Minnesota provides a distinctive and challenging wildlife experience with a variety of game animals and varied landscapes, whether you are an experienced hunter or fresh to the sport. Every aspect of Minnesota’s deer hunting season for 2023, including the rules, opportunities, and recommendations for a successful hunt, will be covered in this article.
Minnesota Deer Hunting Season
Deer Hunting Season 2023
| 2023 MN Deer Season | Hunting Start Date | Hunting End Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deer (Archery) | 16-Sep-23 | 31-Dec-23 | Statewide |
| Deer (Early Antlerless) | 19-Oct-23 | 22-Oct-23 | |
| Deer (Youth) | 19-Oct-23 | 22-Oct-23 | Statewide |
| Deer - Firearm (Season A) | 4-Nov-23 | 19-Nov-23 | 100 Series permit areas |
| Deer - Firearm (Season A) | 4-Nov-23 | 12-Nov-23 | 200 & 300 Series permit areas |
| Deer - Firearm (Season B) | 18-Nov-23 | 26-Nov-23 | 300 Series permit areas |
| Deer (Muzzleloader) | 25-Nov-23 | 10-Dec-23 | Statewide |
Deer Hunting Season 2024
| 2024 MN Deer Season | Hunting Start Date | Hunting End Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deer (Archery) | 14-Sep-24 | 31-Dec-24 | Statewide |
| Deer (Early Antlerless) | 17-Oct-24 | 20-Oct-24 | |
| Deer (Youth) | 17-Oct-24 | 20-Oct-24 | Statewide |
| Deer - Firearm (Season A) | 9-Nov-24 | 24-Nov-24 | 100 Series permit areas |
| Deer - Firearm (Season A) | 9-Nov-24 | 17-Nov-24 | 200 & 300 Series permit areas |
| Deer - Firearm (Season B) | 23-Nov-24 | 1-Dec-24 | 300 Series permit areas |
| Deer (Muzzleloader) | 30-Nov-24 | 15-Dec-24 | Statewide |
Minnesota Elk Season
Either-Sex Season
| Season | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| A (Zone-20) | 27-Aug | 4-Sep |
| B (Zone-20) | 10-Sep | 18-Sep |
| C (Zone-20) | 24-Sep | 2-Oct |
| D (Zone-20) | 8-Oct | 16-Oct |
Elk Anterless Season
| Season | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| E (Zone-20) | 27-Aug | 4-Sep |
| F (Zone-20) | 10-Sep | 18-Sep |
| G (Zone-20) | 24-Sep | 2-Oct |
| H (Zone-20) | 8-Oct | 16-Oct |
Elk Bull-only Season
| Season | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|
| I (Zone-30) | 10-Sep | 18-Sep |
How to Tag a Deer?
When you buy a deer license, you will receive a two-part document that consists of a bottom half deer license and registration paper and a top half site tag for marking the deer in the field.
At the site of the kill: At the location of the kill, the licensed shooter using the tag must separate it from the deer license/registration paper and verify it by using a knife or other pointed object to carve out marks that show the month, day, and hour the deer was killed. The identifier is rendered useless if more than one month, date, or hour is highlighted or noted.
Moving your deer: As long as you have the verified tag on your person, you are permitted to move a legally captured deer away from the slaughter site physically or automatically without fastening the tag to the animal. When the deer is transported in a car or on a UTV or carried into a camp, yard, or other inhabited area, the certified tag must be fastened to the animal.
Attaching a Tag: The tag must be fastened to the deer with a zip tie, bit of wire, thread, or hole made through one of its ears or between the muscle and bone of its rear limb. Until the animal is prepared for storing, the identification must stay on it.
Deer Regulations
- Legal males must have at least one 3-inch spike, while antlerless deer do not. Archery, rifle, and muzzleloader deer hunting licenses and extra passes can be bought before or during the season. One rifle, muzzleloader, and bow deer pass per year is allowed. Extra passes can be bought anytime during the season but must be present when taking deer. Bonus and regular IDs are interchangeable. “Take” involves deer hunts and helping others take deer.
- Baiting deer is banned. Baiting concentrates deer and promotes nose-to-nose touch, increasing disease spread risk. Bait heaps draw and keep many deer, which can privatize deer herds on private lands. Baiting shifts deer behavior, which can hinder other hunts. Baiting involves putting, exposing, dropping, spreading, or sprinkling deer-attracting substances.
- Before hunting, lure must be removed for 10 days. Violators face fines. A person guilty of baiting deer cannot obtain a deer license or kill deer under a lifelong license for one year. A person’s license may be removed for 3 years if they’re guilty twice in 3 years. Trophy deer convictions double the reversal time. After sentencing, bait-hunting firearms and bows can be taken. Some areas ban deer food and attractants year-round.
