Alabama Hunting

Each person receiving an Alligator Possession Tag will be allowed to harvest one (1) alligator. Alligators harvested in the Lake Eufaula Zone must be a minimum of eight (8) feet in length.

Legal hunting hours for deer are 30 minutes before official sunrise time until 30 minutes after official sunset time

Rifles using centerfire, mushrooming ammunition.

• Pre-charged pneumatic air powered guns, .30 caliber or larger.
• Pre-charged pneumatic arrow shooting rifles using an arrow equipped with a broadhead which has a minimum cutting diameter of 7/8 inch and 2 sharpened edges.
• Shotguns, 10 gauge or smaller using buckshot, slugs, or single round ball.
• Muzzleloaders and Black Powder Handguns: .40 caliber or larger.
• Long bows, compound bows, or crossbows in conformance with regulation 220-2-.03.
• Handguns or pistols using centerfire, mushrooming ammunition.
• Hunting with fully automatic firearms is prohibited.

Three per hunter during all combined seasons. One of the three must have at least 4 antler points 1” or longer on one antler (except for Barbour County). A point is defined as an antler projection of at least one inch in length from base to tip. Main beam tip shall be counted as a point regardless of length.

During the Unantlered Deer Gun, Special Muzzleloader, Bow and Arrow, and Special Youth (under 16) Seasons, one unantlered deer may be taken each day in addition to one antlered buck each day.

During dates and in areas open by regulation to gun deer season, including youth deer season and muzzleloader deer season, all persons hunting any wildlife species, except foxes, raccoons and opossoms during legal nighttime hours or turkey or migratory birds (including crows), are required to wear an outer garment above the waist with a minimum of 144 square inches of hunter orange or either a full size hunter orange hat or cap. Hunters are not required to wear hunter orange when hunting from a stand elevated twelve (12) feet or more from the ground, when hunting in an enclosed box stand, when traveling in an enclosed vehicle, or when traveling on foot no more than twenty feet directly between an operating enclosed vehicle and a stand where the hunter is exempt from the hunter orange requirement. The hunter orange must be worn when traveling on foot between an operating enclosed vehicle and exempt stand when the distance is more than a direct distance of twenty feet. A small logo and/or printing is permitted on the front of hunter orange caps; otherwise, hunter orange must be of solid color and visible from any angle. Only hunter orange, commonly called blaze orange, ten mile cloth, etc., is legal. The various shades of red as well as camo orange are not legal.

1. DEER: Stalk Hunting – Centerfire rifles using mushrooming and/or expanding type ammunition, pre-charged pneumatic arrow shooting rifles using an arrow equipped with a broadhead which has a minimum cutting diameter of 7/8” and two (2) sharpened edges, pre-charged pneumatic air powered guns .30 caliber or larger, shotguns using slugs or single round balls, muzzle-loading firearms .40 caliber or larger, centerfire handguns with a minimum of 4 inch barrel length using mushrooming and/or expanding type ammunition. All applicable laws regarding possessing and carrying handguns must be followed.
2. DEER: Stalk Hunting – Primitive Weapons Hunt – Muzzle-loading rifles or muzzle-loading handguns .40 caliber or larger, muzzle-loading shotguns, pre-charged pneumatic arrow shooting rifles using an arrow equipped with a broadhead which has a minimum cutting diameter of 7/8” and two (2) sharpened edges, pre-charged pneumatic air-powered guns .30 caliber or larger, or bow and arrow (including crossbow).
3. DEER: Stalk Hunting – Archery – bow and arrow (including crossbows): Conforming to the provisions of Rule 220-2-.03.
4. DEER: Dog Hunts – Shotguns using buckshot only.

1. Trap Specifications –It shall be unlawful for any person to set or use a leg hold trap on land that has an inside diameter jaw spread greater than six (6) inches as measured at the widest point perpendicular to the frame and parallel to the trap dog and for those traps without a dog, at the widest point parallel with the pan shank. Leg hold trap having teeth or serrated edges along the inside of one or both jaws are prohibited. All body-gripping traps with jaw width exceeding 5 inches as measured from the inside of the main jaw at the trigger assembly to the inside of the opposing jaw across the entrance window, and snares (except powered foot snare with a maximum loop of 5 1/2 inches) are prohibited for use in trapping fur-bearing animals on land. It shall be unlawful for any person to trap in the State of Alabama without identifying each trap with a metal tag bearing the name and address or Conservation Identification Number (CID) of the owner. Instructions for obtaining a CID are available at www.outdooralabama.com.
2. Any person trapping fur-bearing animals, except for feral swine, in the State of Alabama must carry a choke stick while running traps. When trapped fur-bearing animals are dispatched with a firearm, only standard .22 caliber rimfire firearms may be used. However, feral swine may be dispatched by any firearm or sharpened
3. It shall be illegal to set a trap on top of a post or stake elevated above ground level.
4. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess a furbearer alive beyond the confines of the trap without a permit from the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources or his designee. Except for feral swine,
5. All furbearers shall be immediately dispatched or released at the trap site. All feral swine must be killed at the site of capture in accordance with rule 220-2- .86.
6. It shall be unlawful for any person to disturb a legally set trap or to remove a fur-bearing animal from a trap without permission of the owner.

