Minnesota

Minnesota offers quintessential upper-Midwest deer hunting, blending the deep coniferous big woods of the Northwoods with the fertile agricultural river valleys of the south and west.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) manages deer across designated permit areas. The iconic November firearms deer opener brings hundreds of thousands of hunters into deer camps across the Superior and Chippewa National Forests. In the southeastern bluff country along the Mississippi River, rich corn agriculture and steep terrain produce giant Boone & Crockett bucks.

Minnesota is one of the premier bear hunting destinations in the nation, supporting an estimated 15,000 black bears across its northern forests.

MNDNR allocates bear permits via a spring lottery in central and northern Quota Zones, while offering over-the-counter licenses in the southern No-Quota Zone. The season opens in early September, with hunters utilizing natural bait stations and still-hunting near wild berry patches and aspen-birch woods.

In the remote aspen parklands and prairie marshes of northwestern Minnesota (Kittson and Marshall counties), MNDNR manages a small, wild elk herd.

A highly coveted resident lottery allocates limited bull and antlerless tags for early autumn hunts across open prairie-forest transition lands.