10 States Where Dogs Face the Most Hunting Season Exposure (and What Dog Families Can Do)

Quick answer: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Missouri, Minnesota, Virginia, North Carolina, and Idaho are the ten states I rank highest for hunting-season exposure, meaning the most chances for dogs and hunters to end up on the same ground. In several of them, deer seasons alone run for months, and coyote hunting or trapping can run longer. In every one, the same habits help: check your state's agency page, keep your PUP close, and make sure they're easy to see.

For the basics, start with our hunting season dog safety guide. To learn when seasons begin in general, see When Does Hunting Season Start?. This page answers the next question: where is the exposure highest?

How we ranked these states

The ranking measures exposure and opportunity for encounters between dogs and hunters. It does not measure reported dog deaths or injuries, and I didn't use incident counts to build it.

Here are the factors behind the order:

• Hunter numbers. How many people hunt in the state, and how many there are for the size of the state.
• Public land access. How much public land is open to hunting, where hikers and hunters can both be.
• Season length and structure. A short, packed gun season and a season spread over months create different kinds of exposure.
• Year-round seasons. Coyote hunting and trapping seasons that run outside the deer calendar.
• Sunday hunting. Whether the weekend day that used to be quiet is now open.
• Where suburbs meet wild land. How much neighborhoods, trails, and hunting ground overlap.
• Species-specific misidentification. Which game species a given dog's coat and shape might be mistaken for, such as deer, coyote, or bear.

The order comes from the research I compiled for this series, which compared those factors across states. License counts only capture people who buy licenses, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes that its own license data "does not represent the entirety of those who fished or hunted in a particular year." So treat the order as a guide to relative exposure, not a precise measurement. Under each state I list only what I could confirm on that state's own agency page.

Why does hunting-season exposure matter for dogs?

It matters because mistaken identity is a human-perception problem, not a story about bad people. In their 2015 white paper Mistaken for Game Hunting Accidents: A Human Factors Review, Kyle Wilson and Karl Bridges describe how expectancy and confirmation bias lead hunters to see what they expect to see. The authors note that these biases operate outside conscious awareness, and that experience doesn't necessarily prevent them.

Two documented incidents show how this can go. In January 2023 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, a deer hunter shot and killed an 8-year-old Alaskan Malamute mix named Hunter on a trail where his owner said both of his dogs wore colored harnesses. The Pennsylvania Game Commission said the hunter thought the dog was a coyote and that no game law violations were detected. A Game Commission spokesperson also told the Philadelphia Inquirer that dogs and their owners should wear fluorescent orange where hunters are present, and that hunters need to positively identify their target before shooting, which he called "a fundamental rule of hunting" (Inquirer report). In November 2023 in Adams County, Wisconsin, a 62-year-old hunter told the DNR he thought a dog was an antlerless deer and fired, and the 47-year-old woman walking the dog was hit (WEAU, WSAU).

I mention these because they are documented, not to scare you. Both happened to people walking dogs during an open season.

Land matters too. The U.S. Forest Service tells hunters to follow state hunting laws and reminds them that other visitors enjoy the forest as well (USFS). The National Park Service says only some of its units permit hunting, so check the specific park (NPS).

The ten states, ranked by hunting-season exposure

Here's the walk-through, state by state, starting with the most exposure. I pulled the main firearm deer dates from each state's own agency page, and those dates are for the 2026 season. Seasons can change, so open the agency page before you head out. A full guide for each state is coming.

1. Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is the state I rank highest for exposure, so if you walk your PUP there in the fall, plan for company. The main firearm deer window is Nov. 28-Dec. 13 (Pennsylvania Game Commission). The Game Commission also says all 2026-27 seasons include the Sundays that fall within their dates, with one exception for migratory game birds, so Sundays are in play too.

Here's a detail worth noticing. From Nov. 15 through Dec. 15, people on State Game Lands who aren't hunting or trapping must wear at least 250 square inches of fluorescent orange on the head, chest, and back combined, or a hat of the same orange material instead (58 Pa. Code § 135.41). That rule is for people, not dogs. But if the state wants the people out there to be seen, think about what that means for your PUP, who's walking the same ground.

2. Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, the gun deer season is short and busy: Nov. 21-29, a nine-day season (Wisconsin DNR). A muzzleloader season follows from Nov. 30 to Dec. 9. During a firearm deer season, hunters must wear at least 50% blaze orange or fluorescent pink on outer clothing above the waist (Wisconsin DNR). That is a rule for hunters, not for dogs, but it tells you something. If the people carrying the firearms are required to wear orange so they can be seen, your PUP deserves the same kind of visibility.

