MONTPELIER — The 2023-2024 migratory game bird hunting season dates and bag limits have been set by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.

A statewide Vermont open hunting season for resident Canada geese will occur Sept. 1-25. The daily bag limit is five Canada geese in the Connecticut River Zone and eight in the rest of the state during this September season. The September season is designed to help control Vermont’s resident Canada goose population prior to the arrival of Canada geese migrating south from Canada.

A second Canada goose hunting season for resident and migrant geese in the Lake Champlain and Interior Zones will be held Oct. 14-Nov. 27 with a daily bag limit of three Canada geese in the Lake Champlain Zone and Interior Vermont Zone.

Duck season this fall opens on Oct. 7 in the Lake Champlain and Interior Vermont Zones. The Lake Champlain Zone has a split season (Oct. 7-11 and Nov. 4-Dec. 28).

Scaup daily bag limits are a hybrid season this year. The Lake Champlain (Oct. 7-11 and Nov. 4-Dec. 8) and Interior (Oct. 7-Nov. 15) zones allow the harvest of one scaup daily. The remainder of the season you are allowed two scaup daily.

Vermont’s youth waterfowl hunting weekend will be Sept. 23 and 24. Resident and nonresident hunters 17 years of age or younger on those dates may hunt ducks and geese within the Lake Champlain and Interior Vermont Zones during this weekend while accompanied by an adult 18 or older. Both adult and youth must have Vermont hunting licenses. The adult may not hunt or carry a firearm. Youth ages 16 and 17 must have a Vermont Migratory Waterfowl tag and federal duck stamp.

Woodcock hunting season is Sept. 30-Nov. 13 statewide with a three-bird bag limit.

In addition to a hunting license, a waterfowl hunter 16 or older must carry a current federal duck stamp and Vermont Migratory Waterfowl tag to hunt waterfowl in Vermont. Federal stamps are sold at post offices, federal refuges, or online at www.fws.gov/birds/get-involved/duck-stamp/e-stamp.php.  State Migratory Waterfowl tags are available on Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s website and from license agents. The hunter must sign the federal duck stamp. 

All migratory game bird (woodcock, ducks and geese) hunters must also be registered with the Harvest Information Program (H.I.P.) in each state they hunt. You can register on Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s website or call toll-free 1-877-306-7091. After providing some basic information, you will receive your annual H.I.P. registration number, which is then recorded on your hunting license.

A printable copy of the Migratory Bird Syllabus can be downloaded from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s website (www.vtfishandwildlife.com) under “Hunt” – “Waterfowl.” A printed version also will be available from license agents and post offices in August.