Deer hunting

• The statewide shotgun zone repeal is now in effect. Some counties have adopted local shotgun‑only ordinances. View a list of counties with shotgun-only or partial shotgun-only ordiances. Check the county in which you're hunting to ensure an ordinance has not been passed.
• The new Electronic Licensing System (ELS) is live, including updated group applications and harvest registration processes.
• Site validation now replaces physical carcass tagging. Hunters must validate at the site of the kill using the mobile app, paper form or ELS system.
• Minnesota begins a four-year rotating statewide chronic wasting disease surveillance plan:
  • Mandatory CWD sampling applies only in the CWD surveillance block during firearms opening weekend, which is Saturday, Nov. 7, through Sunday, Nov. 8.
  • Sampling is now voluntary in a DPA designated as a CWD management zone unless it is included in the current year's rotational surveillance block.
• Carcass movement restrictions are no longer in place for any DPA designated a CWD management zone but new carcass disposal rules apply.
• DNR will no longer provide dumpsters for carcass disposal.
• Antlerless permit and special deer hunt drawings now use separate preference point systems.
• Hunters can apply for both an antlerless permit and a special hunt in 2026.

All deer licenses (archery, firearms, muzzleloader and bonus permits) go on sale Friday, Aug. 1. Once on sale, licenses may be purchased at any time before or during the season.

Landowners who own at least 80 acres of agricultural or grazing land and allow public deer hunting on that land during the deer hunting season can obtain a free license that allows the taking of one additional antlerless deer in either-sex, two-deer limit, three-deer limit and five-deer limit areas.

After a deer season is open, all licenses and permits are valid the same day of purchase if purchased before legal shooting hours. If the license or permit is purchased after legal shooting hours have begun, it is valid the following day.

• A person may purchase no more than one firearms, muzzleloader and archery deer license in a calendar year.
• The bag limit in antlerless lottery areas for firearms and muzzleloader hunters is one deer, which must be a legal buck unless hunters apply for and receive an antlerless permit in the lottery. The permit gives hunters the choice of taking either a legal buck or an antlerless deer.
• Bonus, early antlerless season and disease management permits may be purchased in addition to regular licenses. Bonus permits may be purchased throughout the season but must be in possession when taking deer. Regular licenses and bonus permits may be used in any order.
• A person may not take or tag deer without the appropriate license or permit. The term “take” includes attempting to take deer, deer drives, spotting or otherwise assisting another person in taking deer.

General

• Hunters may not take deer with the aid or use of bait.
• Ensure you are using legal equipment for taking big game.
• Hunters using firearms to take big game must use legal ammunition.
• Crossbows are legal for all archery deer hunters.
• Legal bucks have one antler at least 3 inches long.
• Fawn bucks, sometimes called button bucks, are not legal bucks.
• Antlerless deer are deer without an antler at least 3 inches long.
• Know the difference between a deer and an elk.
• Hunters who purchase an archery deer license may take deer with a crossbow throughout the archery deer season. Archery hunters may be asked at registration if they harvested their deer with a crossbow or vertical bow. Crossbow users must be 10 or older.
• Members of a hunting party may not tag a legal buck or antlerless deer for any member of their party hunting with a youth license.
• Portable deer stands may be left overnight in certain wildlife management areas in the northwest.
• A licensed hunter who lawfully harvests an escaped farmed deer or elk is not liable to the owner but they must notify the DNR within 24 hours. If you harvest a deer or elk with ear tags or other identification, contact a conservation officer.
• Hunters may only possess and use nontoxic ammunition when participating in a special hunt or disease management hunt in a Minnesota state park or Scientific and Natural Area or in a regular hunt in a Scientific and Natural Area in which hunting is allowed. See details and a view the list of SNAs open to hunting.

