Deer Season in Lee, Collier and Charlotte: Dates, Zones and Antler Rules

Florida does not run one deer season. It runs four, by zone, and the zone you stand in decides your dates. Lee and Collier counties fall in Zone A. Charlotte County is split by FWC’s deer management unit lines, so check which side of the line your property or WMA is on before you read the dates below.

All dates here are the 2026-2027 resident season dates posted by FWC (FWC, retrieved Oct. 1, 2026). FWC states that these seasons, dates and bag limits do not apply to wildlife management areas, which publish their own hunt calendars.

Which zone are you in?

FWC describes the units by road and shoreline boundaries (FWC, retrieved Oct. 1, 2026). Reading those descriptions:

• DMU-A3 has its northern boundary at the Charlotte/Lee line on the coast, then follows the east shore of Charlotte Harbor and the east shore of the Peace River up to S.R. 70. Lee County lies inside it, as does the part of Charlotte County east of that harbor and river line.
• DMU-A2 runs from the coast at Golden Gate Parkway south, which covers the southwest Collier coast. Collier land north of Golden Gate Parkway and Tamiami Trail reads as A3.
• DMU-C1 takes over where A3 stops. Its southern edge follows the east shore of the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor to the Charlotte/Lee line. The western side of Charlotte County reads as C1, which is Zone C.

That is my reading of boundary text, not a map. FWC publishes a zone map for exactly this reason. Confirm your parcel on it.

Zone A dates (Lee, Collier, east Charlotte)

For antlered deer outside WMAs (FWC, retrieved Oct. 1, 2026):

• Archery: Aug. 1-30
• Crossbow: Aug. 1 to Sept. 4
• Muzzleloading gun: Sept. 5-18
• Youth deer hunt weekend: Sept. 12-13
• General gun: Sept. 19 to Oct. 18, then Nov. 21 to Jan. 3

Zone C dates (west Charlotte)

• Archery: Sept. 19 to Oct. 18
• Crossbow: Sept. 19 to Oct. 23
• Muzzleloading gun: Oct. 24 to Nov. 6
• Youth deer hunt weekend: Oct. 31 to Nov. 1
• General gun: Nov. 7 to Jan. 24

Antlerless deer are tighter

Antlerless means a deer without antlers or with antlers under 5 inches, excluding spotted fawns. The windows are shorter (FWC, retrieved Oct. 1, 2026):

• DMU-A2: archery and crossbow Aug. 1-9, youth weekend Sept. 12-13, general gun Nov. 21-22.
• DMU-A3: archery and crossbow Aug. 1-16, youth weekend Sept. 12-13, general gun Nov. 21-24.
• DMU-C1: general gun Nov. 21-29, plus the Zone C archery, crossbow, muzzleloader and youth dates above.

FWC’s DMU-A page also says antlerless deer may not be taken in DMU-A1, and that taking any deer is illegal in a defined part of Collier County: south of S.R. 84 (I-75), west of S.R. 29, north of U.S. 41 and east of the western boundary of Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve (FWC, retrieved Oct. 1, 2026).

Antler rules by unit

Hunters 16 and older may not take an antlered deer that fails the unit rule, in any season or by any method (FWC, retrieved Oct. 1, 2026).

• DMU-A2: at least one antler with at least 2 points, each point 1 inch or longer.
• DMU-A3 and DMU-C1: at least 3 points of 1 inch or longer on one antler, or a main beam of 10 inches or more.

Youth 15 and under may take one deer a year that misses the antler rule but has at least one antler 5 inches or longer, counted in the annual bag limit.

Bag limits and permits

The daily bag limit is 2 deer, the possession limit is 4, and the annual limit is 5 deer, of which only 2 can be antlerless (FWC, retrieved Oct. 1, 2026). Deer taken under the private-land antlerless, Private Lands Deer Management and Deer Depredation permit programs are excluded from those limits.

You need a hunting license plus a deer permit, and the matching season permit (archery, crossbow or muzzleloading gun) during those seasons. Prices are in our hunting license cost guide.

Two cautions

The deer dog training seasons and special hunts are separate lists. Read the FWC page before you scout, and treat this post as a pointer to the right page.