TWRA: Trapping and Small-Game Seasons End Feb. 28 for Decatur County Hunters

Decatur County — The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency announced that multiple statewide trapping and small-game hunting seasons will close Sunday, Feb. 28, 2026, including trapping seasons for fox, mink, muskrat, river otter, least weasel and bobcat and small-game hunting for rabbit and quail. The TWRA’s 2025-26 Hunting and Trapping Guide provides the full regulatory calendar and is the controlling source for season dates and bag limits.

Statewide hunting seasons for squirrel, raccoon and opossum remain open through Mar. 15, 2026, while TWRA materials list a spring squirrel season running May 9–June 14, 2026. TWRA’s trapping and taking-season entries show raccoon taking season from sunset Sept. 19, 2025 to sunrise Mar. 15, 2026 with a daily bag limit of 4, and an earlier private-lands raccoon window (Sunset July 1, 2025 to Sunrise Sept. 19, 2025) with a bag of 2.

TWRA’s 2025-26 table lists several species as open year-round with no daily bag limits. Beaver, coyote, groundhog, opossum, striped skunk and raccoon appear with year-round entries in the guide; some republished summaries additionally list armadillo as year-round. Decatur County hunters should note that the official TWRA guide is the authoritative regulatory source where such differences appear.

Bobcat regulations in the TWRA table include a private-lands-only window (Sept. 27–Nov. 20, 2025) with a limit of 1, and a statewide bobcat season from Nov. 21, 2025 through Feb. 28, 2026 with a 1-animal limit; the guide also contains a “Bobcat Night Only” entry with complex sunset and sunrise date strings and a 1x-night limit that requires consulting the full guide or TWRA regional office for exact night-season dates and conditions.

Hunters taking river otter must follow a specific tagging requirement in the TWRA table: “All river otters harvested must be tagged with Tennessee U. S. CITES tags. Contact your regional TWRA office for instructions.” Decatur County trappers planning otter harvests should contact the regional TWRA office ahead of any take to obtain tags and follow CITES procedures.

A notable discrepancy appears around grouse season dates: several republished briefings list grouse as closing Feb. 28, 2026, while the TWRA 2025-26 table shows Grouse listed July 5, 2025–Apr. 26, 2026. There is also inconsistent usage of “spotted skunk” in some summaries versus the TWRA table’s “striped skunk” entry. For legal compliance in Decatur County — including bag limits, private-lands windows and night-only rules — consult the TWRA 2025-26 Tennessee Hunting and Trapping Guide, contact the TWRA regional office, or visit TWRA license vendors for printed copies and clarifications.

TWRA administers wildlife protection, management and enforcement across Tennessee; Decatur County hunters who plan outings between now and the spring squirrel season should verify WMU-specific restrictions and the river-otter tagging procedure before setting traps or taking small game.