Furbearers

Furbearer Seasons & Bag Limits

DNR promotes sustainable and compatible uses of the furbearer resource. Hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits are established based on furbearer biology, distribution and abundance of each species, public interests and needs and the incidence of furbearer damage complaints. The following species are managed as “furbearers” in Maryland: beaver, bobcat, coyote, fisher, gray fox, long-tailed weasel, mink, muskrat, nutria, opossum, raccoon, red fox, river otter, and skunk.

NEW THIS YEAR: Fisher bag and possession limits have been increased to 2 per season.  Also, river otter bag and possession limits have been increased to 2 per season in Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, and Washington Counties and to 10 per season in all other counties except Garrett and Allegany where the river otter season remains closed.

Licensing and Permit Requirements
A Regular Hunting License, Junior Hunting License, any senior hunting license or Nonresident Hunting License is required to hunt or trap furbearers.

With certain exceptions, a person must obtain or be authorized by a Furbearer Permit to hunt, chase, or trap any furbearer (beaver, coyote, fisher, gray fox, long-tailed weasel, mink, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, red fox, river otter, and skunk), including the unarmed chasing of fox and raccoons. See Licenses, Stamps & Permits for descriptions, prices, exceptions to, and availability of licenses, stamps, and permits.

Trapper Education Requirement
Any person who traps or attempts to trap furbearers (beaver, coyote, fisher, gray fox, long-tailed weasel, mink, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, red fox, river otter, and skunk) under the authority of a Furbearer Permit must first obtain a certificate of trapper education from the Department (or a designee of the Department), except that the certificate is not required if the person held a Furbearer Permit during the 2006-07 trapping season (prior to August 1, 2007). However, all trappers are encouraged to participate in a trapper education course.  Trapper education courses are being held statewide.  Any similar certificate issued by another state is acceptable as complying with the educational requirements if the privileges are reciprocal for Maryland residents. Please contact the Maryland Natural Resources Police, Safety Education Division, 305 Marine Academy Drive, Suite 1, Stevensville, MD 21666, 410-643-8502; or visit the NRP's Trapper Education Requirement website.

Rabies Precaution
Rabies has been diagnosed, primarily in raccoons, in all Maryland counties. For up-to-date information, contact your local Health Department. Trappers and raccoon hunters should consult their physicians for advice on pre-exposure rabies vaccine. Please use care when handling any animal.

General Furbearer Regulations
License and permit requirements: A Maryland resident must possess a valid hunting license to hunt or trap on another person’s property, including public lands. Nonresident hunters must possess a valid Nonresident Hunting License. Nonresident trappers are required to have both a Nonresident Hunting License and a Nonresident Trapping License. Resident and nonresident license holders must also possess a Furbearer Permit.  Nonresident Trapping Licenses can be purchased by contacting: Permits Coordinator, DNR Wildlife & Heritage Service, Tawes State Office Building E-1, 580 Taylor Ave., Annapolis, MD 21401, 410-260-8540.

• No furbearer taken during the legal trapping season can be transported from the point of capture until it has been killed.

• Harvesting the following species by any means other than trapping is prohibited: beaver, long-tailed weasel, mink, muskrat, and river otter. Nonresidents are not permitted to harvest beaver or river otter.

• Destroying or disturbing furbearer dens is prohibited.

• A permit is required to possess the meat or skinned carcass of a furbearer for more than 10 days after the season has closed. Permits can be obtained from the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP).

• The pelt or unskinned carcasses of all fisher and otter harvested in Maryland must be tagged within 15 days after the season has closed. Fisher and otter pelt tags may be obtained by contacting local offices of either the DNR Wildlife & Heritage Service or Natural Resources Police (NRP).

• The pelts or unskinned carcasses of furbearers harvested in Maryland, and then transported across the state line must have a “Fur Shipping Tag” accompanying them. These tags are available by contacting local offices of either the DNR Wildlife & Heritage Service or Natural Resources Police (NRP).

• Fox Restrictions: Some counties have local restrictions governing fox hunting and trapping, and the possession of foxes and/or their pelts. For detailed information, contact local law enforcement authorities. The following restrictions apply:
   

  • In Charles and Dorchester counties, a person may hunt, trap or possess the pelt of a fox any time of the year.
  • It is unlawful to kill a fox being pursued by dogs in the following counties: Cecil, Harford, Kent, St. Mary’s and Wicomico.

