You can hunt deer on Sunday in Pennsylvania in the 2026-27 seasons when that Sunday falls inside the printed dates and the land allows it. The Pennsylvania Game Commission gave final approval on April 11, 2026 and included every Sunday inside the listed dates.
Use this rule before you leave the truck. Write down the Sundays inside the firearms dates. Then cross off any Sunday the park page or the landowner note still closes.
STEP 1 · Sunday count
Three Sundays sit in a 16-day firearms season
Regular firearms season for antlered and antlerless deer is statewide from Nov. 28 through Dec. 13. One antlered deer may be taken per hunting license year. An antlerless deer may be taken with each required antlerless license or permit.
Nov. 28 through Nov. 30 is 3 days and Dec. 1 through Dec. 13 is 13 days. The season is 16 days. The Sundays inside it are Nov. 29, Dec. 6 and Dec. 13. That is 3 Sundays you can hunt if the land is open. Sit those three the same way you sit a Saturday.
STEP 2 · Closed Sundays
Migratory birds stay shut
There is no Sunday hunting for migratory game birds this season. The release names waterfowl, woodcock and mourning doves.
A survey of those hunters showed a slight preference for keeping Sundays out so the seasons can stretch farther. Federal rules cited by the commission would keep Sundays in migratory seasons once Pennsylvania starts using them. Sundays stay out for 2026-27 and the board said it will look again before 2027-28. The April approval does not print migratory dates. Those seasons are set through federal frameworks and announced after they are finalized.
The commission Sunday hunting page still describes 2025-26. The header date is Aug. 26, 2025. It limits that year's state-park Sundays to Nov. 16, Nov. 23 and Nov. 30. Do not use that list for this firearms season.
STEP 3 · Land check
Forests follow the season and seven parks do not
A Sept. 30, 2026 commission note says Sunday hunting is open on all state game lands and state forests and is limited in some state parks and state preserves. The same note calls 2026-27 the first season with every in-season Sunday except migratory birds.
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources says all state forests permit hunting on Sundays inside open seasons. Most state parks allow daily hunting in season and a park can still set a tighter limit.
Seven southeast parks allow only Nov. 15, Nov. 22 and Nov. 29 for Sunday hunting in the 2026-27 license year. The parks are Big Elk Creek, Delaware Canal, Evansburg, Marsh Creek, Nockamixon, Ridley Creek and White Clay Creek. DCNR prints those three Sundays. It marks Delaware Canal and Ridley Creek as archery only.
Here is our comparison of the two date lists. Nov. 29 is the only firearms Sunday that those parks also allow. Dec. 6 and Dec. 13 sit in the statewide firearms season and off the park list. Delaware Canal and Ridley Creek are not firearms hunts.
Other parks do not allow hunting at all. Check the park page before you drive.
Hunter Access cooperators may disallow Sunday hunting on enrolled land. Open Access on those tracts does not require a permission call. The tract note can still close Sunday. Private land outside that program is not covered here. Ask the owner.
During firearms seasons DCNR requires orange regardless of sporting arm. The amount it prints is 250 square inches of fluorescent orange visible from 360 degrees on the head, chest and back.
STEP 4 · Doe tags
Twelve units took the whole 157,000 increase
The 2026-27 antlerless allocation is 1,469,000 licenses. The release prints 1,312,000 for 2025-26. The difference is 157,000 licenses. That is the number of tags offered. It is a weak guide to your chance of filling one.
Twelve units are above the prior number in parentheses. 1A is 52,000 after 46,000, 2A is 49,000 after 44,000, 2B is 62,000 after 59,000, 2C is 117,000 after 93,000, 2D is 112,000 after 96,000, 2E is 63,000 after 51,000, 2F is 67,000 after 51,000, 4B is 71,000 after 60,000, 4D is 120,000 after 83,000, 5A is 65,000 after 46,000, 5C is 101,000 after 98,000 and 5D is 44,000 after 39,000.
The jumps in that order are 6,000, 5,000, 3,000, 24,000, 16,000, 12,000, 16,000, 11,000, 37,000, 19,000, 3,000 and 5,000. They sum to 157,000. That match is our check on the printed pairs.
Ten units are the same as last year. 1B is 44,000, 2G is 57,000, 3A is 21,000, 3B is 53,000, 3C is 57,000, 3D is 52,000, 4A is 64,000, 4C is 51,000, 4E is 61,000 and 5B is 86,000.
Our read is that no printed unit was cut. The release does not say that in its own sentence.
The numbers follow scientific data and staff recommendations aimed at the population objective in each unit. The news release does not print the objective beside the unit. More tags in 4D or 2C or 5A or 2D or 2F mean more licenses were offered. It does not forecast deer movement on Nov. 28.
Residents who bought from 8 a.m. June 22 until 8 a.m. July 13 were guaranteed one antlerless license in the unit they chose. That window is closed as of Oct. 10, 2026. After it, licenses sell first-come first-serve until the unit number is gone.
STEP 5 · Other changes
Small game stays open and a few seasons moved
Squirrel, ruffed grouse, rabbit, pheasant, bobwhite quail and woodchuck stay open during the firearms deer season. A Sunday deer sit on Nov. 29 is also inside those dates.
The spring gobbler limit is one bird. The commission set that limit to offset added Sunday harvest and to keep harvest rates sustainable. Sunday spring turkey hunting starts in 2027. No Sundays were open for the 2026 spring season. The 2027 season runs May 1 through May 31 with a daily limit of 1 and a season limit of 1.
Archery bear in WMUs 3C and 3D was lengthened across the first archery deer segment because of bear-human conflicts. The table puts archery bear in 3C, 3D and 5B on Oct. 3 through Nov. 20. Statewide archery deer uses that same span. The lengthening sentence names 3C and 3D only.
Extended antlerless firearms in 2B, 5C and 5D runs from Dec. 26 through Jan. 24 of 2027. In 4A, 4C, 4D and 5A it runs from Dec. 26 through Jan. 18 of 2027. On DMAP land it runs from Dec. 26 through Jan. 24 of 2027 with a DMAP permit. The board called those extended firearms edits and the flintlock and late archery edits minor. Last year's dates are not in this release so the change in length is not counted here.
The approval also sets a first regular firearms elk season from Oct. 3 through Oct. 11.
Act 36 of 2025 is the law that repealed the old Sunday ban. The commission page says the governor signed it on July 9 as Act 36 of 2025. Hunt this fall from the April 11, 2026 season approval.
NOTES AND SOURCES
Fully Drawn Research is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency, transportation agency, mapping provider or outfitter. This guide reports official agency dates and rules as published when it was written. Confirm with the state agency before you hunt.
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