Click here for hunting season dates.
HIP
You must register with the Harvest Information Program (HIP) every year by taking the HIP survey if you to hunt woodcock, snipe, coot, rails, ducks, or geese.
Regulations
Hunting hours
Hunting hours begin at sunrise and end at sunset on Wildlife Management Areas (WMA's) stocked with pheasant or quail, otherwise hunting hours begin ½ hour before sunrise and ends at sunset for all migratory birds.
Click here for a sunrise/sunset table.
Required licenses and permits
To hunt quail in Massachusetts you must have certain licenses and permits, which you can buy through MassFishHunt.
All migratory game bird hunters must register with the Harvest Information Program (HIP) each calendar year. Licensed woodcock, snipe, coot and waterfowl hunters must complete a HIP survey online at mass.gov/massfishhunt
Massachusetts residents:
- Hunting or sporting license
- HIP survey
Non-residents:
- Small game or big game license
- HIP survey
Bag limits
- 3 per day
- 9 in possession
Hunting zones
Wildlife management zones 1 - 14
Hunting implements
When hunting on WMA’s stocked with pheasant or quail, only shotguns and archery equipment are allowed.
Shotgun: Migratory game birds may be hunted with shotguns no larger than 10 gauge, fired from the shoulder. Shotguns capable of holding more than 3 shells may not be used unless plugged with a one-piece filler which limits the gun’s total capacity to 3 shells and which cannot be removed without disassembling the gun.
Archery equipment: Expanding broadheads are legal. Poisoned arrows, explosive tips, bows drawn by mechanical means are prohibited. Crossbows may be used by certain permanently disabled persons by permit only.
Hunter orange requirements
You must wear a hunter orange cap when hunting for woodcock on WMAs where pheasant or quail are stocked during the pheasant or quail season.
Tagging, transporting, and reporting requirements
Woodcock do not need to be individually reported.
Any migratory game birds not in the custody of the hunter must be tagged with the hunter’s signature, address, total number of birds by species, and dates such birds were killed. No person shall receive or have in custody another's migratory game birds unless such birds are properly tagged.
The head and one fully-feathered wing must remain attached to each migratory game bird while it is transported to the hunter’s home or preservation facility.
Hunting season framework
The Migratory Game Bird Laws and Regulations are developed by both the Federal and State government. These laws and regulations are set annually in the spring by the Fisheries and Wildlife Board. For bag and possession limits, season dates, and information about the Youth Waterfowl Hunt view the migratory game bird regulations.
Woodcock hunting regulations
This page is to be used as a reference, it is not the entire law and is subject to change. You can refer to the Migratory Game Bird Hunting regulations in the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, 321 CMR 3.02(2), the Code of Federal Regulations, 50 CFR 20 et seq and to several other provisions of the Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 131 for information about migratory game bird laws and regulations.