Some of the people who know these woods best are the ones who walk dogs through them every day. Tails N' Trails Pet Services is a Milwaukee-area guided dog hiking and boarding company and a SafetyPUP XD Adventure Pro that takes dog safety and high visibility seriously. Hiking with dogs in Wisconsin's woods is what they do for a living, and their own site lists a Milwaukee location.

3. Michigan

Michigan gives you a date you can circle. The regular firearm deer season is Nov. 15-30 (Michigan DNR), a 16-day season that starts on a fixed mid-November date. A large amount of DNR-managed land is open to hunting (see the table), so the trails you love may be the same ground hunters are using.

4. New York

In New York's Southern Zone, the regular season runs 23 consecutive days beginning the third Saturday in November, which is Nov. 21 this year (NYSDEC regulations). Hunters there must wear a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange or pink above the waist, visible from all directions, per the same page. Again, that's a hunter rule. Still, when the state spells out how much orange a person needs to be seen from every direction, it's worth asking how well your PUP can be seen from every direction.

5. Ohio

Ohio's shooting seasons stretch into the new year, so don't assume the woods go quiet after Thanksgiving. Deer gun week is Nov. 30-Dec. 6 (ODNR 2026-27 season dates). A youth gun weekend runs Nov. 21-22, another gun weekend Dec. 19-20, and muzzleloader season Jan. 2-5, 2027. Before any of those weekends, check that your PUP is wearing blaze orange, so the first thing anyone sees in the brush is a dog.

6. Missouri

In Missouri, the firearm season comes in several pieces, so one quiet weekend doesn't mean you're done. The November portion is Nov. 14-24 (Missouri Department of Conservation). After that come youth Nov. 27-29, late antlerless Dec. 5-13, and alternative methods Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2027. Put blaze orange on your PUP for every piece of the season, so your dog stands out from the treeline whichever weekend you hit the trail.

7. Minnesota

In Minnesota, you'll want the opener on your calendar. The firearm deer seasons run Nov. 7-22 (100 series) and Nov. 7-15 (200 series) (Minnesota DNR), and both series open on the same Saturday. Archery season runs Sept. 19 through Dec. 31, which means deer season there isn't only about the gun opener.

Here's how one Minnesota dog family handles it. Nilah A. wrote in an Amazon review of our Lite vest, "We use it while walking on trails in Minnesota in the woods so he's visible even while in deer season."

8. Virginia

In Virginia, the calendar depends on which county you're standing in, so a trail ten miles away can follow a different calendar than yours. The firearm deer season starts Nov. 14 and ends by county, from Dec. 12 in many western counties to Jan. 2 in others (Virginia DWR). Season dates and either-sex days differ by county, so look up your own. Either-sex days are days when hunters may legally take antlerless deer (does) as well as bucks. That matters to a dog family because a hunter isn't necessarily looking for antlers before deciding a shape is a deer, which removes one visual check that could otherwise help separate a brown dog from a deer. Either way, orange on your PUP is the answer.

9. North Carolina

North Carolina's gun season starts at different times depending on where you live, and it runs a long way into winter. Gun season starts by region (Oct. 17 in the northeastern and southeastern counties, Nov. 14 central, Nov. 21 northwestern, Nov. 28 western) and runs to Jan. 1, 2027 (NCWRC season dates). The statewide trapping season runs Oct. 1, 2026 to Feb. 28, 2027, per the same document, so it's worth knowing before you let your PUP wander off the trail.

10. Idaho

Idaho does things unit by unit, so the first job is finding your unit. Idaho sets general any-weapon deer seasons by unit: Units 8, 8A, 10, 10A, 12, 15, and 16 run Oct. 10-Nov. 3, and Units 16A, 17, 19, and 20 run Sept. 15-Nov. 20 (Idaho Fish and Game, 2026 Big Game Seasons and Rules). Find your unit in that booklet. The same booklet says Idaho Fish and Game classifies coyotes as predators that may be taken in any amount and at any time with a valid hunting or trapping license, so deer season isn't the only calendar to watch.