- “Party hunting” is when two or more approved deer hunters hunt together using the same gear (firearms or archery). Group members who aren’t there can’t tag a deer. Before moving the deer, the licensee must verify the site ID. Farmers can’t share permits. Firearm and bow seekers form two groups. Crossbow hunters can only party hunt with archery hunters if they have an archery license with a crossbow handicap pass or are over 60 and hunting with a crossbow. Any group member can slay a deer for another with an empty tag. Exceptions exist. Party members cannot kill antlerless deer in antlerless permit drawing areas for under-18s, disabled people with permits to fire from a motor vehicle, or Minnesota State Veterans’ Homes residents.
- The party hunting rule prohibits excessive hunting by forcing hunters to tag deer together in the field. This limits deer hunting to IDs.
- Capable Partners, Access North, and Midwest Sports Unlimited are hosting accessible fall deer hunts. DNR Contact Desk at 888-MINNDNR (646-6367). Laser sights are allowed for blind aided hunting.
- Farmers who handle their own deer should not dump corpses on public land or waterways. A waste hauler, dump, or private landowner can discard of carcasses. Carcasses can be used as lure for capture, but they cannot be littered.
- Before processing privately or publicly, all deer must be documented within 48 hours. Walk-in, phone, and web big game registration are available. To get a big game ownership tag, the deer’s owner must bring it to a registry center. Hunters can register their deer online or by phone and enter a validation number on their deer license and site tag. Except in 600-series deer permit zones and the CWD control zone where corpse mobility is restricted, deer can be moved without registration.
- Hunters reporting deer by phone or online will not obtain a big game ownership tag. The system will ask for deer type: adult male, baby male, adult female, and fawn female. The method will only take one crop registration number. The hunter’s hunting license—firearms, muzzleloader, archery, lifetime—will determine the enrollment queries. Extra permits only ask about three deer kinds and season (archery, firearm, muzzleloader).
- Businesses give room and staff for big game registration sites to manage deer numbers. Hunters must register their deer and provide correct details at the registration center. Station workers are not obliged to examine deer or verify game details.
- Registered deer can be moved during and after hunting season. The Deer Season Area Map shows corpse moving limitations in CWD zones. Unless they give formal permission, the operator must move the deer. DNR conservation agents must examine all deer in transit and keep the head affixed until registration. The hide, innards, and deer may be quartered before registering, but the head must stay affixed to one quarter.
- The bag limit may prevent hunters from filling all three IDs in one deer spot. Early antlerless season and late CWD hunts do not tally towards the five-deer statewide bag limit. Except in deer permit zones, legal males have a one-bag limit. Special hunts add to the national limit but not the deer permit area bag limit. Landowner permits can take one antlerless deer above the permit area’s national bag limit.
- Unless a guns or muzzleloader hunter wins an antlerless drawing ticket, the bag limit is one deer, which must be an antlered stag. The draw exempts some hunts. Hunters can join one draw per weapon or muzzleloader license. Apply by September 8. Hunters who declare antlerless permit lotto areas by September 9th are immediately put into the draw. Antlerless permit lottery winners will receive a letter allowing them to hunt antlerless deer with their normal license in that lottery area. The license covers rifle and muzzleloader seasons. At 5 p.m. on October 3, leftover antlerless deer passes will be available first-come, first-served. Permits are based on random license type proportions.
- If there are more permit applications than permits, an automated lottery will pick hunters. Antlerless deer and special game area pass candidates are given priority if they applied in earlier years but were not drawn. Choice is unaffected by entry area or years. Group submissions are ranked by lowest choice scores. Only successful candidates will be informed, and the DNR website will post lottery results by September.
- Antlerless deer can be hunted with extra and disease control permits. Extra permits can be used in two-deer, three-deer, and five-deer limit areas and most special hunts, while disease control permits are only offered in 600-series deer permit areas at $2.50. Hunters need a normal license for the area, season, and way to buy these passes. Prize permits are invalid in bucks-only, antlerless permit draw, and either-sex deer zones. Prize and disease control passes bought after firing hours are good the following day. Hunters can also give meat.
- Landowners, renters, and non-resident owners with at least 80 acres of arable or pasture land can take one extra antlerless deer in specified permit zones during any open season with a free landowner deer ticket. The license only applies to the license holder’s farming land in the deer area. One homeowner deer pass per year. The licensee can gift it to a spouse or relative. The licensee can buy more deer licenses and permits. This license requires landowners to allow public deer hunting during the deer hunting season, except for the first Saturday and Sunday. Hunters need approval, and landowners decide how much public hunting is allowed.
