Alabama Hunter Education Study Guide 2026

Who needs hunter education

Hunter education in Alabama is overseen by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR). If you buy a hunting license and were born on or after August 1, 1977, you must complete an approved hunter education course.

Who is exempt

• APOST-certified law enforcement officers employed in Alabama.
• Active-duty US military personnel.
• Alabama residents who are active Alabama National Guard members.

The course

Students must be at least 10 years old. You can take the course in person or fully online.

Licenses

Residents aged 16 to 64 need a license to hunt land they do not own. Residents and non-residents 15 and under, and residents 65 and older, do not need the general license, but special licenses such as the Bait Privilege License still apply. Annual licenses run from September 1 to August 31, and you must have your license with you while hunting.

The Supervision Required license

If you were born on or after the cutoff and have not passed the course, you can buy a Supervision Required license. It lets you hunt only under direct supervision.

• The supervisor must be a properly licensed adult hunter at least 21.
• You must stay within normal voice control and no more than 30 feet from the supervisor.
• The supervisor may not hold a Supervision Required license.

Youth hunts

Youth under 16 may join special youth hunts. On the youth deer hunt (the Friday through Monday before gun season), a youth or youth party of up to 2 youth must be with a non-hunting, properly licensed adult 21 or older, or the youth's parent. Both must wear hunter orange. The youth turkey hunt has the same supervision rule, but orange is not required.

Hunter orange and fluorescent pink

During gun deer season, including youth and muzzleloader deer seasons, anyone hunting wildlife must wear at least 144 square inches of hunter orange or fluorescent pink above the waist, or a full-size orange or pink hat or cap. Fluorescent pink became an approved choice for the 2026 to 2027 season.

The color must be solid and visible from any angle. A cap may have a small logo on the front. Camo orange, camo pink and shades of red do not count.

Exceptions

• Hunting turkey or migratory birds (including crows), or legal night hunting for foxes, raccoons and opossums.
• Walking up to 20 feet directly between an operating enclosed vehicle and your stand.
• Hunting from a stand 12 feet or higher, from an enclosed box stand, or traveling in an enclosed vehicle, on private, leased, open-permit public land or WMAs.

Hours, roads, permission and baiting

Most game, including deer, may be hunted from 30 minutes before official sunrise to 30 minutes after official sunset. Some species, such as raccoons, feral swine and waterfowl, have their own rules.

Do not hunt or shoot within 50 yards of a public road, highway or railroad right-of-way with a centerfire rifle, a shotgun firing slugs or shot larger than No. 4, or a muzzleloading rifle of .40 caliber or larger.

To hunt on another person's land you need the landowner's written permission, unless the landowner is with you or you are their guest.

Alabama law defines hunting broadly. It covers pursuing, shooting, killing, capturing or trapping wild animals and birds, lesser acts such as disturbing them or using devices to take them, and helping someone else do any of these things. So a person who only helps a hunter is also covered by hunting laws.

Baiting

• To hunt deer or feral swine over bait, you need a Bait Privilege License. It is required for all ages, with no exemptions.
• Hunting over bait is banned on public lands, such as WMAs and federal lands.
• It is also banned on public and private land inside the CWD Management Zone.

Game Check, limits and ethics

All deer and turkey hunters must report their harvest through Game Check. Carry a deer and turkey harvest record, on paper or in the app, every time you hunt deer or turkey. Only one harvest record may be used.

• One antlered buck per day statewide.
• Three bucks per hunter across all seasons. One must have at least four points, each 1 inch or longer, on one antler.
• A buck is a male deer with at least one antler visible above the natural hairline.

Make a reasonable effort to retrieve any game you kill or cripple and count it in your bag limit. Do not follow wounded game onto property you do not have permission to enter. Never lend, borrow or use another person's license.

Other laws to know

• There is no open season for bear, mountain lion (cougar) or ruffed grouse, and most birds are protected.
• Selling game birds or game animals, or their parts, is illegal, with narrow exceptions such as deer hides and hooves.
• Importing any live member of the deer family is illegal. Deer or elk carcasses from other states may come in only if the meat is deboned and the antlers or skull plates are cleaned.
• Hunters on a WMA need a WMA license, as well as a hunting license, to hunt deer, turkey or waterfowl there.
• Get a free HIP permit before you hunt migratory birds such as doves and ducks.
• Officers may inspect game bags, hunting coats, camping gear and vehicles used for hunting.