Suffolk Releases 2025-26 Waterfowl Hunting Program Schedule and Rules

Suffolk County Parks has published the county’s 2025–2026 waterfowl hunting program, providing a detailed framework for waterfowl seasons, blind draws and on-site conduct at four county parks. The county lists three program types, regular duck, sea-duck and primitive duck programs, and specifies park locations and site-specific schedules that determine when hunting is permitted.

The county identifies Southaven, Hubbard and Cedar Point as a group with a season that opened Saturday, December 6, 2025 and runs through Sunday, January 25, 2026, limited to Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The page notes special handling for holiday dates and describes morning-draw procedures for blinds. Montauk’s program is listed with a different timetable, opening November 22, 2025 and running through January 4, 2026, with additional open dates for January noted separately on the schedule.

Operational rules accompany the calendar. The Parks Department describes blind-drawing procedures, decoy policies, dog and retrieval rules, and limits on bags and shells, as well as other county-specific regulations intended to govern safety and conservation on parklands. The department also provides contact information for park offices and a Parks contact email and phone number for questions and updates, and states it reserves the right to alter schedules because of weather or other conditions.

For hunters, the season structure and draw rules determine daily access and the allocation of limited blinds. Limiting hunting to specific days at several parks concentrates use and can affect local patterns of access, travel and parking on open days. For non-hunting residents, the program’s schedule and activity levels affect recreational access, waterfront uses and public safety considerations in and near the parks.

Institutionally, the program illustrates how the county balances recreational hunting with wildlife management and public safety. The use of blind draws and day-specific schedules aims to manage demand and reduce conflicts, but reliance on weather-dependent management creates uncertainty for users and neighboring communities. That uncertainty places a premium on timely communication from the Parks Department and on enforcement capacity to ensure compliance with bag and shell limits and other site rules.

As the season continues, hunters and residents should consult the county’s waterfowl program page and contact park offices for the latest schedule updates, procedural details and any weather-related changes that could affect access and enforcement.