New Jersey deer hunting: zones, harvest and 2026-27 seasons
New Jersey hunters took 38,438 deer in the 2025-26 seasons, 17,881 of them antlered. Fall bow hunters took the most, 13,031. For 2026-27 each Deer Management Zone follows a High, Medium or Low regulation set, and the six-day firearm season runs December 7 to 12, 2026.
Data updated October 2026. Harvest: NJFW 2025-26 New Jersey Total Deer Harvest; NJFW Historic Deer Harvests, 1972 to 2025. Seasons: NJFW Deer Seasons 2026-27.
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When are New Jersey's 2026-27 deer seasons?
| Season | High zones | Medium zones | Low zones |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall bow | September 12 to October 2 (first deer must be antlerless, except youth license holders), then October 3 to 30, 2026 | September 12 to October 2 (first deer must be antlerless, except youth license holders), then October 3 to 30, 2026 | October 3 to 30, 2026 |
| Youth archery day | September 26, 2026 | September 26, 2026 | September 26, 2026 |
| Permit bow | October 31 to December 24 and December 26 to 31, 2026 | October 31 to December 24 and December 26 to 31, 2026 | October 31 to November 29, 2026 (closed in zones 45 and 46) |
| Youth firearm day | November 21, 2026 | November 21, 2026 | November 21, 2026 |
| Six-day firearm | December 7 to 12, 2026 | December 7 to 12, 2026 | December 7 to 12, 2026 |
| Permit muzzleloader | Antlerless only November 23 to 25, 27 and December 7 to 12; either sex November 30, December 1, 14 to 24 and 26 to 31, 2026 and January 1 to February 20, 2027 | November 30, December 1, 14 to 24 and 26 to 31, 2026 and January 1 to 9, 2027 | November 30, December 1, 14, 15, 19 to 24 and 26 to 31, 2026 and January 1 to 9, 2027 (closed in zones 45 and 46) |
| Permit shotgun | Antlerless only November 23 to 25, 27 and December 7 to 12, 2026; either sex December 14 to 18, 2026 and January 1 to February 20, 2027 | December 14 to 18, 2026 and January 1 to 16, 2027 | December 16 to 18, 2026 (closed in zones 45 and 46) |
| Winter bow | January 1 to February 20, 2027 | January 1 to 31, 2027 | January 1 to 31, 2027 |
High zones: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 36, 41, 42, 48, 49, 50 and 51. Medium: 2, 5, 6, 16, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 35 and 47. Low: 1, 3, 4, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 30, 34, 43, 45, 46, 55, 63 and 65. In zones 3, 9, 13, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 47 and 63 an antlered deer needs at least 3 points on one side.
Sources: NJFW Deer Seasons 2026-27; NJFW 2026-27 Deer Season Regulation Sets Reference Chart.
How many deer are taken in New Jersey each year?
| Season | Antlered | Antlerless | All deer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 17,881 | 20,557 | 38,438 |
| 2024-25 | 16,948 | 22,307 | 39,255 |
| 2023-24 | 16,186 | 19,387 | 35,573 |
| 2022-23 | 16,289 | 22,035 | 38,324 |
| 2021-22 | 15,932 | 20,855 | 36,787 |
| 2020-21 | 21,675 | 33,305 | 54,980 |
| 2019-20 | 18,852 | 26,798 | 45,650 |
| 2018-19 | 21,545 | 29,316 | 50,861 |
| 2017-18 | 20,082 | 28,463 | 48,545 |
| 2016-17 | 19,889 | 29,357 | 49,246 |
Source: NJFW Historic Deer Harvests, 1972 to 2025.
New Jersey's Deer Management Zones
The most deer in 2025-26 came from Zone 12 (2,998), Zone 8 (2,581) and Zone 5 (2,234).
