When Is Duck Season in Washington State: Limits and Licenses

Duck season in Washington state for 2025-2026 runs October 11 through October 19, then reopens October 22 and continues through January 25, 2026, with the dates set statewide by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife within federal frameworks. Scaup are the one species on a different clock: the scaup season is closed from October 11 through October 31 and opens November 1, running through January 25.¹

The three-day gap on October 20 and 21, along with the delayed scaup opener, exists so Washington stays within the total number of hunting days the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allows in the Pacific Flyway. The state can be more restrictive than the federal ceiling but not more generous.² Season dates are reset each year based on bird population surveys, so last year’s calendar is not a reliable guide to this year’s.

Youth, Veterans, and Military Days

Outside the regular season, WDFW opens a handful of special hunting days. Youth hunters age 15 and under must be accompanied by a non-hunting adult at least 18 years old. For 2025-2026:

Western Washington youth days: September 20, 2025, and January 31, 2026
Eastern Washington youth days: September 27, 2025, and January 31, 2026
Veterans and active military day: January 31, 2026, in both zones

These extra days are the main place East and West zone calendars diverge. The regular duck season dates themselves are the same statewide.¹

Daily Bag and Possession Limits

The statewide daily bag is 7 ducks, but several species have tighter individual caps that fit inside that total. Within your 7, you can take no more than:

2 hen mallards (drake mallards have no separate cap)
3 pintails
2 scaup
2 canvasbacks
2 redheads

Western Washington adds species limits that do not apply in the East zone: no more than 3 scoter, 2 long-tailed ducks, and 3 goldeneye per day.¹

The possession limit is three times the daily bag: 21 ducks total, with each species cap multiplied the same way. That puts your possession limit at 6 hen mallards, 9 pintails, and so on.

One boundary worth knowing: harlequin ducks are closed to general harvest statewide. WDFW issued 52 harlequin duck permits for the 2025-2026 season through a separate application process, and that permit is the only legal way to take one.³

Licenses and Stamps You Need Before Opening Day

Duck hunting in Washington requires several licenses and permits stacked together. Miss any one and the hunt is illegal, so treat this as a checklist.

Small game license: $55.13 for residents. Required for all hunters, with different fees for youth and seniors.⁴
Migratory Bird Permit: $23.27. Buying it also registers you in the federal Harvest Information Program (HIP), which every migratory bird hunter is required to join. You will answer a short survey about the birds you hunt when you purchase.⁵
Migratory Bird Authorization: $18.22. A state-level authorization for duck and goose hunting.⁶
Federal Duck Stamp: $25 for the 2025-2026 stamp, valid through June 30, 2026. Every waterfowl hunter age 16 and older needs one. Sign it in ink across the face, or carry a hard copy of the Federal E-Stamp Certificate.⁷

A resident should expect roughly $120 in licenses and stamps before the 2.9% processing fee WDFW charges on online and phone credit card orders. You can buy everything through WDFW’s online licensing system, by phone at 360-902-2464, or at any of the 600-plus license dealers in the state.⁴

Hunter Education

If you were born after January 1, 1972, you must complete a hunter education course before you can buy your first Washington hunting license. The certification is good for life once passed.⁸ Courses combine classroom work with a field skills evaluation, and sessions fill quickly in the months before waterfowl opens, so sign up early. If you have moved from another state, Washington accepts hunter education certificates from other states and Canadian provinces.

Shooting Hours

Waterfowl shooting hours run from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. That is different from the rule for game animals and forest grouse, which run until a half hour after sunset. A duck shot five minutes after sunset is a violation, and wardens enforce it strictly on public wildlife areas.

Exact clock times shift through fall and winter as days shorten. WDFW publishes a dated shooting hours table in the annual Game Bird and Small Game Hunting Regulations pamphlet. Check the table rather than guessing.⁵

Equipment Rules

Lead shot is prohibited for waterfowl in Washington. You must use federally approved nontoxic shot: steel, bismuth-tin, tungsten-based composites, and other listed materials. Steel is cheapest and widely stocked; bismuth and tungsten pattern closer to lead but cost considerably more.⁹

Federal law caps your shotgun at three shells total when hunting migratory birds: one in the chamber, two in the magazine. Most pump and semi-automatic shotguns need a plug installed, a one-piece filler that can’t be removed without taking the gun apart.¹⁰

Recorded or electronically amplified bird calls are illegal under federal regulation. Mouth-blown calls are fine; the ban targets electronic devices that play recorded sounds.¹⁰ Washington also prohibits battery-powered and motorized decoys. Standard non-motorized decoys, including spinning-wing decoys that rely on wind, are legal.

Baiting

Hunting ducks over bait is a federal offense, and it is one of the most common violations because the agricultural rules trip people up. You cannot hunt waterfowl anywhere grain or feed has been placed to attract birds, and the prohibition extends to any area within range of bait.¹¹

Agricultural fields are the gray zone. Hunting over a field with grain on the ground is legal only if that grain resulted from a normal harvest. A standing crop that was mowed, rolled flat, or otherwise knocked down without being properly harvested first counts as bait, even when the farmer did it for a legitimate reason. Normally harvested with grain scattered: legal. Manipulated before or instead of a normal harvest: baited and off-limits.¹¹ Ignorance is not a defense, and penalties can include fines and loss of hunting privileges. On private land, ask the landowner directly whether any crop was manipulated before harvest.

Transporting and Tagging Your Birds

While moving ducks from the field to your home, leave one fully feathered wing or the head attached to each bird. That is what lets an officer confirm species and sex against your bag limits.

If you leave birds anywhere other than your personal home, or hand them to someone else for cleaning, processing, storage, or taxidermy, you must attach a tag. The tag needs your signature, your address, the total number and species of birds, and the date taken. Birds riding in your vehicle as personal baggage do not need tags.¹²

Where To Confirm Current Rules

WDFW publishes the full waterfowl rules each year in the Game Bird and Small Game Hunting Regulations pamphlet, free at license dealers and as a PDF on the WDFW website.⁵ The pamphlet carries the shooting hours table, zone maps, species identification guides, and any mid-season emergency closures. The same rules are codified in WAC 220-416-060, updated once the Fish and Wildlife Commission finalizes season-setting, typically by late summer.¹ Dates, bag limits, and species restrictions all move year to year, so a two-minute check before each season is worth the time.

1
Legal Information Institute. Washington Administrative Code 220-416-060 – 2025-2026 Waterfowl and Migratory Gamebird Seasons and Regulations
2
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. How the Hunting Seasons and Limits Are Set for Waterfowl
3
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Harlequin Duck Hunting Permit
4
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Hunting Licenses
5
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. 2025 Washington State Game Bird and Small Game Hunting Regulations
6
eRegulations. Washington Game Bird License Fees and Information
7
USPS. Spectacled Eiders 2025-2026 Federal Duck Stamps
8
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Hunting Education and Requirements
9
Washington State Legislature. Washington Administrative Code 220-414-040 – Nontoxic Shot
10
eCFR. 50 CFR 20.21 – What Hunting Methods Are Illegal
11
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Waterfowl Hunting and Baiting
12
eCFR. 50 CFR 20.36 – Tagging Requirement