2026–27 Missouri Squirrel Season Dates & Rules
Everything below is for the 2026–27 squirrel season and follows Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) regulations. Season dates, limits, and methods can shift year to year, so treat this as your planning sheet and confirm the fine print on mdc.mo.gov before opening day.
When Does Squirrel Season Start and End in Missouri?
Squirrel season in Missouri runs May 23, 2026 through February 15, 2027. The opener lands on the fourth Saturday in May, and the season stays open continuously — through summer, the entire fall, and into the middle of winter — for nearly nine months of legal hunting.
That long window is what makes squirrel such a useful season: it is open before turkey wraps up and still going after deer and duck have closed. If you are asking when does squirrel season end in Missouri, the answer is February 15, 2027. Dates are set annually, so confirm the current opener and closer on MDC before your first trip.
Missouri Squirrel Limit: Daily & Possession
The missouri squirrel season limit is straightforward:
- Daily limit: 10 squirrels.
- Possession limit: 20 squirrels.
Those limits cover eastern gray and fox squirrels combined — there is no separate count per species. The possession limit is the most you can have on hand after the first day afield. Limits are reviewed each year, so verify the current numbers on MDC before you hunt.
Which Squirrel Species Are Legal?
Missouri has two huntable squirrels, and both are fair game all season:
- Eastern gray squirrel — the smaller, silver-gray timber squirrel common in mature hardwoods and river bottoms.
- Fox squirrel — the larger, rusty-orange squirrel you will find along woodland edges, fencerows, and more open timber.
Both count toward the same 10-per-day bag and 20 possession limit. There is no separate season or tag for either species.
Permits & Shooting Hours
To hunt squirrel in Missouri you need a Small Game Hunting Permit (a Small Game Hunting and Fishing Permit and several other permit types are also valid). Hunter education is required for anyone born on or after January 1, 1967, unless they are hunting under an Apprentice Hunter Authorization.
MDC does not publish a single squirrel-specific shooting-hours line the way it does for some migratory birds, so we are not going to print a time that might be wrong. Confirm the current legal shooting hours, permit options, and any pricing on MDC before opening day.
The November Deer-Season Rule (Don't Get Caught)
This is the one rule squirrel hunters miss. During the November portion (and the antlerless portion, where open) of firearms deer season, squirrels may be hunted only with a .22 caliber or smaller rim-fire firearm, or a shotgun with shot no larger than No. 4. Your center-fire rifle or larger shot stays home for those dates.
Outside that deer-season overlap, legal methods are broad: rim-fire rifles and pistols, air guns, shotguns, bows, crossbows, atlatls, and slingshots are all permitted, and cage-type traps are legal during the open season with proper labeling and daily attendance. Always confirm the current methods and deer-season overlap dates on MDC.
Where and How to Hunt Missouri Squirrels
Dates get you legal; reading the timber fills the bag. Early in the May–June opener, squirrels feed heavily in the canopy — find a stand of shagbark hickory dropping cuttings and you have found dinner. Listen for the steady rain of chewed nut hulls and the bark-on-bark scramble, then glass the treetops before you ever raise the gun.
Two styles work all season: sit still against a wide trunk and let the woods settle until squirrels resume feeding, or still-hunt slowly along ridgelines and creek bottoms, pausing often. As leaves drop in fall, the shots get longer and a scoped .22 earns its keep; in the thick early-season canopy, a shotgun shines. Either way, a compact binocular turns a gray blur eighty feet up into a clean, ethical shot.
