how long does your bow season last?

edge2009 · November 27, 2013, 06:57:00 PM

Just curious, I was wondering what state has the longest bow season? Also, how does your tags work? Earn a buck, over the counter, or possession limit?

Here in FL the state is broke into 4 zones with archery being about a month long starting in October, then a week of muzzle loader, then general gun opens and stays open until the end of January. (for my zone)

I believe your allowed 2 deer a day, 4 in possession. Again, this may vary depending where in the state.

Of course we have many WMA's that are only archery, some are a qouta lotto system and some have a antler restriction 5 " minimum spike buck, does are allowed during archery on private, but vary on certain WMAs.

So how does your season work?

November 27, 2013, 07:08:00 PM

Where I hunt in TX I can shoot 5 deer, not more than 3 bucks. The tags come on my license when I buy it.

We have an archery only season for the first month and then a general season for the rest. Any legal weapon can be used in the general season. The season this year opened on Sept 28th and I can bowhunt deer until Feb 2nd.

Bisch

Mudd · November 27, 2013, 07:14:00 PM

Jan 15 2014

katman · November 27, 2013, 07:15:00 PM

SC 8/1-1/1 bow, gun starts 8/15 in the low country. 5 months for deer, shoot to your happy as we get many doe tags on our lease/private land. Have harvested 2 good bucks same sit several times. WMA many more restrictions on dates and harvest.

Hogs are year round and march to june you can hunt at night with virtually no restrictions on gear, ie bow, guns, lights, night vision whatever, yeah they want the heard kept down.

ChuckC · November 27, 2013, 07:24:00 PM

Wisconsin has a lot of rules since the CWD invasion. We can archery hunt pretty much from the second weekend in September thru to the start of January, with some breaks built in.I believe we can bow hunt during gun seasons now but have to wear orange. Different areas of the state are different though with at least a few areas open (for bow) until mid January.

In the CWD areas, tags are free and unlimited (you need a license). Outside the CWD area there are different rules for different areas.

ChuckC

ishoot4thrills · November 27, 2013, 07:26:00 PM

In KY, deer season with archery began on Sept. 7, 2013 and it runs through Jan. 20 of 2014. Archers may hunt deer during gun seasons but must wear orange on the head, chest, and back during any and all firearms seasons. There are 4 zones with zone 1 being the most liberal and zone 4 being the most restrictive. Only one buck per hunter is allowed with the purchase of state tag(s) but there is no limit on does in zone 1. The initial state tag allows 2 deer to be killed and a hunter may purchase an additional tag allowing 2 more deer to be taken(depending on what zone you hunt in) but still only one deer can be a buck, period. In some cases a hunter may take an extra buck on a WMA like Ft. Knox or LBL or a WMA quota hunt but the hunter will have to purchase a special permit to hunt these places. Also, some WMAs require the hunter to apply to be drawn in order to hunt. Did I mention that only ONE buck per hunter may be taken statewide on private land? This is just a small explanation of our archery deer season not including modern gun, crossbow, black-powder seasons, etc. and also there are turkey, elk, small game and black bear seasons.

tracker12 · November 27, 2013, 07:28:00 PM

In Maryland this year 05SEP- 31JAN second bonus buck aloud after you take 2 does.

britt · November 27, 2013, 08:32:00 PM

In Colorado we have a season that's a month long for West of I-25. East of I-25 is about 3 months long, with a couple breaks for rifle.

East Coast archer · November 27, 2013, 08:49:00 PM

NJ is broken into numerous zones and each zone has some differences. Where I live bow season started September 14 and runs to the second or third Saturday in February (haven't checked the regs yet). The first 3 weeks were earn a buck and then after that it is a maximum of 3 bucks during the 3 archery seasons with unlimited doe tags. During that time frame there is a muzzleloader and shotgun seasons in which you can bowhunt during them or get additional tags (more bucks) and use those weapons. We also have a fall turkey season which is in October, a small game season and a predator season. If you add groundhogs and bow fishing you can literally bowhunt just about all year long.

Montanawidower · November 27, 2013, 09:20:00 PM

In Montana its 8/15-1/15. Early on its Antelope only in August, then elk, deer,moose,goats, sheep, bears, turkeys etc until about the end of November. Depending on the region, there is a late whitetail doe hunt that lasts until Jan.

In some regions you can shoot as many as 7 does but only one buck of either species. Elk, bear, and turkey are over the counter but the exotics are by draw. (and lousy odds I might add)

MT is pretty rough, remote, rugged, and challenging but the hunting is amazing I must say.

