Hunting is a regional matter in Belgium: Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels each set their own seasons, and a hunting licence from one region does not automatically cover the others.

Openings and closings by month

Notes

1. Dates open in every part of the country where the species is hunted; areas may set other dates or protect it – pick your area in the app.
2. No day is open everywhere in the country: each area sets its own season. Pick your area in the app to see it.
3. Flanders's own seasons under its regional hunting law. The official text in force prevails.
4. Big game may only be shot under an approved shooting plan (afschotplan) for the hunting ground.
5. Ordinary hunting is closed only from 15 to 31 July; special hunting is possible all year, including night-time stand hunting under special-hunting rules.
6. Outside these dates, special hunting (bijzondere jacht) is possible only to prevent significant damage, protect wildlife or habitats, or for air safety, and only after notifying Natuur en Bos at least 24 hours beforehand.
7. Only inside a recognised wildlife management unit (WBE) with at least three breeding pairs per 100 ha of open land on average over the previous three years; Natuur en Bos can close the season per WBE.
8. In the bird-rich areas listed in the annex of the Jachtvoorwaardenbesluit, only big game may be hunted from 15 November to the last day of February.
9. Hens may be shot only until 31 December; cocks until 31 January.
10. Geese may also be killed for nature management after notifying Natuur en Bos (netting only 1 June–14 July).
11. The holder of the hunting right with a hunting licence may also shoot rabbits from a stand all year in the hour before sunrise and the hour after sunset.
12. Sworn gamekeepers may control wild boar, wood pigeon, rabbit and fox all year without notification; landowners may also control damaging game under art. 22 of the Hunting Decree.
13. No ordinary season. Special hunting from 15 October to 14 November only where the holder of the hunting right can show damage to crops other than permanent grassland.
14. No ordinary season. Special hunting is possible only on damage or air-safety grounds (in practice near airports).
15. Listed as game in the Flemish Hunting Decree, but no open season is set, so it may not be hunted.
16. Not a game species in Flanders and protected under the Species Decree.
17. Not game. Control (bestrijding) under the Species Decree only after a favourable decision by Natuur en Bos on a request, adults only, with a valid hunting licence, between sunrise and sunset (jackdaw: damage to professional crops; jay: 1 July–31 October within 150 m of a professional orchard).
18. Not game: a non-native species the landowner or user (or someone with their written permission) may control all year; firearms need a valid hunting licence and may be used from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset.
19. Wallonia's own seasons under its regional hunting law. The official text in force prevails.
20. From 21 to 30 September only stalking and stand hunting (approche, affût) are allowed; driven and other hunts start on 1 October.
21. Antlered stags may be shot only on territories of an approved hunting council (conseil cynégétique), within the red-deer shooting plan.
22. A 'grand cerf boisé' (both beams with a median tine and at least three tines above it) may be shot only until 31 December.
23. Red deer are shot under the annual red-deer shooting plan (plan de tir).
24. Also 15 Apr – 15 May, only by stalking or from a hide.
25. Also 15 Jul – 15 Aug, only by stalking or from a hide.
26. Stalking and stand hunting are open all year; driven hunts and other methods only 1 August–31 January in open fields and 1 October–31 January in woodland.
27. Stand hunting may also take place in the hour before sunrise and the hour after sunset.
28. Only on territories of an approved hunting council; its internal rules may ban the species or shorten the season.
29. Only where the holder of the hunting right has joined an approved partridge management plan and the previous season's report was approved.
30. During prolonged frost the Minister may suspend waterfowl hunting for up to 15 days at a time.
31. Outside the season, destruction is possible all year with a DNF authorisation in crops, meadows, certain nature reserves and public parks.
32. Purse nets and ferrets are allowed from 1 October to 31 January; outside the season, damage control needs a DNF authorisation.
33. Outside the season, crop-damage control needs an annual DNF authorisation and is limited to crop-specific windows.
34. Open all year; stand hunting may also take place in the hour before sunrise and the hour after sunset.
35. Listed as game in the Walloon Hunting Law but given no open season in the 2025–2030 decree, so it may not be hunted.
36. May be destroyed all year to prevent significant damage to livestock or in the interest of wildlife; trapping needs a DNF authorisation.
37. A protected bird in Wallonia, not game; it may only be killed under an individual derogation granted by the DNF.
38. Brussels's own seasons under its regional hunting law. The official text in force prevails.
39. Hunting is not possible anywhere in the Brussels-Capital Region: the Hunting Law no longer applies there and all European wild mammals and birds are strictly protected. Culling (for example wild boar in the Sonian Forest) happens only under derogations from Bruxelles Environnement and is not hunting.

Source

Gewesten: Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos (Vlaanderen), SPW – DNF (Wallonie), Bruxelles Environnement (Bruxelles)

Legal basis

Vlaanderen: Jachtopeningsbesluit (BVR 28 juni 2013); Wallonie: AGW du 5 juin 2025 (dates de chasse 2025–2030); Bruxelles: Ordonnance du 1er mars 2012 relative à la conservation de la nature (pas de chasse)

Brussels

Bruxelles Environnement / Leefmilieu Brussel
Ordonnance du 1er mars 2012 relative à la conservation de la nature / Ordonnantie van 1 maart 2012 betreffende het natuurbehoud, art. 67, 68, 83 et 118

Flanders

Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos (ANB)
Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 28 juni 2013 betreffende de jachtopeningstijden in het Vlaamse Gewest (Jachtopeningsbesluit), gewijzigd bij BVR 25 april 2014 en 9 oktober 2015; Soortenbesluit van 15 mei 2009 (bestrijding)

Wallonia

SPW – Département de la Nature et des Forêts (DNF)
Arrêté du Gouvernement wallon du 5 juin 2025 fixant les dates de l'ouverture, de la clôture et de la suspension de la chasse, du 1er juillet 2025 au 30 juin 2030 (M.B. 19.06.2025)

Published

19 Oct 2026

Season information in the app is for guidance only. Always check current legislation and local rules before you hunt.

Season pages by region

• Brussels
• Flanders
• Wallonia

Hunting seasons in other countries

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