For complete list of regulations you may find on eregulations website.
Hunting License Fees
Minnesota issues hunting permits by species and manner. A rifle, muzzleloader, or bow pass allows one deer. Bonus, early antlerless season, and disease control passes are also available. Hunting and fishing licenses require terminal-issued seal endorsements. Find the table below for MN Deer license fees
Resident
| MN Deer Resident License Type | Code | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| military archery/on leave (r) | 233 | None |
| antlerless lottery | 665 | None |
| antlerless surplus lottery | 675 | None |
| archery (r) | 213 | $34.00 |
| bonus firearm/archery/muzzleloader (r) | 430 | $18.00 |
| Camp Ripley hunt A application | 668 | $14.00 |
| Camp Ripley hunt B application | 669 | $14.00 |
| Disease Management | R-201 / NR-202 | $1.50 |
| Early Antlerless (r) | 422 | $8.50 |
| firearm (r) | 212 | $34.00 |
| license upgrades season change | - | Varies |
| military discharged archery (r) | 238 | None |
| military discharged firearm (r) | 239 | None |
| military discharged muzzleloader (r) | 249 | None |
| military firearm/on leave (r) | 232 | None |
| military muzzleloader/on leave (r) | 234 | None |
| muzzleloader license (r) | 203 | $34.00 |
| youth 10 - 12 (archery-246/firearm-247/muzzleloader-248) | - | None |
| youth 13 to 17 (archery-209 / firearm-210 / muzzleloader-204) (r) | - | $5.00 |
Nonresident
| MN Deer Nonresident License Type | Code | Fees |
|---|---|---|
| antlerless lottery | 665 | None |
| antlerless surplus lottery | 675 | None |
| archery (nr) | 223 | $185.00 |
| bonus firearm/archery/muzzleloader (nr) | 431 | $91.00 |
| Camp Ripley hunt A application | 668 | $14.00 |
| Camp Ripley hunt B application | 669 | $14.00 |
| Disease Management | R-201 / NR-202 | $1.50 |
| Early Antlerless (nr) | 423 | $45.00 |
| firearm (nr) | 222 | $185.00 |
| license upgrades season change | Varies | |
| muzzleloader license (nr) | 237 | $185.00 |
| youth 10-12 (archery-246/firearm-247/muzzleloader-248) | No fee | |
| youth 13-17 (archery-230/firearm-231/muzzleloader-236) (nr) | $5.00 |
For complete list of license fees you may find on Minnesota DNR Website.
MN Hunting lottery and application deadlines
| Hunt lottery and application deadlines 2023 | Deadline Dates |
|---|---|
| Camp Ripley archery hunt application deadline | 18-Aug-23 |
| Youth deer hunt application deadline | 18-Aug-23 |
| Antlerless & special hunt lottery deadline | 7-Sep-23 |
| Hunt lottery and application deadlines 2024 | |
| Camp Ripley archery hunt application deadline | 16-Aug-24 |
| Youth deer hunt application deadline | 16-Aug-24 |
| Antlerless & special hunt lottery deadline | 5-Sep-24 |
Contacts
Tel No.: 651-296-6157 or 888-646-6367
Email: info.dnr@state.mn.us
FAQs related to Minnesota Deer Season
What is the limit on the number of deer that can be harvested in Minnesota each year?
Minnesota hunters can kill three deer per year, including one legal stag. In specified zones, hunters can ID one deer of either sex and take four antlerless deer.
When are the deer hunting seasons in Minnesota?
Archery, rifle, and muzzleloader deer hunting seasons in Minnesota vary by area and type. Archery season in northern Minnesota runs from mid-September to late December, while weapons season runs from early November to late November or early December, based on the area. The Minnesota Hunting Rules guide and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources webpage list hunting season and area times.
Can a person purchase multiple deer hunting licenses in Minnesota?
Minnesota allows one guns, muzzleloader, and archery deer pass per year.
Are licenses and permits valid immediately after purchase in Minnesota?
Minnesota IDs and permits are good the same day if bought before legal firearms hours. If bought after legal firing hours, they are good the following day.
What is the target number of deer to be shot in Minnesota each year?
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has a 200,000-deer-per-year hunting goal for guns, muzzleloading, and archery.
Are there any special regulations for deer hunting in certain areas of Minnesota?
In purple-colored parts of Minnesota, there is a 5-deer cap and other hunting restrictions. Seekers should check the Minnesota Hunting Rules guide or DNR website for details.
Dates & Regulations Source: DNR Minnesota
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