Regulations

• Every deer taken must be registered and antlers must remain attached until the deer is registered. In all cases, the deer must be registered within 48 hours after the deer was taken and before the deer is processed either privately or commercially. Deer may be transported out of the area where taken without first being registered, after site validation.
• Note that harvest registration is a separate process from CWD testing. There are 3 registration options:
  1. Walk-in Big Game Registration Stations: Registration stations display large, orange "Big Game Registration" signs at select license agent locations. See a list of game registration stations.
  2. Online: Connect to the ELS to register your deer. You will receive a confirmation number.
  3. MN DNR Licensing mobile app: Log into the app, select "Harvest Validation/Registration" and complete the steps.
• Online and mobile app harvest registration options will not be available until the site validation is completed for that harvested animal. Site validation must be completed (mobile app or paper) prior to transporting a harvested animal. Big game possession tags are no longer issued after registration.
• When registering:
  • Adult male: male deer with one antler at least 3 inches long.
  • Fawn male: 6-month-old male deer, commonly known as a "button buck," weighs less than 75 pounds dressed. Register deer with antlers less than 3 inches or shed antlers as fawn male.
  • Adult female: doe at least 18 months old. Longer nose and larger body (over 75 pounds dressed weight) than younger antlerless deer.
  • Fawn female: 6-month-old female deer. Shorter nose, weighs less than 75 pounds dressed.
• Licenses requiring registration will no longer have a unique registration number associated with them, rather the license number will serve in that capacity.

CWD testing

CWD sampling is mandatory for all deer one year and older that are harvested on the opening weekend (Saturday, Nov. 7, to Sunday, Nov. 8,) of the statewide firearms deer season in DPAs included in the current year's rotational surveillance block.

Sampling must be completed within 24 hours of harvest unless a hunter uses a mail-in kit, which must be obtained prior to Saturday, Nov. 7, and the resulting sample postmarked within 72 hours of harvest.

Carcass movement restrictions have been eliminated but carcass disposal rules apply during all seasons for all deer including fawns.

Detailed maps and corresponding information are available in the CWD information section and on the fold-out deer map, which is distributed with the printed regulations booklet.

Testing for CWD

There are several options, which are are available to all hunters – even those outside a rotational surveillance block.

• Mail-in kit: A free mail-in kit for hunters to test for CWD. Unused kits from previous years may be used. If you obtained a kit prior to November 2024 and are using it to send in a sample this season, please contact us for a new return label prior to sending.
• Partner sampling: Taxidermists across Minnesota will collect samples. These partners will remove a lymph node sample and submit it to the DNR. The test is free but partners may charge fees for their services. Results will be available online.
• DNR wildlife office: Contact an area DNR wildlife office to schedule an appointment to get your deer sampled.

New DPAs with mandatory sampling

• 685

DPAs affected

CWD zone definitions

• Surveillance block: A strategy designed to gather more complete information about CWD prevalence, especially in areas of the state where testing has not occurred in recent years. This block of DPAs rotates in a four-year cycle and may include DPAs where CWD has been found.
• Management: CWD has been found in wild deer in these areas. Multiple management actions designed to help mitigate disease spread are in place.

DNR, municipalities and organizations across Minnesota offer opportunities to hunt at special times and in areas – including state parks – that might regularly be closed to hunting.

Participation in these hunts is limited and often requires special registration. Consult the information contained in regulations book and the links below to register and participate in these hunts.

Earn-a-buck regulations apply during some special hunts. The regulation requires that a hunter harvest and tag an anterless deer with his or her own tag before harvesting a antlered deer.

• Archery
• Camp Ripley archery season
• Firearms *
• Muzzleloader *
• Youth *
• Disease management

* These hunts may require nontoxic ammunition.

Do you value strong connections to your outdoors and the food you eat? Are you looking for a new way to interact with the fields, woods, and waters around you?

Then view our series of 10 free, one-hour Learn To Deer Hunt lunchtime webinars. These classes offer an introduction and explanation of deer hunting and how to do it.

You also can view our series of short videos designed to help make you a better deer hunter. From sighting in your gun to managing land to reading deer sign and setting up your stand, these videos are intended to help regardless of your experience level.

Discover fall fields and forests with help from our archery and firearms how-to-hunt-deer guides.