Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area: hunting, access and parking in Zone 9

Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area is 1,354 acres of MassWildlife land in Bolton, Harvard and Lancaster (Worcester County), in Wildlife Management Zone 9. MassWildlife says all of its WMAs are open to hunting, fishing and trapping. Hunters took 1,534 deer in Zone 9 in 2025, and MassWildlife maps 5 parking areas for the property with room for about 50 vehicles.

Data updated October 2026. Area facts: MassWildlife's Bolton Flats WMA fact sheet. Harvest: MassWildlife 2025 Deer Harvest Summary. Seasons: MassWildlife deer hunting regulations (2026 dates).

What is Bolton Flats WMA like?

MassWildlife describes it: "The diverse habitats and seasonally flooded areas of Bolton Flats WMA are home to both common and uncommon wildlife. The Nashua and Still Rivers wind their way through forested floodplains and along wet meadows and agricultural fields. Changes in the rivers’ courses over time have created small scattered oxbow ponds. Several hundred acres of land are leased to local farmers who grow hay and row crops. The Pine Hill area features a large glacial sand deposit that gives rise to unique sandplain grasslands. The northern tip of the WMA touches the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, which protects an additional seven miles of the Nashua River. The Devens Reserve Forces Training Area lies to the west and contains hundreds of acres of undeveloped lands. Sections of the WMA are mowed annually to provide wildlife habitat. Additional field areas are reclaimed as they become overgrown."

On wildlife: "This is a premier birding location during periods of high water. Great blue herons, green herons, and glossy ibis, along with elusive rails and bitterns, also live in the wetland areas. Look for American kestrels, grasshopper and vesper sparrows, prairie warblers, and brown thrashers in the distinctive pitch-pine-dotted sandplains in the Pine Hill area. On spring and early summer evenings at Pine Hill, watch for American woodcock displays and listen for eastern whip-poor-wills. Multiple vernal pools serve as breeding habitat for spring peepers, wood frogs, and spotted salamanders."

Quoted from MassWildlife's Bolton Flats WMA fact sheet.

What does MassWildlife say about hunting Bolton Flats WMA?

"MassWildlife stocks ring-necked pheasants up to three times per week on both sides of Route 117 during the fall season. The rivers and wetlands provide excellent waterfowl hunting that is most easily accessed from cartop boats. Agricultural fields south of Route 117 attract Canada geese and provide extensive edge habitat frequented by white-tailed deer and wild turkeys. Many areas in the northwest of the WMA can only be accessed from a canoe or kayak. Anglers can fish the Nashua River for sunfish, chain pickerel, and largemouth bass. Launch cartop boats from the boat access site at the Route 117 bridge. The Still River contains similar species as well as native brook trout. Anglers can gain easy access to the Still River behind the red barn at the parking area off Route 110."

Its rules for the area: "During the pheasant season, a blaze orange hat must be worn by all hunters except while night-hunting raccoon or opossum or while hunting waterfowl from within a blind or boat."

How do you get into Bolton Flats WMA?

"There are parking areas beyond the red barn off Route 110 and on the north and south sides of Route 117 just east of the Nashua River Bridge. Access to the Pine Hill section is via Pine Hill Road off Route 117. Additional access is located adjacent to the model airplane field which is across Route 110 from the former Lancaster School for Girls."

From MassWildlife parking for recreation.

Highways within five miles: MA 2, I-495, MA 110, MA 62, I-190 and MA 117. Distances to the nearest town centers: Lancaster under a mile, Harvard 2 miles, Bolton 2 miles and Clinton 3 miles. Other WMAs nearby: Clinton Bluff (4 miles), Delaney (5 miles), Boxborough Station (8 miles).

When can you hunt deer on Bolton Flats WMA in 2026?

Deer seasons follow Zone 9: archery October 5 to November 28, shotgun November 30 to December 12, primitive firearms December 14 to 31 and a winter season January 1 to 30, 2027. In 2025 the zone gave 660 deer to archers and 557 in shotgun season.

Seasons: MassWildlife deer hunting regulations (2026 dates). Harvest: MassWildlife 2025 Deer Harvest Summary; MassWildlife 2024 Deer Harvest Summary.

What rules apply on Bolton Flats WMA?

It is stocked with pheasant, so every hunter must wear a blaze orange hat during pheasant season, except raccoon and opossum hunters at night and waterfowl hunters in a blind or boat. Under 321 CMR 3.01, camping, fires and target practice need the Director's written permission, vehicles stay on roads open to traffic, and dogs must be leashed unless hunting or training with a licensed hunter.

Source: MassWildlife WMA regulations.

Questions hunters ask

Can you hunt on Bolton Flats WMA?

Yes. MassWildlife says all WMAs are open to hunting, fishing and trapping; deer seasons follow Zone 9, where the 2026 shotgun season runs November 30 to December 12 (MassWildlife WMA regulations).

What zone is Bolton Flats WMA in?

Zone 9, as MassWildlife's fact sheet gives it. Hunters took 1,534 deer in Zone 9 in 2025, 742 of them adult males, after 1,374 in 2024 (MassWildlife 2025 Deer Harvest Summary).

Where do you park for Bolton Flats WMA?

MassWildlife maps 5 parking areas: Unmaintained (about 5 cars, paved); Unmaintained (about 20 cars, paved); a lot (about 10 cars, dirt); Unmaintained (about 10 cars, dirt). Its fact sheet adds: "There are parking areas beyond the red barn off Route 110 and on the north and south sides of Route 117 just east of the Nashua River Bridge. Access to the Pine Hill section is via Pine Hill Road off Route 117."

What can you hunt on Bolton Flats WMA?

MassWildlife's fact sheet: "MassWildlife stocks ring-necked pheasants up to three times per week on both sides of Route 117 during the fall season. The rivers and wetlands provide excellent waterfowl hunting that is most easily accessed from cartop boats. Agricultural fields south of Route 117 attract Canada geese and provide extensive edge habitat frequented by white-tailed deer and wild turkeys."

Sources: MassWildlife fact sheet; MassWildlife Lands (MassGIS); MassWildlife parking for recreation; MassWildlife 2025 Deer Harvest Summary; MassWildlife deer hunting regulations (2026 dates); MassWildlife WMA regulations; public land MassGIS Protected and Recreational OpenSpace for state and Army Corps land; USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US 4.1) for federal land; towns U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 primary and secondary roads; U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer, towns (county subdivisions). FilledTag is not part of Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife).

Massachusetts hunting Zone 9