Once the leaves are down and the stone walls show through the trees, can you still take an Easton trail on a Tuesday morning? On Aspetuck Land Trust land, hunting is allowed in one area, during set hours, on set days. The land trust prohibits hunting outside those limits, including at the two preserves it has added in Easton most recently.
The season to plan around starts next week. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection lists Trout Brook Valley State Park in Easton as Deer Lottery Area 26 in its 2026 Hunting and Trapping Guide. The regular lottery season runs from Wednesday, November 18, through Tuesday, December 8. For three weeks, that puts Easton's largest trail system on a clock.
The Clock, Day by Day
Aspetuck Land Trust posts its rules for the valley on its seasonal hunting page. The land trust allows hunting from half an hour before sunrise until noon, and never on Sundays. Here is how that lines up with the lottery season:
| When | Trout Brook Valley hunting area | Rest of the valley, Crow Hill, Jump Hill | Other Aspetuck Land Trust preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday to Saturday, half an hour before sunrise to noon | Hunting allowed | Hunting prohibited | Hunting prohibited |
| Monday to Saturday, noon to dark | Hunting prohibited | Hunting prohibited | Hunting prohibited |
| Sundays: Nov. 22, Nov. 29, Dec. 6 | Hunting prohibited | Hunting prohibited | Hunting prohibited |
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, in the middle of the season. A morning walk that day overlaps the hours when hunting is allowed in the signed area.
Hunters there have to park in the Bradley Road permit parking area, inside the gate.
Where the Hunting Area Actually Sits
Trout Brook Valley Conservation Area covers 1,009 acres, and DEEP manages its seasonal hunting in spring and fall. The hunting area is on the west side of the valley, and signs mark its boundary. More than half of Trout Brook Valley lies outside it. So do all of Crow Hill and Jump Hill, which together with the rest of the non-hunting land come to 700 acres, according to the land trust.
The valley holds nearly 14 miles of trails, according to the land trust's Trout Brook Valley Preserve page. The land trust also says every access point has trails outside the hunting area.
Beyond the boundary, the rules get stricter. The land trust says no one may hunt or carry firearms or bows and arrows past the hunting area boundary, and that all other hunting is prohibited.
What the land trust suggests wearing
For anyone hiking during the season, the land trust lists a few simple precautions:
- Wear something blaze orange.
- Skip white clothing, since the deer here are white-tailed.
- Tie something brightly colored around your dog's neck, or use a blaze orange dog vest.
The land trust asks hikers to report incidents to DEEP at 1-860-424-3333.
The Newest Preserves Are Outside the Hunting Area
The land trust ends its hunting rules with this line: "All other Aspetuck Land Trust preserves are hunting-free." In Easton, that policy covers the two trailed preserves the land trust has added most recently, and they make very different walks.
Kupinse Preserve, along the Mill River
The William J. Kupinse, Jr. & Patricia Kupinse Preserve covers 18.7 acres with 3,300 feet of frontage on the Mill River. It has a new trail system and a parking lot off South Park Avenue, and #18 South Park Avenue works as its GPS address. The land was protected in 2023.
There's one rule to know before you load the car. The land trust asks visitors to leave dogs at home to protect the river's trout. Kupinse works for a solo walk or a walk with a friend. If the dog is coming, go somewhere else.
Blithewood Preserve, on Judd Road
Blithewood Preserve sits at 340 Judd Road, about 30 acres given to Aspetuck Land Trust by the Bresky family. The land trust's Fall 2026 newsletter counts it as the land trust's third new trailed preserve in two years. The other two are the Weston Wilton Forest Reserve in Weston and the Kupinse Preserve in Easton. The land trust scheduled an inaugural hike there for Sunday, October 4, led by Executive Director David Brant.
Late fall shows off what the newsletter describes. Blithewood has stone walls running through a forest of oak and black birch, along with a large collection of glacial erratics. These are boulders carried in and dropped by the ice sheet that covered Connecticut until roughly 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. With the canopy bare, the walls and boulders are easy to see from the trail. The newsletter also points to large-diameter trees and vernal pools that support amphibians such as spring peepers.
The name goes back decades. The Bresky family chose "Blithewood," meaning "happy woodland," when they bought the property in 1966. The family business, Henry Bresky & Sons, was a food distribution company founded in 1955 that became a fixture in Bridgeport. The land trust has since removed the house. In the newsletter, the family says it hopes visitors find "peace and serenity" there. The event listing notes there are no bathroom facilities on site. Check the Aspetuck Land Trust website for current trail and parking details before you go.
Outside the Preserves, a Longer Season
The land trust's clock covers land trust property. On private land, the state's calendar runs longer. DEEP's 2026 guide lists private-land archery deer season from September 15 through December 31 in every zone. Private-land shotgun, rifle and revolver season runs November 18 through December 8, the same three weeks as the Trout Brook Valley lottery.
Off the preserves, archery season continues through the last day of December, after the Trout Brook Valley lottery ends on December 8.
The John Hackett Team has spent decades in Fairfield County, and we pay attention to the details that shape life in towns like Easton. That includes how much of the town is preserved land and which trails stay open when the season changes. If you own property near Trout Brook Valley, Judd Road or the Mill River and want to know how that location factors into its value, Request Your Free Home Valuation and we'll go over it with you.
