NJ DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
DIVISION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE

Notice of Rule Proposal
Game Code, N.J.A.C. 7:25-5

Public Notice

Take notice that the NJ Department of Environmental Protection’s Fish & Game Council is proposing a reorganization and amendments to the Game Code.  A statement of the substance of the proposal follows: the Fish & Game Council is making the following amendments to the Game Code: extensive recodification by organizing it predominantly by game species; updates and modifications to multiple species’ season dates and bag limits; modification to the allowable weapons and ammunitions for each game species; modification and consolidation of the hunting zones; modification of the deer hunting regulation sets, including changes to doe versus buck take and antler point restrictions; providing an allowance for the carrying of personal permitted weapons; and the addition of new hunter safety requirements.

The proposal is scheduled to be published in the New Jersey Register dated April 6, 2026.  A copy of the proposal is available from: https://dep.nj.gov/wp-content/uploads/rules/proposals/proposal-20260406a.pdf; by request from the Division of Fish and Wildlife via email: njfwfish@dep.nj.gov; and LexisNexis (free public access to the New Jersey Register, https://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/njoal/).

A public hearing(s) concerning the proposal is scheduled as follows:

Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at 6:30 p.m.
The War Memorial
Delaware Room
1 Memorial Drive
Trenton, NJ 08608

Written comments may be submitted electronically by June 5, 2026, at https://dep.nj.gov/rules/rule-comment-form/ ; or in hard copy to:

Chris Segal, Esq.
ATTN: DEP Docket No. 01-26-03
NJ Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Legal Affairs
Mail Code 401-04L; PO Box 402
401 East State Street, 7th Floor
Trenton, NJ 08625-0402