The following shall be named and designated as fur-bearing animals in Alabama: Beaver, Bobcat, Fox, Mink, Muskrat, Nutria, Opossum, Otter, Raccoon, Striped Skunk, Coyote, and Feral Swine.

• Rifles of any caliber.
• Handguns or pistols.
• Shotguns, 10 gauge or smaller.
• Pre-charged pneumatic air-powered guns, .30 caliber or larger.
• Long bows, compound bows, or crossbows.
• Muzzleloaders and black powder handguns of any caliber.
• Pre-charged pneumatic arrow shooting rifles using an arrow equipped with a broadhead which has a minimum cutting diameter of 7/8 inch and 2 sharpened edges.
• Spear or sharpened blade.
• Raptors by properly permitted falconers.

Shotguns using No. 2 shot or smaller and bow and arrow (including crossbows).

15 a day in both North and South zones.

3 a day

Shooting Hours: One-half hour before Sunrise to Sunset

8 a day

Shooting Hours: One-half hour before Sunrise to Sunset.

8 a day. *Contingent upon federal register.

15 a day

By Limited Quota Permit only. Must apply online at www.outdooralabama.com. Must be sixteen (16) years of age or older and an Alabama resident or an Alabama lifetime hunting license holder to apply. Hunting Zone will be that area North of Interstate 20 from the Georgia state line to the interchange with 65, then East of Interstate 65 to the interchange with Interstate 22, then North of Interstate 22 to the Mississippi state line. Excludes the remainder of the state. Limit 3 per person per permit. Shooting hours: Sunrise to Sunset. Legal arms and ammunition are same as waterfowl.

It shall be unlawful to hunt all protected animals during nighttime hours except as otherwise provided by law or rule promulgated by the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources. Legal hunting hours for all game animals during the open season for same shall be daylight hours only, with the following exceptions: fox may be hunted during nighttime hours with light and dogs only; raccoon and opossum may be hunted during nighttime hours with the use of a light and legal arms and ammunition as provided in rule 220-2-.02 when hunter or hunters are accompanied by dog or dogs free of leash; and coyote and feral swine may be hunted during nighttime hours during the applicable special nighttime season.

• Rifles using rimfire ammunition or those operated by air.
• Muzzleloaders and black powder handguns of any caliber.
• Long bows, compound bows, or crossbows.
• Shotguns, 10 gauge or smaller, using standard No. 4 shot or smaller.
• Handguns or pistols.
• Blowguns using darts propelled by the hunter’s breath only.
• Slingshots.

8 a day — 8 in possession

8 a day — 8 in possession

8 a day — 8 in possession

Shotguns using No. 2 shot or smaller and bow and arrow (including crossbows).

Legal hunting hours for game birds during the open season shall be daylight hours only (30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset), except as otherwise provided by law or regulation.

Limit One a Day, Four During Combined Fall and Spring Seasons.

All licensed hunters who hunt doves, woodcock, rails, snipe, coots, ducks, geese or sandhill cranes in Alabama are required by Federal law to obtain a Harvest Information Program (HIP) permit prior to hunting. The HIP program provides improved data collection on these species. This will allow hunting seasons for the various species to be set in an objective and efficient manner while maintaining healthy populations. HIP permits are free and are available wherever hunting licenses are sold. It takes a very short time to provide the requested information. In exchange for completing the HIP survey, you will receive proof of certification which must be in your possession while hunting migratory birds.

One-half hour before sunrise to sunset each day.

6 ducks a day and may include no more than 4 Mallards (no more than 2 of which can be female), 3 Wood Ducks, 1 Mottled Duck, 2 Black Ducks, 2 Redhead, 1 Pintail, 2 Canvasback and 1 Scaup.

The total bag limit of 5 dark geese (Canada, White- fronted, Brant) can not include more than 1 Brant. Additionally, a total bag limit of 5 light geese (Snow, Blue, Ross’s) may be harvested per day.

(Canada, White-fronted, Brant) – 5 a Day. The total bag limit of 5 shall not include more than 3 Canada Geese or 1 Brant.

(Snow, Blue, Ross’s) – The total bag limit shall be 5 a day.

5 a day, only 2 may be a Hooden Merganser

15 a day

The use of non-toxic shot, either (1) steel shot T size or smaller, or (2) other shot and sizes approved by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is required in Alabama for waterfowl hunting.