| Zone | 2026-27 rules | Square miles | Deer, 2025-26 | Deer, 2024-25 | Public land |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 | Low | 73 | 500 | 493 | 40.4% |
| Zone 2 | Medium | 180 | 1,597 | 1,565 | 13% |
| Zone 3 | Low | 198 | 566 | 430 | 31.7% |
| Zone 4 | Low | 76 | 549 | 450 | 87.8% |
| Zone 5 | Medium | 245 | 2,234 | 2,223 | 12.9% |
| Zone 6 | Medium | 184 | 952 | 769 | 22% |
| Zone 7 | High | 133 | 1,418 | 1,377 | 8.3% |
| Zone 8 | High | 262 | 2,581 | 2,567 | 10.1% |
| Zone 9 | High | 79 | 369 | 320 | 5.4% |
| Zone 10 | High | 140 | 2,047 | 2,045 | 1.6% |
| Zone 11 | High | 80 | 1,151 | 1,164 | 5.2% |
| Zone 12 | High | 223 | 2,998 | 3,493 | 4.3% |
| Zone 13 | High | 225 | 991 | 929 | 6.8% |
| Zone 14 | High | 320 | 1,443 | 1,615 | 4.4% |
| Zone 15 | High | 110 | 1,072 | 1,090 | 8.5% |
| Zone 16 | Medium | 129 | 811 | 809 | 6.3% |
| Zone 17 | High | 104 | 954 | 973 | 4% |
| Zone 18 | Low | 89 | 359 | 368 | 29.9% |
| Zone 19 | High | 193 | 1,344 | 1,572 | 6.2% |
| Zone 21 | Low | 207 | 388 | 391 | 55.9% |
| Zone 22 | Low | 130 | 155 | 149 | 32% |
| Zone 23 | Low | 202 | 488 | 541 | 69.3% |
| Zone 24 | Low | 167 | 162 | 221 | 60.6% |
| Zone 25 | Medium | 193 | 1,028 | 1,132 | 1.7% |
| Zone 26 | Low | 217 | 667 | 567 | 21.3% |
| Zone 27 | Medium | 121 | 668 | 707 | 6.2% |
| Zone 28 | Medium | 151 | 698 | 819 | 8.2% |
| Zone 29 | Medium | 113 | 594 | 634 | 19% |
| Zone 30 | Low | 108 | 302 | 310 | 32.3% |
| Zone 31 | Medium | 48 | 236 | 307 | 15.4% |
| Zone 34 | Low | 331 | 384 | 415 | 36.8% |
| Zone 35 | Medium | 223 | 1,014 | 1,177 | 0.7% |
| Zone 36 | High | 763 | 1,060 | 1,029 | 0.7% |
| Zone 39 | Special Area | 17 | 93 | 120 | 0% |
| Zone 41 | High | 47 | 553 | 696 | 14.1% |
| Zone 42 | High | 218 | 370 | 332 | 17% |
| Zone 43 | Low | 29 | 126 | 169 | 68.3% |
| Zone 45 | Low | 71 | 154 | 73 | 50% |
| Zone 46 | Low | 86 | 173 | 93 | 45.8% |
| Zone 47 | Medium | 78 | 213 | 210 | 3.8% |
| Zone 48 | High | 115 | 783 | 723 | 2% |
| Zone 49 | High | 235 | 654 | 671 | 0.1% |
| Zone 50 | High | 293 | 1,821 | 1,673 | 2% |
| Zone 51 | High | 351 | 882 | 940 | 9.9% |
| Zone 54 | Special Area | 9 | 45 | 32 | 0.2% |
| Zone 55 | Low | 6 | 42 | 58 | 56.2% |
| Zone 61 | Special Area | 8 | 23 | 20 | 0% |
| Zone 63 | Low | 45 | 144 | 174 | 17.8% |
| Zone 64 | Special Area | 3 | 45 | 20 | 98.4% |
| Zone 65 | Low | 28 | 203 | 157 | 58.6% |
| Zone 66 | Special Area | 8 | 31 | 24 | 0% |
| Zone 67 | Special Area | 18 | 85 | 86 | 98.4% |
| Zone 68 | Special Area | 18 | 49 | 78 | 1.5% |
Harvest: NJFW 2025-26 New Jersey Total Deer Harvest. Rules: NJFW 2026-27 Deer Season Regulation Sets Reference Chart. Public land measured by FilledTag from USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US 4.1).
How much of New Jersey is public hunting ground?
16.7% of New Jersey is state or federal land: state forest and park land 366,016 acres, Fish and Wildlife land (WMAs) 354,553 acres, national wildlife refuge 74,187 acres and National Park Service 35,391 acres. NJFW says the state has more than 750,000 acres of state land open to deer hunters.
