📊 Refuge hunting by the numbers

What the 2026–2027 USFWS National Hunt Units data says about where and how you can hunt on National Wildlife Refuges. Hover or tap any bar for exact values.

Open, special or closed?

Hunt units by status

Open275 12%
Special regulations1,199 54%
Closed741 33%

Hunt unit acres by status

Open82,987,752 ac 55%
Special regulations9,374,329 ac 6%
Closed58,714,941 ac 39%

Most refuge hunting happens under special regulations — 1,199 units covering 9.4M acres — while 275 units (83M acres) are open under general state rules. 741 units are closed; many are sanctuaries that hold birds and make the surrounding open units productive.

Top states by huntable refuge acreage

Huntable acres (open + special regs), excluding Alaska

2M ac

1.7M ac

1.1M ac

499K ac

456K ac

400K ac

400K ac

385K ac

385K ac

368K ac

355K ac

283K ac

201K ac

196K ac

184K ac

Alaska is excluded for scale: its refuges contain 81.3M huntable acres — more than all other states combined.

Status mix by state

Share of hunt unit acres — open special regs closed

Northern Mariana Islands

50.6M

U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

4.3M

2.4M

1.7M

1.2M

992K

624K

615K

600K

525K

498K

484K

425K

393K

388K

375K

335K

313K

221K

210K

Refuges & stations offering each game category

357

336

297

287

265

232

135

Refuge permit types

Signed Brochure or Similar

Other

Other OMB-Approved Permit

Special Use Permit

Hunt units by size (acres)

Waterfowl Production Areas by size (acres)

WPA acreage by state

294,452 ac

226,754 ac

162,662 ac

55,326 ac

26,674 ac

25,926 ac

22,827 ac

563 ac

Refuges & stations by FWS region

Region 1 – Pacific

Region 2 – Southwest

Region 3 – Midwest

Region 4 – Southeast

144

Region 5 – Northeast

Region 6 – Mountain-Prairie

108

Region 7 – Alaska

Region 8 – Pacific Southwest

The 10 largest hunt units

Unit	Refuge	State	Status	Acres
Station	Mariana Trench NWR	MP	Closed	50,559,377
Refuge	Yukon Delta NWR	AK	Open	20,531,068
Refuge	Arctic NWR	AK	Open	19,637,697
Refuge	Yukon Flats NWR	AK	Open	9,052,525
Refuge	Alaska Maritime NWR	AK	Open	4,481,063
Refuge	Togiak NWR	AK	Open	4,297,282
Refuge	Innoko NWR	AK	Open	4,049,856
Refuge	Koyukuk NWR	AK	Open	3,988,153
Refuge	Alaska Peninsula NWR	AK	Open	3,525,283
Refuge	Selawik NWR	AK	Open	2,718,909

Source: USFWS National Hunt Units 2026–2027; Hunting & Fishing Opportunities; Realty Tracts. Acreage as published (hunt units) or computed from GIS polygons (WPAs). Methodology →