Winter Edition 2025

Hunter Highlights is published by the Connecticut DEEP Wildlife Division. Please share the newsletter with others to help spread awareness about hunting and trapping in Connecticut!

Connecticut hunters looking to flush some pheasants.

2026 Hunting and Trapping Guide Now Available

The 2026 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide is now available on the DEEP website. Limited quantities of the printed version should now be available at town halls and vendors that sell hunting and fishing licenses.

A PDF of the printed version of the guide, which can be downloaded to a mobile device and accessed while out in the field, is also available. 2026 licenses, permits, and stamps are currently on sale on DEEP's Online Outdoor Licensing System.

Hunters and trappers are encouraged to use the online guide to keep up to date with any regulation changes that might occur during the year.

View the 2026 Guide . . .

In 2025, DEEP acquired 643 acres in Killingly, Connecticut, with the intent to establish a new wildlife management area (WMA).

Habitat and Hunting Area Update

Habitat Management: 

• A 14-acre field and surrounding edges are being restored at Robbins Swamp WMA through invasive plant management and the planting of native speckled alder to enhance woodcock habitat. Wildlife observed using the field last year included cottontails and several broods of wild turkey foraging on insects. Additionally, entomologists from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station studying bees at the site documented a solitary bee (Macropis patellata) nectaring on mountain mint: the first record of this species in Connecticut since 1918!
      
• The former Gallup property at 860 Pendleton Hill Road in Voluntown, acquired in 2018 with Recreation and Natural Heritage Trust Funds as an addition to Pachaug State Forest, is now open to hunting. The 162-acre property features open fields, woodlands, a pond, and scenic views, and is open for all forms of hunting permitted in Pachaug State Forest.
    
• DEEP’s recent 643-acre acquisition on Bailey Hill Road in Killingly is moving closer to opening for public use. Since April, staff have completed boundary marking, dam safety inspections, and a site designation review that included a hunting safety and season framework, while also initiating fish and wildlife surveys. The property is expected to open in the coming months once all public safety concerns are addressed and a designated parking area is in place, creating new opportunities for hunting, fishing, and other compatible outdoor recreation.

White-tailed deer photo courtesy of Matt Balnis.

2025 Deer Harvest Highlights

Deer harvest totals from September 15 through December 31 have remained relatively consistent over the past five years, and the most recent season fits well within that long-term pattern.

In 2025, nearly 9,900 deer were reported harvested (an increase from 2024 and above the five-year average), pointing to strong hunter participation and generally favorable conditions. Archery continues to account for the largest share of the annual harvest and once again led all methods in 2025. Firearms harvests on private land also played a significant role this past season and contributed much of the year-to-year increase, while harvests on state land and during muzzleloader seasons remained smaller but steady components of the overall total.

At the town level, Lebanon (235), Coventry (183), and Mansfield (178) recorded the highest overall harvest numbers in 2025. Firearms harvests were led by Lebanon (155), Coventry (128), and Woodstock (113), while archery harvests were highest in Newtown (105), Mansfield (85), and Lebanon (80). Taken together, these trends show that Connecticut’s deer seasons continue to provide dependable hunting opportunities while supporting effective, statewide deer population management.

Each year, over 100 students from across Connecticut submit their artwork for the chance to be featured on the Connecticut Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp. 

Calling All Young Artists 

Connecticut students, kindergarten through grade 12, can support wetland conservation in Connecticut by entering the 2026 Junior Conservation (Duck) Stamp Art Competition.

To enter, all you have to do is create and submit a drawing or painting featuring native waterfowl (ducks or geese). There is no cost, and submissions must be postmarked by March 15, 2026.

This competition is intended to increase conservation awareness among young people. The “Best in Show” winner will have their art featured as the 2027 Connecticut Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp! The winning submission will also be entered in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest.

99% of every dollar of each Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp purchased is spent to protect and enhance homes for migratory birds like the American black duck, red-winged blackbird, and great blue heron. The other one percent produces the lovely stamps that come with the $17 investment in our cherished wetlands.

