Delaware

Prime Atlantic Flyway waterfowl, coastal whitetail deer hunting, and accessible state wildlife areas.

Public Access & WMAs

Public Lands to Hunt in Delaware

Official Regulatory Authority

Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife (DNREC)

Approximately 68,000 acres of Delaware land are managed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Division of Fish and Wildlife across 19 public wildlife areas. These areas are managed with both conservation and recreation in mind, providing places for people to enjoy the outdoors while protecting natural resources. Many of the wildlife areas offer exceptional opportunities to hunt whitetail deer, eastern wild turkey, waterfowl along the Atlantic Flyway, and small game.

Sussex County & Little Assawoman Bay | 3,100 Acres

Assawoman Wildlife Area

Founded in 1954 in southeastern Sussex County, comprising three massive tracts of formerly cultivated farmland and coastal bays. Its name derives from Little Assawoman Bay (historically Assateague, meaning "inlet or stream in the middle," later meaning "fishing stream midway"). The Division planted over 16,600 trees to support breeding birds and eastern box turtles, built living shoreline barriers, and reintroduced the Delmarva fox squirrel. Excellent public hunting for whitetail deer, waterfowl, and mourning dove.

Delaware Bay Coastal Marshes | 5,515 Acres

Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area

Located in New Castle County on the Delaware Bay coast within the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion. Characterized by extensive transgressive brackish marshland, tidal gut channels, and upland woodlots managed for Atlantic Flyway waterfowl, whitetail deer, and small game.

Sussex County River Basin | 5,589 Acres Combined

Nanticoke & Marshy Hope Wildlife Areas

Nanticoke Wildlife Area (4,510 acres), founded in 1957 along the Nanticoke River and Broad Creek near Seaford and Bethel, preserves historic river bottomlands and hosts one of the few protected Delmarva fox squirrel populations in Delaware. Marshy Hope Wildlife Area (1,079 acres), founded in 2000 near Bridgeville along Marshyhope Creek on the Maryland border, provides mature hardwoods and successional fields for deer, turkey, and woodcock.

Delaware Bay Brackish Marshes | 9,450 Acres Combined

Woodland Beach & Augustine Wildlife Areas

Woodland Beach WMA (6,320 acres) in Kent County preserves expansive brackish marsh along Delaware Bay with public blinds for premier coastal duck and goose hunting. Augustine WMA (3,130 acres) in New Castle County features freshwater marshes, brackish tidal marshes, wooded swamps, and open fields for deer, turkey, waterfowl, and bird dog training.

Kent & New Castle Counties | 9,811 Acres Combined

Little Creek & C&D Canal Conservation Areas

Little Creek Wildlife Area (4,721 acres), founded in 1957 in Kent County, protects coastal wetland along Delaware Bay open for hunting, fishing, and trapping. The C&D Canal Conservation Area (5,090 acres) borders the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal connecting Delaware Bay to Chesapeake Bay, offering regulated public hunting for whitetail deer, waterfowl, and upland game with state park permit validation.

Sussex County Inland Hardwoods | 2,237 Acres

Old Furnace Wildlife Area

Located approximately 1 mile east of Seaford in Sussex County. Encompasses four contiguous land tracts totaling 2,237 acres of upland pine-hardwood timber and successional understory, providing consistent public hunting for whitetail deer, wild turkey, and small game.