Quick reference table

Rank	State	Season type	Land notes	Agency page
1	Pennsylvania	Firearm deer, Nov. 28-Dec. 13	Game Commission owns and manages more than 1.5 million acres of State Game Lands for hunting and trapping	PGC
2	Wisconsin	Gun deer, Nov. 21-29	Over 6 million acres of public land, most open for hunting; 2.4 million acres in county forests	DNR
3	Michigan	Regular firearm deer, Nov. 15-30	4,523,453 acres of DNR-managed land open for public hunting	DNR
4	New York	Southern Zone regular season begins third Saturday in November	Wildlife Management Areas total around 250,000 acres	DEC
5	Ohio	Deer gun week, Nov. 30-Dec. 6	Division of Wildlife manages or cooperates in managing over 750,000 acres of wildlife lands	ODNR
6	Missouri	Firearm deer portions, Nov. 14-24 and later	More than 1,000 conservation areas totaling nearly 1 million acres	MDC
7	Minnesota	Firearm deer opens Nov. 7	1,521 Wildlife Management Areas covering 1.39 million acres	DNR
8	Virginia	Firearm deer from Nov. 14, end dates vary by county	Includes Public Access Lands for Sportsmen such as Coalfields (about 30,000 acres) and 40,000 acres open to hunting at Kerr Reservoir	DWR
9	North Carolina	Gun deer by region, all ending Jan. 1, 2027	Over 2,000,000 acres of public and private land managed for public hunting and trapping	NCWRC
10	Idaho	General any-weapon deer, unit by unit	National Parks, National Monuments, and state parks are closed to hunting, with listed exceptions	IDFG

Land figures are from the agency pages listed in the claims log and count different kinds of land in each state, so compare them with care.

Is hunting only a fall thing?

No. Fall is when most of us think about it, but several seasons run well beyond it.

Late fall into winter. North Carolina's gun deer season runs to Jan. 1, Missouri's alternative-methods portion runs through Jan. 5, and Ohio's muzzleloader season runs Jan. 2-5. In Pennsylvania, statewide archery deer season runs Oct. 3-Nov. 20 and again Dec. 26-Jan. 24, 2027.

Coyote and predator hunting. In Pennsylvania the coyote season has no closed season and no limit, and outside any big game season coyotes may be taken without wearing orange (Game Commission). Wisconsin lists coyote as an unlimited, year-round open season (Wisconsin DNR). Idaho allows coyotes to be taken at any time with a license, as noted above. I'll cover the other states in their own guides.

Spring turkey. Wisconsin's 2026 spring turkey periods ran from April 15 into late May (Wisconsin DNR), which puts hunters in the woods in spring. Check your own state's turkey dates.

Trapping. Pennsylvania's trapping season for coyote and fox runs Oct. 24 to Feb. 21, 2027 (PGC), and North Carolina's statewide trapping season runs Oct. 1 to Feb. 28, 2027 (NCWRC). If your dog gets caught in a trap, you need real release guidance, and Minnesota DNR's trapping and furbearers page is where to point yourself for it. Talk to your vet ahead of time, before trapping season, so you know what to do before you ever need it.

What can dog families do?

You can't control who else is in the woods, but you can change how you show up.

Make your dog easy to see. Blaze orange is the primary safety color, and yellow is a good alternative many dog families prefer. Color helps a PUP stand out in daylight, and retroreflective trim returns light from headlights and flashlights at dusk and after dark. Our blaze orange SafetyPUP XD Original Reflective Dog Vest is where I'd start. If you prefer yellow, the Urban vest comes in neon yellow, and the Soft-Shell vest comes in orange and neon yellow. For warm weather or warm regions, the Lite vest is breathable and made for warmer months, in blaze orange and fluorescent yellow. Wearing blaze orange gives your PUP the same visibility protection and precaution that most hunters take for themselves before stepping foot on those hunting grounds. For why both tan coats and black coats need help, see Deer-Colored Dogs and Black Dog Visibility.

Keep them close. A leash is the simplest tool. If your dog is off-leash somewhere it's legal, work on a rock-solid recall and keep them in sight. Thick cover can hide a dog quickly, and a bright vest makes your dog easier to spot.

Time your walks and pick your ground. Low light makes everything harder to identify, so take extra care at the edges of the day during a firearm season. Where a firearm season is short and busy, such as Wisconsin's nine-day gun season, I'd choose a place where hunting isn't allowed, or wait a week.

Know your local seasons and your land. Look up your state's agency page for the seasons that apply to the land you use, and read the trailhead signs. The land manager's rules matter as much as the state's.

Wear orange yourself. Wisconsin and New York require it of hunters, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission advises it for dogs and their owners where hunters are present.

Be aware of trapping. Know your agency's trapping page and your vet's emergency number, and keep your dog leashed where trapping is legal.

Frequently asked questions

 

Before you head out

Hunters and dog families can share the woods when we all know what's going on. The most useful thing you can do this week is open your state's agency page and see what's in season where you walk. Then gear up, keep your PUP close, and enjoy the trail.