Wildlife Management Areas with their own page
- Abbotts Meadow, 1,490 acres
- Absecon, 3,811 acres
- Alexauken Creek, 587 acres
- Alpha Grasslands, 129 acres
- Andaloro, 53 acres
- Assunpink, 6,085 acres
- Bear Swamp, 3,009 acres
- Beaver Brook, 653 acres
- Beaver Swamp, 3,055 acres
- Berkshire Valley, 1,941 acres
- Black River, 3,042 acres
- Buckhorn Creek, 766 acres
- Buckshutem, 4,091 acres
- Budd Lake, 75 acres
- Butterfly Bogs, 164 acres
- Cape Island, 442 acres
- Cape May Coastal Wetlands, 19,045 acres
- Capoolong Creek, 80 acres
- Cedar Lake, 387 acres
- Clarks Pond, 324 acres
- Clinton, 2,298 acres
- Cohansey River, 1,358 acres
- Colliers Mills, 13,390 acres
- Columbia, 1,159 acres
- Cox Hall Creek, 303 acres
- DOD Ponds, 342 acres
- Dennis Creek, 7,667 acres
- Dix, 5,229 acres
- Egg Island, 8,139 acres
- Elmer Lake, 408 acres
- Featherbed Lane, 188 acres
- Flatbrook Roy, 2,025 acres
- Glassboro, 2,337 acres
- Great Bay Boulevard, 5,905 acres
- Great Egg Harbor River, 8,462 acres
- Greenwood Forest, 29,570 acres
- Gumtree Corner, 1,168 acres
- Hainesville, 494 acres
- Hamburg Mountain, 5,248 acres
- Hammonton Creek, 6,092 acres
- Harrisonville Lake, 223 acres
- Heislerville, 7,380 acres
- Higbee Beach, 1,095 acres
- Honey Run, 134 acres
- Ken Lockwood Gorge, 549 acres
- Lockatong, 768 acres
- Logan Pond, 115 acres
- Mad Horse Creek, 9,256 acres
- Makepeace Lake, 11,546 acres
- Malibu Beach, 257 acres
- Manahawkin, 1,060 acres
- Manasquan River, 758 acres
- Manchester, 3,316 acres
- Mantua Creek, 111 acres
- Maple Lake, 4,696 acres
- Maskells Mills Pond, 1,125 acres
- Medford, 220 acres
- Menantico Ponds, 1,815 acres
- Millville, 16,162 acres
- Musconetcong River, 1,581 acres
- Nantuxent, 1,209 acres
- New Sweden, 2,443 acres
- Paulinskill River, 2,361 acres
- Peaslee, 29,097 acres
- Pemberton Lake, 82 acres
- Penbryn Pond, 339 acres
- Pequest, 5,419 acres
- Pleasant Run, 615 acres
- Port Republic, 1,556 acres
- Prospertown Lake, 1,098 acres
- Raccoon Creek, 227 acres
- Rainbow Lake, 181 acres
- Rockaway River, 3,975 acres
- Salem River, 2,758 acres
- Sedge Island, 205 acres
- South Branch, 1,794 acres
- Sparta Mountain, 3,373 acres
- Stafford Forge, 16,622 acres
- Swan Bay, 4,095 acres
- Thundergut Pond, 2,222 acres
- Trout Brook, 1,981 acres
- Tuckahoe, 20,243 acres
- Turkey Swamp, 3,793 acres
- Union Lake, 5,314 acres
- Upper Barnegat Bay, 416 acres
- Van Nest, 95 acres
- Wading River, 159 acres
- Walpack, 354 acres
- Weldon Brook, 1,568 acres
- White Lake, 552 acres
- White Oak Branch, 2,655 acres
- Whiting, 1,193 acres
- Whittingham, 1,969 acres
- Wildcat Ridge, 6,075 acres
- Winslow, 8,507 acres
Questions hunters ask
When is deer season in New Jersey in 2026-27?
It depends on the zone's regulation set. In every set the youth archery day is September 26, the youth firearm day November 21 and the six-day firearm season December 7 to 12, 2026. Fall bow opens September 12 in High and Medium zones and October 3 in Low zones; winter bow runs into January or February 2027 (NJFW Deer Seasons 2026-27).
How many deer were taken in New Jersey in 2025-26?
38,438: 17,881 antlered and 20,557 antlerless, after 39,255 in 2024-25 (NJFW Historic Deer Harvests, 1972 to 2025). The most came from Zone 12 (2,998), Zone 8 (2,581) and Zone 5 (2,234).
Can you hunt deer on Sunday in New Jersey?
Only during archery seasons, and only on WMAs and private property; Sunday hunting is not allowed in state parks and forests (NJFW Deer Seasons 2026-27; NJFW Public Hunting Land for Deer (2026 Digest)).
What is a regulation set?
NJFW groups its deer zones into High, Medium and Low regulation sets, each with its own season dates and bag limits. High zones allow unlimited antlerless deer in most seasons; Low zones allow two deer per season, only one antlered (NJFW 2026-27 Deer Season Regulation Sets Reference Chart).
Get a New Jersey hunt plan when they open
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Until then, the free FilledTag app for iPhone has a map that works in every state, New Jersey included.
Where these numbers come from
- Seasons: NJFW Deer Seasons 2026-27; NJFW 2026-27 Deer Season Regulation Sets Reference Chart; NJFW Special Area Deer Hunting Regulations. WMA rules: NJFW Wildlife Management Area Regulations.
- Harvest: NJFW 2025-26 New Jersey Total Deer Harvest; NJFW Historic Deer Harvests, 1972 to 2025; NJFW White-tailed Deer Harvest by County, 2021-22 to 2025-26.
- Zones: NJDEP Deer Management Zones (DMZ) in New Jersey. WMAs: NJDEP State Owned Open Space (Wildlife Management Areas). Public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US 4.1).
FilledTag is not part of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Fish and Wildlife. NJFW's hunting pages are the final word on every rule.