Hubbardston Wildlife Management Area: hunting, access and parking in Zone 5
Hubbardston Wildlife Management Area is 361 acres of MassWildlife land in Hubbardston (Worcester County), in Wildlife Management Zone 5. MassWildlife says all of its WMAs are open to hunting, fishing and trapping. Hunters took 917 deer in Zone 5 in 2025.
Data updated October 2026. Area facts: MassWildlife's Hubbardston WMA fact sheet. Harvest: MassWildlife 2025 Deer Harvest Summary. Seasons: MassWildlife deer hunting regulations (2026 dates).
MassWildlife (Fish and Game) landState forest and park land (DCR)DCR watershed land (Quabbin, Wachusett, Ware River)Hubbardston WMAZone lineHighway
| Size | 361 acres (MassWildlife), in 3 pieces |
|---|---|
| Town | Hubbardston |
| County | Worcester |
| Wildlife Management Zone | Zone 5 |
| MassWildlife district | Central District |
| Parking (MassWildlife) | None mapped |
| Pheasant | Stocked; blaze orange hat required in pheasant season |
| Deer taken in Zone 5, 2025 | 917 (541 adult males) |
| Nearest town centers | Gardner (5 mi), Westminster (6 mi) and Templeton (6 mi) |
What is Hubbardston WMA like?
MassWildlife describes it: "The Hubbardston WMA is part of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Ware River Watershed and is managed cooperatively. The habitat consists of abandoned fields, apple orchards, mixed hardwoods, beaver wetlands, and Cunningham Pond."
On wildlife: "This DCR-owned property provides protection for the Ware River watershed, which is used to supplement the Quabbin Reservoir during periods of low water. The thickets and understory provide habitat for songbirds such as brown thrasher, gray catbird, and eastern towhee. Wood duck nest boxes are maintained at Cunningham Pond where beaver and river otter may be observed. With good tracking conditions, signs of fisher, eastern coyote, fox, and other mammals may be found."
Quoted from MassWildlife's Hubbardston WMA fact sheet.
What does MassWildlife say about hunting Hubbardston WMA?
"The WMA portion of this DCR property is a pheasant-stocked area with birds released at least once per week during the season. The beaver wetlands provide jump shooting opportunities for waterfowl. Areas that were previously cut now provide thick cover for eastern cottontails and browse for white-tailed deer. Cunningham Pond is a shallow impoundment that has been enlarged by American beavers damming the spillway. It becomes weedy in the summer months but provides good warm water fishing opportunities for panfish such as bluegill, black crappie, and yellow perch through the ice or in the spring. There is no formal boat access but canoes and kayaks may be launched from Old Westminster Road."
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 Hubbardston WMA?
"There are two main access points with parking, one off of Old Westminster Road and the second off of Route 68. Both are gravel and not maintained in the winter."
MassWildlife's parking layer shows no lot for Hubbardston WMA.
Highways within five miles: MA 2, MA 68, MA 62, MA 101 and MA 140. Distances to the nearest town centers: Gardner 5 miles, Westminster 6 miles, Templeton 6 miles and Princeton 6 miles. Other WMAs nearby: Savage Hill (6 miles), Phillipston (6 miles), Stone Bridge (6 miles).
When can you hunt deer on Hubbardston WMA in 2026?
Deer seasons follow Zone 5: archery October 5 to November 28, shotgun November 30 to December 12, primitive firearms December 14 to 31. In 2025 the zone gave 337 deer to archers and 411 in shotgun season.
| Zone | WMA acres in it | Deer, 2025 | Adult males, 2025 | Deer, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 5 | 391 | 917 | 541 | 798 |
Seasons: MassWildlife deer hunting regulations (2026 dates). Harvest: MassWildlife 2025 Deer Harvest Summary; MassWildlife 2024 Deer Harvest Summary.
What rules apply on Hubbardston 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 Hubbardston WMA?
Yes. MassWildlife says all WMAs are open to hunting, fishing and trapping; deer seasons follow Zone 5, where the 2026 shotgun season runs November 30 to December 12 (MassWildlife WMA regulations).
What zone is Hubbardston WMA in?
Zone 5, as MassWildlife's fact sheet gives it. Hunters took 917 deer in Zone 5 in 2025, 541 of them adult males, after 798 in 2024 (MassWildlife 2025 Deer Harvest Summary).
How do you get into Hubbardston WMA?
MassWildlife's fact sheet: "There are two main access points with parking, one off of Old Westminster Road and the second off of Route 68. Both are gravel and not maintained in the winter."
What can you hunt on Hubbardston WMA?
MassWildlife's fact sheet: "The WMA portion of this DCR property is a pheasant-stocked area with birds released at least once per week during the season. The beaver wetlands provide jump shooting opportunities for waterfowl. Areas that were previously cut now provide thick cover for eastern cottontails and browse for white-tailed deer. Cunningham Pond is a shallow impoundment that has been enlarged by American beavers damming the spillway."
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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).