Why it matters: With many hunting seasons in the Northeast coming into focus in the next few weeks, sportsmen and women going afield should brush-up on new laws and regulations that could change their approach to the ’25-’26 hunting seasons. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) was on the frontlines of advancing pro-sporting legislation and stopping bad legislation that would have had negative bearings on access and seasons across the Northeast and will continue to stand up for sportsmen and women across the nation.
Highlights:
- Maine: Old Growth and Late Successional Forests will remain accessible to hunters despite efforts to institute blanket prohibitions on any management on such stands.
- New Hampshire: Hunters can look forward to utilizing Air Rifles this coming fall thanks to the multi-year effort by CSF and the New Hampshire Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus leadership.
- Maryland: Deer hunters will now be allowed to use artificial lights for game recovery.
- New York: The New York Assembly passed legislation which will normalize crossbows. Once the governor signs the legislation, crossbows will be permitted during the full archery season and onerous size requirements of width and maximum peak draw weight will be removed from New York statute.
- Pennsylvania and Connecticut: After a decade and a half of dedicated engagement by CSF, hunters will soon have new opportunities thanks to the recent passage of, not one, but two CSF-priority bills that remove, or nearly remove all remaining statutory prohibitions on Sunday hunting.
- Vermont: Furbearer hunters will still be allowed to use firearms, archery, and crossbows with the use of bait, thwarting efforts to prohibit such method of take.
With the 2025-2026 hunting seasons on the horizon, sportsmen and women are eagerly awaiting their first opportunity to hit the woods and fields to embark on a 3 (or more) month long search for adventure, solitude, and success. Success starts by, “knowing before you go!” Annually, state legislatures and state wildlife management agencies update existing law and/or regulations, and introduce fresh laws of interest to the sporting community.
As previously celebrated and reported, Pennsylvania and Connecticut certainly have the most impactful change in their states allowing hunters to join the majority of the country with new Sunday hunting opportunities. While Connecticut has rolled back the prohibition on all private land, opening thousands of acres to sportsmen and women, Pennsylvania completely eliminated the outdated practice with full implementation for the 2025 hunting seasons, with the exception of waterfowl season as those federally set dates were previously established.
New Hampshire hunters will have the ability to utilize Air Rifles (a priority policy for CSF) as a legal method of take following a multi-year, CSF-led effort. Sportsmen and women in the Granite State, as well as those visiting hunters, should review the current regulations for each game species by visiting www.huntnh.com.
Maryland deer hunters will want to get up to speed on new regulations concerning deer recovery. Approved for the 2025 hunting season, hunters in the Old Line State will be authorized to utilize artificial lights to aid in the recovery of their deer. This is a well-received change that will allow hunters to immediately exhaust all efforts, even after dark, to recover their deer without having to wait until morning and risk spoilage or losing their harvest to predators.
New York crossbow hunters (and those once on the fence) can look forward to full inclusion of crossbows once the governor signs the legislation. Crossbows will be permitted during the full archery season and onerous size requirements of width and maximum peak draw weight will be removed from New York statute.
Finally, there are a couple of points of interest of regulations that will remain the same, despite efforts to limit access for hunters. In Maine, attempts to blanketly prohibit any management (including wildlife) on Old Growth or Late-Successional Forest was amended and will not restrict hunter access. In Vermont, hunters will still be able to access traditional means of take (firearms, archery, and crossbows) while hunting over bait, though efforts to prohibit such use were challenged during the ’25 session.
CSF would like to thank the Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucuses in Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York , Pennsylvania, , and Vermont for working to protect and improve access for hunters in their respective states.
