PointsAfieldSeason2026–27

Delaware · MigratoryAmerican woodcock

Opens in 49 days
Season 2026-27
2 windows on one classification

Season windows

WindowDatesDays
Window 123 NOV – 06 DEC 202614d
Window 225 DEC 2026 – 24 JAN 202731d

As publishedNov 23 - Dec 6, 2026; Dec 25, 2026 - Jan 24, 2027

What you may take, and when

Take and hours

Bag limit
3 daily, 9 possession

License and requirements

HIP required
Required
Exceptions posted at the boundary

Final dates fall closest to (but are not an exact match for) 'Option 2' from DNREC's spring 2026 proposal document (first segment starts Nov 23 in the final guide vs Nov 25 in the proposal draft) - normal proposal-to-final refinement. Same standard federal-approval disclaimer as dove applies.

Where the birds are

Finding American woodcock in Delaware

Range and concentration

DNREC publishes no sub-state regional breakdown for woodcock. DNREC's own State Wildlife Action Plan landbirds page classifies American woodcock as having a shrinking distribution in Delaware (Tier 2 conservation priority, driven by invasive-plant spread degrading nesting cover) but names no specific region. Weather-surveillance-radar stopover research cited in Delaware's Wildlife Action Plan found consistently high migrant-bird density using significant portions of all three Delaware counties (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex) for stopover, not a concentration in any one of them, and Delaware's own singing-ground survey/breeding-bird-atlas materials name no county-level breakdown. One narrow habitat-type note exists. Woodcock is listed among species using Delaware's maritime forest habitat type, a small (about 1,716 acre) coastal habitat class concentrated near Cape Henlopen in Sussex County, but this is a minor habitat-type mention among many species, not a claim that maritime forest is where Delaware's woodcock concentrate. Every source frames the distribution as statewide or all-three-county, so it is genuinely uniform rather than merely undocumented.

Population outlook

Delaware 2026

Awaiting survey — Delaware 2026
Issuing agencyDelaware Division of Fish and Wildlife (DNREC)dnrec.delaware.gov/fish-wildlifeRecord year 2026
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