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Where to hunt northern bobwhite near Madison, Wisconsin
Last updated 2026-09-24 · seasons from WDNR · 2026 season year
There are 27 public units within 40 miles of Madison, Wisconsin that hold ground where northern bobwhite is recorded — 34,882 acres of it. The most of it is in Pine Island Wildlife Area, 29.9 miles out, with 5,604 recorded acres. The closest is Brooklyn Wildlife Area at 14 miles. The season runs October 17, 2026 to December 9, 2026 — 54 days afield, bag 5 per day, 15 in possession, read against the 2026 season year from WDNR. Public-land boundaries here are PAD-US, which records who manages a parcel rather than where the line runs or whether a unit carries a local closure — check with WDNR before you park.
Public land within 40 miles of Madison
Distance is measured to the nearest edge of a unit rather than to its middle, in a straight line — this app carries no road network and will not print a drive time it cannot compute. A unit whose ground reaches inside the circle is listed for the acreage that is inside it, never for its statewide total.
Ordered by recorded acres — how much of each unit lies inside subbasins where northern bobwhite is recorded at regular strength or better — rather than by how big the unit is. The biggest block in a state is often not in the half of it the bird is in. PAD-US splits a forest into many parcels, so acreage is summed over the unit's name, and the share is measured against the unit's drawn boundary rather than a centroid: a national forest can be two polygons across half a peninsula.
WDNR names no geographic restriction on this season, so no unit is
excluded for being outside one.
Season geography here is read off a
dates table rather than the rule itself, and a dates table carries no boundary.
| Unit | Class | Miles | Recorded acres | Acres in range | Where the records are |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Island Wildlife Area part of the unit | State wildlife area | 29.9 | 5,604 | 5,604 | 3% stronghold, 97% regular |
| Yellowstone Wildlife Area | State wildlife area | 34 | 4,360 | 4,360 | 100% stronghold |
| Peter Helland Wildlife Area | State wildlife area | 30.9 | 3,626 | 3,626 | 100% stronghold |
| French Creek Wildlife Area part of the unit | State wildlife area | 35.8 | 3,613 | 3,613 | 100% stronghold |
| Avon Bottoms Wildlife Area part of the unit | State wildlife area | 36.6 | 3,346 | 3,346 | 100% regular |
| Brooklyn Wildlife Area | State wildlife area | 14 | 2,622 | 2,622 | 100% regular |
| Swan Lake Wildlife Area | State wildlife area | 29 | 2,508 | 2,508 | 98% stronghold, 2% regular |
| Mud Lake Wildlife Area-Columbia | State wildlife area | 21.6 | 2,280 | 2,280 | 100% stronghold |
27 units clear the circle in all and the 8 holding the most recorded ground are named. The rest are ground a reader would drive past something better to reach.
A unit marked part of the unit has ground outside the circle as well, and the acreage here is only what is inside it. PAD-US records who manages a parcel, not where its line runs on the ground and not whether it carries a local closure: context, not permission. Check the unit with WDNR before you park.
Season and limits
WDNR's dates for the 2026 season year, read from WDNR. Wisconsin lists this season as Northern bobwhite.
| Segment | Opens | Closes | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide | October 17, 2026 | December 9, 2026 | 54 |
- Open today
- Shut — next opening October 17, 2026
- Bag limit
- 5 per day, 15 in possession
- Hunter orange
- requiredAt least 50% of clothing above the waist, and any head covering, must be blaze orange or fluorescent pink any time a firearm deer season is in progress. This applies to small game and archery hunters, not only to deer hunters. Waterfowl hunters are exempt.
- Shooting hours
- not carried
- Wisconsin requires blaze orange or fluorescent pink only while a firearm deer season is in progress — but then it applies to small game hunters too. This app flags orange as required for the whole season because missing it during gun deer season is the dangerous error. Check the gun deer dates.
- Possession is three times the daily bag, which is the rule WDNR states for upland birds rather than a separate figure for this species.
- Opening day starts at 9:00 a.m., not at first light.
- The season is written statewide and the bird is not: bobwhite hangs on in the far south-west of Wisconsin, at the northern edge of its range, and is thin even there.
What to walk when you get there
Broomsedge and native warm-season grass with bare ground under it, brushy field borders, and the edge of a cut field against a hedgerow. Quail need to walk under the cover, not through it, which is why manicured ground holds none.
Hunt the edges of managed early-succession fields and the borders between crop and brush. Coveys hold in a few known spots and use them year after year; the singles after a covey rise scatter into the thickest nearby cover.
Written for this app rather than read off an agency page — the cover a bird uses does not change at a state line. Everything above that is a date, a limit or an acreage names the source it came from.
Read next
- Where to hunt northern bobwhite in Wisconsin — every unit, ranked
- Northern bobwhite hunting in Wisconsin — season, limits and range
- How to hunt northern bobwhite in Wisconsin
- Northern bobwhite — biology, range and how it is hunted
- Wisconsin hunting regulations