Louisiana Hunting

Deer Areas, Bear Areas and the other Louisiana rule maps

Private-land deer hunting in Louisiana runs on ten Deer Areas, each with its own archery, primitive, still-hunt and dog segments. Most areas allow six deer a season, but Area 4 stops at four and Area 10 at three. Black bears came back to the calendar as a lottery hunt: 41 permits across seven Bear Areas for December 5 to 20, 2026.

LDWF draws the Deer Area boundaries along highways, rivers and bayous, so 25 parishes are cut between two or more areas and the gun opener can change from one side of a road to the other. The parish counts above come from the area tables in the pamphlet; settle any boundary question on the LDWF map. LDWF Deer Area map

Duck, dove and CWD parish lists are read from road-line wording or a map image, so a parish on a line can fall on both sides. Sources: 2026-27 pamphlet, p. 16; LDWF Deer Area map; LDWF black bear lottery page; 2026-27 pamphlet, p. 30; 2026-27 pamphlet, p. 34; June 2, 2026 CWD map; LDWF recreational alligator page. Checked: pamphlet pages and web pages compared November 4, 2026.

Louisiana WMAs, refuges and forest at a glance

LDWF says it looks after more than 1.6 million acres of land and water as WMAs, refuges and conservation areas. Measured from the map layers, the WMA polygons alone cover about 1,129,474 acres, Kisatchie National Forest about 608,471 acres and the national wildlife refuges about 558,942 acres.

Another 16 areas on the LDWF and federal lists stay closed to hunting, among them Bussey Brake WMA and several state refuges; the public land hub names each with the reason given. Public land hub

Tile acres are the figure on each land record; parish acres are measured from GIS polygons and are not official totals. Sources: LDWF WMA, refuge and conservation area list; 2026-27 pamphlet, p. 47; 2026-27 pamphlet, p. 57. Checked: pamphlet pages and web pages compared November 4, 2026.

Six LDWF field offices and 64 parish guides

The Wildlife Division serves the parishes from six field offices (Minden, Monroe, Pineville, Lafayette, Lake Charles and Hammond), while enforcement agents answer to eight regional captains. Every parish page names its Deer Area or areas, turkey and bear status, duck and dove zone, CWD standing, public ground, office and captain.

Enforcement Division regions

LDWF lists St. Martin under Enforcement Region 4 and lower St. Martin under Region 6. Sources: LDWF Contact Us page; LDWF enforcement contacts. Checked: pamphlet pages and web pages compared November 4, 2026.

40 Louisiana species pages

Whitetails in all ten Deer Areas, ducks and geese in both zones, gobblers in three Turkey Areas, alligators by tag and lottery, black bears by permit only, and hogs, coyotes and armadillos open year-round in daylight. The protected entries (whooping crane, bear cubs and females with cubs, spotted fawns, turkey hens and migratory nongame birds) have their own pages explaining the rule.

Northern Bobwhite · Pheasant · Squirrel · Rabbit · Mourning Dove · Teal · Black-bellied Whistling Duck · Canada Goose · White-fronted Goose · Light Geese · American Woodcock · Wilson's Snipe · Rails · Gallinules · American Crow · Beaver · Bobcat · Gray Fox · Red Fox · Mink · Muskrat · Nutria · Virginia Opossum · Raccoon · River Otter · Skunk · Coyote · Nine-banded Armadillo · Pen-raised Game Birds · Whooping Crane · Black bear cubs · Spotted fawns · Turkey hens · Migratory nongame birds

Louisiana banquets, classes, services and ranges

83 hunting events are dated from November 4, 2026 on: Ducks Unlimited and NWTF banquets, hunter education classes, Wheelin' Sportsmen hunts and the LDWF lottery hunt dates on WMAs. The five service lists hold 469 businesses and offices.