Furbearer Hunting and Chasing Regulations

• Firearm and/or bow hunting of coyote, fisher, gray fox, nutria, opossum, raccoon, red fox, and skunk is permitted (County Fox Restrictions for exceptions). Any individual that hunts these species must possess a valid Furbearer Permit. Shooting of all other furbearer species is prohibited. Firearms, Bow and Falconry Regulations for information on the use of firearms and bows for hunting furbearers.

• Unarmed fox chasing is not classified as hunting by law, and is therefore not subject to DNR hunting regulations. Individuals participating in the unarmed chasing of fox must possess an Individual Furbearer Permit or be a part of an organized group that  possess a Group Furbearer Permit. Additional permits may also be required to chase foxes on certain public lands. All activities on DNR owned and managed properties are subject to DNR public land regulations. With the exception of unarmed fox chasing, fox hunting with the aid of dogs is prohibited during the deer firearms season.

• With the exception of nutria, hunting furbearers on Sunday is prohibited.

• Legal hunting hours for opossum and raccoon are from sunset to sunrise except Sundays. Raccoons that are destroying muskrats and/or their dens may be hunted any time of the year by owners of the affected marshlands or their employees.

• The use of artificial light and/or dogs is permitted while hunting coyote, fox, opossum, or raccoon on foot. Coyote, fox, opossum, and raccoon can be hunted with the aid of electronic calling devices. Daytime and nighttime hunting for fox is permitted during the legal harvest season for foxes except Sundays. Coyote can be hunted at night during the period specified in the furbearers seasons and bag limits chart. At all other times of the year, coyote may only be hunted during the legal daylight shooting hours.

Furbearer Trapping Regulations

• Written permission is required to trap on another person’s property, including publicly owned properties.

• All individuals trapping furbearers must possess a Furbearer Permit unless exempted from the requirement (see page 16).

• Traps must be checked once per calendar day except those traps that are set in water or tidal marshes which must be checked once per 36 hours.

• In tidal areas, landowners and their agents or lessees have exclusive rights to muskrats and other furbearers above the mean low water line.

• Legal trapping devices include: box traps, snares, foothold (leghold) traps and body-gripping traps. Legal use of these devices is subject to compliance with the following restrictions and conditions:
   

• Foothold (Leghold) Traps

  • The use of toothed or serrated jawed traps is prohibited. All traps must possess smooth jaws.

  • Traps set above the waterline must not exceed a maximum jaw spread of 5 3/4 inches. Traps set below the waterline and completely submerged cannot exceed a maximum jaw spread of 7 3/4 inches.

  • Jaw spread means the distance between the inside of both jaws, when measured across the trap jaws on a line perpendicular to a line drawn through the jaw pivot points when the trap is in the set position.

  • In Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties traps cannot be set to capture furbearers unless completely submerged in water subject to the following exceptions:

  • Traps can be set above the waterline on farmland by the owner(s) of the property, members of owner(s) immediate family that reside on the property and the landowner(s) agent, tenant or lessee.

  • Traps can be set above the waterline in response to wildlife control concerns by authorized agents of the DNR, and according to guidelines established by DNR.
     

• Snare Traps
  It is illegal to use, sell, possess, set, place or maintain a snare trap in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
  
  

• Body-Gripping Traps

  • Body-gripping traps with a diameter of greater than 8 inches can be set when partially or totally submerged in water.

  • Body-gripping traps with a diameter of 8 inches or less can be set above ground in tidal wetlands, flooded non-tidal wetlands, fresh water marshes, wooded swamps, bogs in areas where water covers the surface of the soil, or in areas where the soil is waterlogged to the surface. In all other areas these traps may be set when partially or totally submerged in water.
    

• Setting or maintaining any foothold (leghold), body-gripping or snare trap within 150 yards of a permanent human residence is prohibited with the following exceptions:

  • On state, federal or private wetlands.

  • On lands that qualify for agricultural assessment, timberlands and lands used for reforestation.

  • In Harford and Howard Counties, landowners and lessees of privately-owned land may set or maintain the above described traps on their property as long as they are not within 150 yards of another person’s permanent residence. This regulation does not apply to the use of body-gripping traps with a diameter of less than 6 inches and set completely submerged in water.