Since its creation in 1993, the Connecticut Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp Program has contributed and leveraged over $4 MILLION towards wetland protection and restoration in the State!

Details on how to submit . . .

Small game hunting often tends to be underutilized despite the potential of being very productive. 

Seasonal Recipes: Squirrel Dumplings

Looking for a hearty, traditional wild game recipe to make the most of your harvest? This squirrel and dumplings dish is rich, comforting, and a great way to showcase small game in the kitchen. The tender squirrel meat pairs beautifully with simple dumplings and vegetables for a rustic meal that is perfect after a long day outdoors.

More on cooking with wild game . . . 

Local hunter Timothy Clark. 

Hunter Profile: Timothy Clark

Would you like to be our next featured hunter?! If so, please send us a short write-up (500 words or so) about yourself and a photo to deep.ctwildlife@ct.gov, and you may be featured in our next issue!

I came to hunting late in life, but I’m doing my best to make up for lost time. While I didn’t start hunting until my 20s, I knew that I wanted to hunt as far back as I can remember. Growing up, my dad would tell stories of bird hunting and fishing with his dad throughout Connecticut. Fortunately, I shared many weekends in a trout stream with him, but some things don’t pass down. For him his days of hunting were relegated to stories told. But it was those tales of pre-dawn alarms, cold mornings in the blind, and working through the woods, no matter the conditions, that drew me in. At the age of 13, I decided to make those stories my own when I purchased a compound bow and enrolled in a bowhunter education course. But as it turns out, even a stubborn teenager can be discouraged. I didn’t know anyone who hunted, couldn’t drive yet, and hadn’t the slightest idea of how to hunt. I never made it out into the woods.

More than 10 years later, I was finishing grad school when I realized that I would have both time and money for the first time in my life. No less stubborn than my younger self, I bought another bow and vowed to give hunting another shot. That season I was entirely unsuccessful. I’m not sure if I even saw a deer. The next season? The same. Exasperated, I did something entirely unreasonable. For my third season, I drew a pronghorn tag in Wyoming, where the success rate was 90%, which in my mind was as good as guaranteed. So, I traveled to the Cowboy State, camped on BLM land, and killed my first pronghorn. I felt all the things that a hunter feels when successful: joy for achieving something that seemed impossible, sorrow for taking a life, and gratitude for the many meals to come. Later that fall, I got my first whitetail with a bow.

Even though I was successful that fall, and have been every season since, I always have felt that I’m up against the odds. You see, living in a big city comes with many upsides, but it makes hunting a challenge. A few years back, I began mentoring some first-time hunters from both Connecticut and New York. It hit me then that the barriers they faced – lack of community to learn from, logistically difficult, and not knowing where to start – were the same barriers I faced as a teenager. 

And so, alongside some fellow hunters from the city, we founded Kinfolk Hunting Collective – an organization working to ensure the future of hunting and conservation by growing an inclusive hunting community through mentorship and hands-on education. While our mentored hunts lay the foundation, our long-term mission will be realized through the stories told of cold mornings, the memorable hunts, and the friends made. For our mentees, it’s these stories that make up for lost time.

Who We Are
The Wildlife Division is part of the Bureau of Natural Resources within the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). The Bureau is charged with managing the state’s natural resources (particularly fish, wildlife, and forests) through a program of research, management, public education, and regulation. The Wildlife Division is comprised of several programs, including the Conservation Education/Firearms Safety (CE/FS) Program, that work together to conserve and manage Connecticut's wildlife.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer that is committed to complying with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you are seeking a communication aid or service, have limited proficiency in English, wish to file an ADA or Title VI discrimination complaint, or require some other accommodation, including equipment to facilitate virtual participation, please contact the DEEP Office of Diversity and Equity at 860-418-5910 or by email at deep.accommodations@ct.gov. Any person needing an accommodation for hearing impairment may call the State of Connecticut relay number - 711. In order to facilitate efforts to provide an accommodation, please request all accommodations as soon as possible following notice of any agency hearing, meeting, program or event.

Follow Us on Social