Hunting Policy

Hunting is allowed with written permission on some Essex County Greenbelt Association (Greenbelt) land for white-tailed deer (archery equipment only), waterfowl and certain other species.

Hunting is allowed without written permission on a few Greenbelt properties as a result of conservation restrictions (easements) held by the Mass. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

For more information, inquire with the Greenbelt contact shown below.

For Greenbelt properties that require permission, all permissions are issued prior to the opening of each hunting season by Greenbelt’s Director of Land Stewardship. In season requests are reviewed for the following hunting season.

Hunting permits are issued only to current Greenbelt members. Permits are issued annually, and previous permit holders are generally given preference. The permit must be in the hunter’s possession at all times while hunting on a Greenbelt property. All Massachusetts and Federal laws apply. 

Requests to obtain written hunting permission should be submitted in via mail or email to:

Director of Land Stewardship
Essex County Greenbelt Association
82 Eastern Avenue
Essex, MA 01929
978-768-7241 ext. 114.

email: hunting@ecga.org

The letter or email request to Greenbelt should include your contact information (with email address and cell phone number if available), as well as information about your hunting background, what species will be targeted, methods (archery or firearms), and what property or properties you wish to hunt on. Info on Greenbelt properties can be found at www.ecga.org/trails. Greenbelt limits deer hunting on our properties to archery equipment only, except for some sites that are subject to a MADFW conservation restriction/easement requiring hunting without landowner permission (see below for more info).

Requests for access to a specific property are preferred and it is advised to contact the Director of Land Stewardship to determine the status of a property before you spend time and energy scouting. All requests will be dated upon arrival and filed.

Specific requests for deer hunting are reviewed annually in August/September and permits sent out before the season opens. As stated earlier on this page, requests received after the opening of deer archery season are deferred to the following year. The majority of deer hunting permissions are issued for archery season only.

Greenbelt properties with MassWildlife conservation restriction/easements:

Donald Woodland, Newbury
GPS Location
Latitude 42.775534, Longitude -70.941015
Google Map Locator
Conservation Restriction
Granted 2012 by Greenbelt to Mass. Dept. of Fish and Game
Public may hunt – Greenbelt written permission not required

Hans Morris Reservation, Newbury
GPS Location
Latitude 42.777307, Longitude -70.887324
Google Map Locator
Conservation Restriction
Granted 2010 by Greenbelt to Mass. Dept. of Fish and Game
Public may hunt - Greenbelt written permission not required

Wet Meadows, Newbury
GPS Location
Latitude 42.788601, Longitude -70.908921
Google Map Locator
Conservation Restriction 
Granted 2007 by Greenbelt to Mass Dept. of Fish and Game
Public may hunt - Greenbelt written permission required

Lagoulis Reservation, Newbury
GPS Location
Latitude 42.778958, Longitude -70.876544
Google Map Locator
Conservation Restriction  Granted 2014 by Greenbelt to Mass. Dept. of Fish and Game
Public may hunt - Greenbelt written permission required

Great Swamp Brook, Rowley
GPS Location
Latitude 42.727473, Longitude -70.917905
Google Map Locator
Conservation Restriction
Granted 2010 by Greenbelt to Mass. Dept. of Fish and Game
Public may hunt - Greenbelt written permission required

Reinert Reservation, Essex
GPS Location
Latitude 42.648333, Longitude-70.779547
Google Map Locator
Conservation Restriction
Granted in 2018 by Greenbelt to Mass. Dept. of Fish and Game
Public may hunt - Greenbelt written permission not required

Brewer Field, Ipswich
GPS Location
Latitude 42.681729, Longitude -70.814504
Google Map Locator
Conservation Restriction
Granted in 2019 by Greenbelt to Mass. Dept. of Fish and Game
Public may hunt only in the salt marsh portion of this property. Written permission is not required

Ox Pasture and Mill River, Rowley
Ox Pasture GPS Location
Latitude 42.742605, Longitude-70.890358
Ox Pasture Google Map Locator

Mill River GPS Location
Latitude 42.747337, Longitude-70.886034
Mill River Google Map Locator
Conservation Restriction
Granted in 2018 by Greenbelt to Mass. Dept. of Fish and Game
Public may hunt - Greenbelt written permission not required

Mapping information for some of the properties above can be found on the MassWildlife Land Viewer

Greenbelt membership information can be obtained at our offices or from our website at www.ecga.org. Contact the Director of Land Stewardship with questions.