Slickhead · November 27, 2013, 09:28:00 PM

Here in the buckeye state it normally starts the last weekend in Sept and runs to the first week of Feb
Doesnt go out , but there is an early season muzzlelader, youth weekend and a week of gun (next week) then a 4 day late season muzzleloader

You dont have to earn a buck here.

VictoryHunter · November 27, 2013, 10:10:00 PM

From September to May! In Tennessee we can shoot three bucks and as many does as we want as well as three turkeys during archery deer season. Deer season runs from the end of September to the first week of January. Then Turkeys in the spring which we can shoot another three. Then it's fishing all spring and summer!

far rider · November 27, 2013, 10:19:00 PM

This year it started September 7th and will end for all weapons January 1st. We are allowed to use archery throughout the season, and each successive weapon season is allowed to continue through gun season. We're in the Northwestern region.

Bowwild · November 27, 2013, 11:29:00 PM

I'll add a bit more to "ishoot.."s excellent rundown of KY deer seasons.

The bow season begins on the first Saturday in September and ends 30 minutes after sundown on MLK Day in January. About 28% of the archery kill comes in September.

The "one-buck" rule was instituted in 1992 and is the biggest reason why KY is number one in Booner bucks per year among all states. When we could kill a buck with a bow and a buck with a rifle most bucks killed in KY were 1.5 years old. Now these bucks represent only about 60% of the harvest. The age structure of our herd is greatly improved and only took 3 years after the law change!

A couple of years ago the State WMA extra buck rule was changed. Now if it is a state-run WMA, killing a buck will count towards your statewide license. LBL, Ft. Knox, Bluegrass Ammo Depot are still extra buck areas.

We are joined in the field the 2nd weekend of October by about 3,000 youth rifle hunters and the 3rd weekend of October MZZL hunters join us.

Most State WMAs are open to bowhunting season-long but one must draw for a "quota hunt" on WMAs. A friend just killed a 170+ 12-point in W. KY about 3 weeks ago on one of these quota hunts.

Quickblood · November 28, 2013, 12:11:00 AM

Pennsylvania has you all beat! Archery season is 6 weeks long (October & 2 weeks in November) with NO Sunday hunting! Top That!

Fattony77 · November 28, 2013, 02:15:00 AM

In OK the deer archery season & fall turkey archery season runs from Oct.1st to Jan.15th every year. Combined season limit is 6 deer, with no more than 2 being antlered deer. One turkey of either sex for fall archery. Tags are OTC unless you have a Lifetime Hunting License (which I do), in which case you are exempt from the purchase of tags. There are some "lottery" controlled hunts that don't count towards your season limit. All archery hunters that hunt during ANY firearms season must wear EITHER a head covering or upper body covering (vest, etc.) in "hunter orange" and orange camo is legal.

Terry Lightle · November 28, 2013, 07:33:00 AM

Oct1 thru Jan15 in the Sooner state

Bill Carlsen · November 28, 2013, 08:13:00 AM

Sept. 15-Dec.15. in NH.

You can buy a regular either sex archery tag.

You can buy a bear tag but seasons vary in various parts of the state.

You can buy a turkey tag for the Fall and shoot one of either sex during the regular archery season.

You can buy an additional antlered buck archery tag.

You can hunt with your bow during firearms season in addition to the two archery tags as long as you follow firearms regs in the area you are hunting. That means you have 3 deer tags if you buy and use them.

In addition in unit M, you can buy up to 2 additional anterless tags...so theoretically you can get 5 deer tags, a turkey tag and a bear tag.

dnovo · November 28, 2013, 10:29:00 AM

In MO. Archery deer starts Sept 15 and runs to Jan 15. We break for firearms season which starts around Nov 12-16 depending on how the weekends fall. Firearms season lasts 11 days and you can use a bow, you just have to buy a rifle tag. Then bow season reopens and runs concurrent with firearms antler less season for another 8 or 9 days. We then have a muzzleloader season about a week after antlerless ends thru which bow season remains open.
We have an urban doe season with rifle for a weekend the begining of Oct then have youth gun season the first weekend of Nov.
We can take 2 buck with only 1 before rifle season and another during rifle season and as many does as you want to buy tags for. Some southern parts of the state don't have the doe tags and antlerless season due to smaller deer population

joe ashton · November 28, 2013, 10:37:00 AM

Here in Colorado we have a 4 week season for deer and elk. Starts the last week end of Aug. The third week of the season we share with the black powder people. We also have the drew for deer so we get a license every other year.