Definition
Close seasons (also rendered as "closed seasons") are legally established periods of the year during which the taking, killing, or capture of particular wild animals, fish, or other wildlife is prohibited or restricted by law. The prohibition exists to protect species during vulnerable periods — typically breeding, spawning, or nesting seasons — so that populations can sustain themselves against the pressure of hunting and fishing.
The term operates as a collective noun or plural form; a single such period is a "close season" (or "closed season"). Different species are governed by different close seasons, and the applicable period may also vary depending on the method of capture employed.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "Close seasons" is the plural of "close season," defined in ordinary English as a period during which hunting or fishing of a particular animal is prohibited by law.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Webster's 1913 does not appear to carry a dedicated entry for "close season," reflecting the term's predominantly legal and regulatory character even in common speech.
The gap between common and legal meaning here is narrow — the ordinary meaning tracks the legal meaning closely — but the legal significance lies in the formal, statute-driven mechanics: close seasons are not informal customs but enforceable regulatory periods, violation of which carries criminal or civil penalties. The common usage tends to flatten this enforcement dimension.
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
Close seasons are typically differentiated by the category of wildlife regulated:
— Game close seasons: Periods during which upland game birds, waterfowl, deer, and other hunted animals may not be taken. In England, the period from March 1 to August 1 has historically fallen within the close season for all game species except hares.
— Freshwater fish close seasons: Periods prohibiting the taking of freshwater fish, often tied to spawning cycles.
— Sea fish close seasons: Analogous restrictions applied to saltwater fishing, typically set by separate statutory authority.
— Oyster close seasons: Specific to shellfish, governed by distinct regulatory frameworks in both English and American law.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working with historical wildlife, environmental, or game law materials should be alert to several traps.
First, terminology is unstable across time and jurisdiction. "Close season," "closed season," and "close time" appear interchangeably in historical statutes and case law. English sources favor "close season"; American regulatory materials after the early twentieth century increasingly prefer "closed season." A corpus search limited to one form will miss the other.
Second, the governing authority has shifted dramatically. In England, close seasons were originally creatures of common law and royal prerogative, then codified through a series of game acts. In the United States, wildlife regulation migrated from state common law and early state statutes toward federal frameworks — particularly after the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 — and then into the modern administrative state, where close seasons are set by agency regulation rather than fixed statutory text. Research into any specific close season must locate not just the enabling statute but the operative regulation, which may change annually.
Third, close seasons intersect with Indian treaty rights, federal lands law, and international fisheries agreements in ways that can displace state regulatory authority entirely. Historical sources predate much of this complexity and should not be treated as reliable guides to current law in those areas.
Fourth, close seasons are analytically distinct from bag limits, license requirements, and protected species designations — all of which may coexist with a close season for the same species. A historical case discussing "close season" violations does not necessarily address these parallel restrictions.
Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's Law Dictionary grounds the term firmly in English law, noting that close seasons are annual periods during which killing or taking of game, freshwater fish, sea fish, or oysters is forbidden, and that the March 1 to August 1 window falls within the close season for all game except hares. Bouvier also correctly identifies that the applicable period may vary by mode of capture — an important nuance that historical researchers sometimes overlook.
What Bouvier does not address is the American regulatory dimension. By the time later editions of Bouvier were in circulation, American states had enacted their own game laws with close seasons that departed substantially from English models. The federal layer — treaties, the commerce power, and the administrative state — is entirely absent from Bouvier's treatment, which reflects its era rather than any oversight in the entry itself.
No other dictionary in the Law Mind shelf carries a dedicated entry for this term, which itself signals its character: close seasons are a term of regulatory art rather than common-law doctrine, and their significance lies more in statutes and agency rules than in treatise analysis.
Jurisdictional Note
Close season rules in the United States are primarily set by state wildlife agencies for resident species, subject to federal override for migratory birds and marine mammals. English close seasons remain codified through wildlife and fisheries legislation administered by national and devolved authorities. Researchers should never assume that a close season applicable in one jurisdiction has any bearing on another.