Pennsylvania’s firearms deer season will open Saturday, Nov. 28, and run 16 straight days through Sunday, Dec. 13, after the Board of Game Commissioners gave final approval to the 2026-27 seasons.

The board rejected a proposal to move the opener to the Saturday before Thanksgiving, which would have started the season Nov. 21. The debate has run for years, since the 2019 shift away from the traditional Monday-after-Thanksgiving opener, and a bill in the state Senate had pushed to move it back.

The bigger structural change is Sundays. All 2026-27 seasons include the Sundays that fall between their start and end dates, and seasons that used to close on Saturdays now largely close on Sundays. The lone exception is migratory game birds, including waterfowl, woodcock and mourning doves, which get no Sunday hunting this year.

Statewide archery deer season runs Oct. 3 through Nov. 20 and again Dec. 26 through Jan. 24, 2027, with an earlier Sept. 19 start in the special-regulations units around Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Firearms bear runs Nov. 21 through 24.

Elk hunters get a new early October firearms segment, added to reduce crowding, alongside the September archery season and the later firearms and January seasons. Spring gobbler stays Sunday-free this year, with Sunday turkey hunting starting in 2027.