snowshoes have seasonally white coats and large hind feet, adaptions that let them remain active throughout the winter. They are a favorite of hunters with hounds because they prefer to run a hard race rather than hole-up, as cottontails often do when hard pressed.
Squirrels are Vermont’s most over-looked game animal. “Bushytails” can be found wherever mature stands of oak, hickory, and beech trees provide them with abundant nuts, especially in the Southwestern Foothills, Champlain Valley, and along the Connecticut River in the Eastern Foothills. Although lightly hunted in Vermont, squirrels are a real challenge when stalked with a .22 rifle, and their delicate meat compares favorably with rabbit.
Upland Game Bird Seasons |
Dates | Bag Limit |
Ruffed Grouse | Last Saturday in September to December 31st | 4 daily; 8 possession |
Ruffed grouse (aka partridge) are the king of game birds, and Vermont is one of their last strongholds in the Northeast.
Check out overgrown apple orchards, abandoned hillside farm and fields, and regenerating clear cuts, particularly with aspen and birch. In the early season, try hunting near streams and swamps.
Although found statewide, the Northeast Kingdom generally offers the best grouse hunting in the state and some of the best hunting anywhere in the Northeast. Several Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are managed for grouse.
Bobcat | Jan. 10 – Feb. 7 |
Red & Gray Fox | Oct. 22, 2016 – Feb. 12, 2017 & Oct. 28, 2017 – Feb. 11, 2018 |
Raccoon | Oct. 14 – Dec. 31 |
Muskrat | March 20 – April 19 |
Coyote, Opossum, Skunk, Weasel |
No Closed Season |
Beaver, Otter, Mink, Fisher, Marten, Lynx, Wolf, Eastern Mountain Lion |
No Open Season |
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Rivers, Streams, Associated Beaver Ponds and Unnamed Impoundments
Species | Length Rules | Daily Limit | Legal Methods | Open Seasons |
American Shad | 0 | Catch & release | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 | |
Anadromous Atlantic Salmon | 0 | No open season | ||
Brook/Brown/Rainbow Trout | None | Brook + Brown + Rainbow = no more than 12; brown + rainbows = no more than 6 | Angling | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 |
Crappie | 8” | 25 | Angling | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 |
Lake Sturgeon | 0 | No open season | ||
Lake Trout | 18” | Lake trout + landlocked salmon = no more than 2 | Angling | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 |
Landlocked Atlantic Salmon | 15” | Angling | 2nd Sat in April to Oct 31 | |
Large & Smallmouth Bass | None | Large + small = no more than 5 | Angling | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 |
Muskellunge | 0 | Satch & release | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 | |
Northern Pike | 20” | 5 | Angling | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 |
Rainbow Smelt | None | None | Angling | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 |
Sauger | 0 | No open season | ||
Walleye | 18” | 3 | Angling | 1st Sat in may to Oct 31 |
Yellow Perch | None | 50 | Angling | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 |
All Other Species | None | None | Angling | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 |
General Fishing Regulations for Lakes, Ponds, Impoundments, Reservoirs, and Particular Rivers and Streams
Species | Length Rules | Daily Limit | Legal Methods | Open Seasons |
American Shad | 0 | Catch & Release | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 | |
Anadromous Atlantic Salmon | 0 | No open season | ||
Brook/Brown/Rainbow Trout | None | Brook+brown+rainbow = no more than 12. Brown+rainbows = no more than 6 | Angling | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 |
Carp, Suckers, Bowfin, Mullet, Gar | None | None | Angling, Bow | All year |
Crappie | 8” | 25 | Angling | All year |
Lake Sturgeon | 0 | No open season | ||
Lake Trout | 18” | Lake + landlocked salmon = no more than 2 | Angling | 2nd Sat in Apr to Oct 31 |
Landlocked Atlantic Salmon | 15” | Angling | 2nd Sat iN Apr to Oct 31 | |
Large & Smallmouth Bass | None | 0 | Catch & Release | Dec 1 to Fri before 2nd Sat in Jun |
Muskellunge | 0 | Catch & Release | All year | |
Nothern Pike | 20” | 5 | Angling, Ice Fishing | All year |
Rainbow Smelt | None | None | Angling, Ice Fishing | All year |
Sauger | 0 | No open season | ||
Walleye | 18” | 3 | Angling, Ice Fishing | 1st Sat in May to Mar 15 |
Yellow Perch | None | 50 | Angling, Ice Fishing | All year |
All other species | None | None | Angling, Ice fishing | All year |
General Fishing Regulations for Lake Champlain includes the setbacks at the same water level and the lower portion of its tributaries. Spawning waters not included.
Species | Length Rules | Daily Limit | Legal Methods | Open Seasons |
Brook/Brown/Rainbow Trout | 12” | Brook+brown+rainbows = no more than 3 | Angling, Ice fishing | All year |
Carp, Suckers, Bowfin, Mullet, Gar, Bullhead, Shad | None | None | Angling, Bow | All year |
Shooting, spearing | Mar 25 to May 25 | |||
Chain Pickerel | None | 10 | Shooting, Spearing | March 25 to May 25 |
Angling, Ice fishing | All Year | |||
Crappie | 8” | 25 | Angling, Ice fishing | All year |
Lake Sturgeon | 0 | No open season | ||
Lake Trout | 15” | 3 | Angling, Ice Fishing | All year |
Landlocked Salmon | 15” | 2 | Angling, Ice fishing | All year |
Large & Smallmouth Bass | 0 | Catch & release | Dec 1 to Fri before 2nd Sat in Jun | |
Muskellunge | 0 | Catch & release | All year | |
Northern Pike | 20” | 5 | Shooting, Spearing | Mar 25 to May 25 |
Angling, Ice Fishing | All year | |||
Rainbow Smelt | None | None | Angling, Ice fishing | All year |
Sauger | 0 | No open season | ||
Walleye | 18” | 3 | Angling, Ice fishing | 1st Sat in May to Mar 15 |
Yellow Perch | None | None | Angling, Ice fishing | All year |
All other Species | None | None | Angling, Ice fishing | All year |