Where do I buy a Vermont hunting license?

Vermont hunting licenses and tags are sold by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department through its official licensing site. Buy direct from the agency rather than a reseller, and complete hunter education first if your birth year requires it.

When is Vermont hunting season?

Seasons differ by species, weapon and zone, and the Vermont season dates change every year. Our Vermont deer guide summarizes the 2025-26 deer season structure; for every other species, check the current Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department regulations before you plan a hunt.

What can you hunt in Vermont?

Besides white-tailed deer, our species guides single out Vermont for snowshoe hare. Each species guide explains tags, seasons and tactics.

Where is public hunting land in Vermont?

Good starting points include Green Mountain National Forest, Victory Basin Wildlife Management Area, Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area. Confirm access rules, closures and special regulations with the managing agency before you go.

Hunting · State by State

Vermont Hunting Guide

What to hunt in Vermont, what it costs, the laws that matter and where the public land is — with the official Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department links.

Big Green Mountain woods, a buck-only rifle season, and a low-density herd make Vermont a quiet, old-school Northeast hunt.

Vermont hunting is a hill-country, big-woods experience: steep hardwood ridges, spruce-fir high country in the Green Mountains, and a patchwork of dairy farms and hedgerows in the valleys, especially in the Champlain Valley and Northeast Kingdom.

Agency: Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department
Region: Northeast
Deer rank: #40 of 50
Species guides: 2

Vermont hunting license and tag costs

Deer license and tag prices as last reviewed. Other species' permits are listed in the agency fee schedule.

License / tag	Price
Resident hunting license	approx. $28
Nonresident hunting license	approx. $102
Archery license (add-on)	Modest additional fee for bow season, resident and nonresident

Vermont hunting laws to know

Rules that catch hunters out most often. Not a substitute for the regulations book.

Topic	Rule
Blaze orange	Hunter orange is required during the November rifle season for all hunters, including archers who may be in the woods during that window.
Baiting	Baiting deer is illegal statewide in Vermont.
Crossbows	Legal during archery season for all hunters as of recent rule changes; check current-year regulations for any age or date restrictions.
Sunday hunting	Sunday hunting is legal in Vermont.
Buck-only rifle rule	The regular November rifle season has been buck-only statewide; a 2026 rule change will allow limited antlerless rifle harvest by permit going forward.
Legal firearms	Centerfire rifles are legal for deer hunting statewide; specific caliber minimums and any shotgun-only zones should be confirmed in the current guide.
Tagging/reporting	All harvested deer must be reported (tagged) through Vermont's mandatory reporting system before the carcass is moved from the point of kill in many cases, or within 24 hours.
Hunter education	Hunter education certification is required to purchase a Vermont hunting license for first-time adult and youth hunters.

Vermont deer season structure (2025-26)

Dates and antlerless permit availability vary by Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) and change year to year; always confirm current dates and WMU rules on the VT Fish & Wildlife seasons page before you hunt.

Season	Weapon	Typical window
Archery	Bow / crossbow	Oct. 1 - Dec. (split around rifle season)
Youth & Novice weekend	Rifle/shotgun (youth/novice)	Early November weekend
Regular (rifle) season	Rifle / shotgun	Nov. 15 - Nov. 30, 2025
Muzzleloader season	Muzzleloader	Early-to-mid December

What you can hunt in Vermont

Deer — White-tailed deer
Fair · ranked #40 of 50 for deer.
Snowshoe Hare
Classic New England hare hunting in mixed conifer-hardwood forest
Access: Over-the-counter small-game license

Public hunting land in Vermont

A large share of Vermont is open to public hunting, from a national forest running much of the state's length to a dense network of state Wildlife Management Areas.

Green Mountain National Forest
National forest · Central and southern Vermont
Roughly 400,000 acres spanning the spine of the state, with rugged ridge terrain and comparatively light pressure away from trailheads.
Official page
Victory Basin Wildlife Management Area
WMA · Northeast Kingdom
Large boreal wetland/forest complex in Vermont's wildest corner, holding a genuinely remote big-woods hunt.
Official page
Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area
WMA · Champlain Valley
Farmland and wetland mix in the deer-dense Champlain Valley, better deer densities than the mountain interior.
Official page
West Mountain Wildlife Management Area
WMA · Northeast Kingdom
Large, remote WMA offering classic big-woods northern Vermont hunting with low hunter density.
Official page
Groton State Forest
State forest · North-central Vermont
Large block of state forest with mixed hardwoods and ponds, offering solid public-land access near the Northeast Kingdom.
Official page

Official Vermont links

Last reviewed 2026-09.

Nearby state hunting guides

Questions

Frequently asked

Where do I buy a Vermont hunting license?: Vermont hunting licenses and tags are sold by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department through its official licensing site. Buy direct from the agency rather than a reseller, and complete hunter education first if your birth year requires it.
When is Vermont hunting season?: Seasons differ by species, weapon and zone, and the Vermont season dates change every year. Our Vermont deer guide summarizes the 2025-26 deer season structure; for every other species, check the current Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department regulations before you plan a hunt.
What can you hunt in Vermont?: Besides white-tailed deer, our species guides single out Vermont for snowshoe hare. Each species guide explains tags, seasons and tactics.
Where is public hunting land in Vermont?: Good starting points include Green Mountain National Forest, Victory Basin Wildlife Management Area, Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area. Confirm access rules, closures and special regulations with the managing agency before you go.