Public Hunt LandFINDER

Free · state by state · built from USGS data

Public hunting land near you: WMAs, forests & refuges by state

A free directory of 9,924 named public land units in 50 states: state wildlife management areas and game lands, national forests and grasslands, national wildlife refuges, BLM land and more, from the USGS Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1).

  • 9,924named areas
  • 50states
  • ~608 millionacres listed
Important: PAD-US tells us who manages the land and whether it is listed as open or restricted to the public. It does not say whether hunting is allowed. Every listing here is “public land that may allow hunting — check with the managing agency.” Seasons, licenses, permits, closures and weapon rules must be confirmed with the state wildlife agency and the land manager.

2026–27 deer season dates

Opening dates by state →

Official archery and gun opening dates for 19 states, each checked against the state wildlife agency on Sep 26, 2026, alongside the public land in that state. Texas hunters: see the Annual Public Hunting Permit guide.

Score your buck

Deer score calculator →

Free whitetail score calculator (Boone and Crockett method), a step-by-step scoring guide, how to count points, and a printable score sheet.

Explore by state

Listed areas per state

Map of states by number of listed areasTile map: one square per state, darker squares have more listed public land areas.Alaska: 63 areas, about 181,759,468 acresAK63Maine: 77 areas, about 194,703 acresME77Vermont: 130 areas, about 680,655 acresVT130New Hampshire: 38 areas, about 797,984 acresNH38Washington: 263 areas, about 11,342,126 acresWA263Idaho: 107 areas, about 32,639,731 acresID107Montana: 166 areas, about 27,414,571 acresMT166North Dakota: 255 areas, about 3,260,569 acresND255Minnesota: 1,458 areas, about 7,580,244 acresMN1,458Illinois: 131 areas, about 623,616 acresIL131Wisconsin: 152 areas, about 2,442,195 acresWI152Michigan: 238 areas, about 5,238,262 acresMI238New York: 766 areas, about 4,051,120 acresNY766Rhode Island: 13 areas, about 5,174 acresRI13Massachusetts: 337 areas, about 378,094 acresMA337Oregon: 118 areas, about 32,897,572 acresOR118Nevada: 77 areas, about 54,493,127 acresNV77Wyoming: 77 areas, about 30,829,044 acresWY77South Dakota: 583 areas, about 4,088,005 acresSD583Iowa: 469 areas, about 669,164 acresIA469Indiana: 134 areas, about 589,595 acresIN134Ohio: 218 areas, about 733,596 acresOH218Pennsylvania: 480 areas, about 4,551,566 acresPA480New Jersey: 137 areas, about 708,363 acresNJ137Connecticut: 12 areas, about 3,749 acresCT12California: 255 areas, about 37,141,762 acresCA255Utah: 165 areas, about 33,720,684 acresUT165Colorado: 595 areas, about 24,328,013 acresCO595Nebraska: 316 areas, about 799,326 acresNE316Missouri: 45 areas, about 1,980,435 acresMO45Kentucky: 150 areas, about 1,682,761 acresKY150West Virginia: 132 areas, about 1,821,678 acresWV132Virginia: 142 areas, about 2,136,410 acresVA142Maryland: 50 areas, about 108,181 acresMD50Delaware: 34 areas, about 66,282 acresDE34Arizona: 73 areas, about 34,444,186 acresAZ73New Mexico: 66 areas, about 32,106,117 acresNM66Kansas: 93 areas, about 573,842 acresKS93Arkansas: 103 areas, about 3,816,049 acresAR103Tennessee: 194 areas, about 2,006,618 acresTN194North Carolina: 100 areas, about 2,268,104 acresNC100South Carolina: 105 areas, about 1,289,843 acresSC105Oklahoma: 76 areas, about 4,206,425 acresOK76Louisiana: 113 areas, about 2,387,977 acresLA113Mississippi: 69 areas, about 1,576,447 acresMS69Alabama: 80 areas, about 1,120,089 acresAL80Georgia: 151 areas, about 2,792,072 acresGA151Hawaii: 73 areas, about 1,103,025 acresHI73Texas: 113 areas, about 2,666,265 acresTX113Florida: 132 areas, about 4,252,304 acresFL132

Select a state tile to open its list.

Acres by land type, all states

BLM land242.2M acForests & grasslands207.5M acRefuges & WPAs93.5M acState trust land27.9M acState wildlife areas20.1M acOther11.2M acLake & reservoir5.9M ac
  • 6,601 state wildlife & game areas
  • 1,287 forests & grasslands
  • 713 wildlife refuges & WPAs
  • 161 BLM units
  • 323 lake & reservoir project lands
  • 164 state trust / land board tracts
  • 675 other public land units

All states

Photos from listed public lands

All photo credits

Public-domain photos by U.S. federal agencies, taken in the place named on each card.

What’s in the directory

About 608 million acres in total (approximate, from simplified boundaries). Each area page shows acreage, manager, designation, PAD-US access status, counties, a point you can open in Google Maps or OpenStreetMap, nearby public land within 30 miles, and a link to the state wildlife agency for regulations.

How to use it

  1. Pick a state and filter by land type, manager or access status.
  2. Open an area to see its details and nearby public land.
  3. Before you go, confirm on the managing agency’s site that the area is open to the hunting you plan, and check seasons, permits and boundaries. PAD-US boundaries are approximate.

WMAs by state → · Deer season dates → · How this list was built →