A buck pictured above was photographed on a Mahnomen County trail camera in Oct. 2019.

ST. PAUL — Prospects look good for Minnesota fall hunting, according to DNR Wildlife Manager Jeff Zajac.

Archery deer season begins Saturday, Sept. 13. The firearms deer hunt begins Saturday, Nov. 8. Closing dates depend on location.

Zajac says deer hunting should be successful as long as it doesn’t rain or snow too much this fall.

“I think we’ve got a very healthy productive herd. We’ve got reports of lots of twins and triplets,” said Zajak. “The habitat is in great shape with plenty of cover and food. Deer should have no issues with food in Southern Minnesota until crops are down.”

He said most deer will be in the Minnesota, Cottonwood, Little Cottonwood and Redwood River Valleys after harvest.

“With good weather like 40 degrees and a light, steady breeze without much wind or heavy rain, hunting should be good,” said Zajac.

Windom DNR Area Wildlife Manager Brian Nyborg who covers Martin, Jackson, Cottonwood and Watonwan Counties, said he’s optimstic about deer hunting due to the light winter last year.

“We’ve got twins on the landscape. Last year’s fawns should have had a fawn. We didn’t have much of a winter last year, so lots of deer should have come through well,” he said.

Many farmland areas need help reducing local deer populations and allow hunters to harvest multiple antlerless deer.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) receives about 230 formal deer damage complaints from landowners, particularly agricultural producers, since damage to crops and stored forage can result in lost revenue.

“Hunting is one of the best ways to balance the size of the local herd with the available natural forage and habitat conditions,” said Paul Burr, acting big game program coordinator for the DNR.

“One of the great things about archery season is the length of it–from Sept. 13 to season’s end, Dec. 31,” said Burr. “Hunters can take part in the whole range of the fall season and watch what deer are doing through the transition from summer to fall to winter.”

Many archery hunters harvest antlerless deer. In 2024, 52% of archery-harvested deer were antlerless. Archery hunters were responsible for one-fifth of all antlerless deer harvested in Minnesota.

Since 2023, crossbows have been allowed for deer hunters with an archery license. Through approved legislation, crossbow use has been extended through at least 2026.

The youth and early antlerless deer season is Oct. 16-19. The firearms season opens Saturday, Nov. 8 and closes on various dates depending on location. The muzzleloader season is Saturday. Nov. 29 through Sunday. Dec. 14.

Detailed information on every DPA (deer permit area) including hunters per squad mile in 2024, public hunting ground, and land cover types, are available on an interactive deer map by selecting “DPA Details) at interactive deer map (Mndnr.gov/deermap). Deer hunting regulations are available at mndnr.gov/hunting/deer).

Optimistic outlook for Pheasant hunting

Statewide pheasant hunting runs Oct. 11 to Jan. 4, 2026.

Zajac is optimistic about pheasant hunting as soon as corn is harvested.

“All our roadside counts in southwest and south central Minnesota are significantly up this year,” said Zajac. “As soon as the corn is gone, it should be excellent. Especially in southwest Minnesota. Roadside counts are up 86 percent there this year. There was very little snow last winter. It was warm and generally dry during nesting season, so they should do well. We’ve had excellent weather the last nine months or so.”

Nyborg said pheasant hunting prospects look good.

“Surveys are all up. We had decent, pretty stable weather during the hatch all the way through and no floods this year,” he said.

Weather key for waterfowl

He said waterfowl hunting should be comparable to last year. The regular Southern Minnesota season for ducks, coots and mergansers runs Sept. 27 to Oct. 5 and Oct. 13 to Dec. 7.

“We’ve had normal mallard and wood duck production. After the opener, it’ll depend on the weather. We’ll need good, cold weather north of us to push birds down here,” said Zajac.

Think safety

Archery hunters are reminded that blaze orange or blaze pink clothing is required during the youth and early antlerless seasons from Thursday, Oct. 16 through Sunday, Oct. 19, and during any other open firearms deer season.

For safety, hunters should bring an article of blaze clothing when hunting on public land because small game firearms seasons are open.

Hunters are strongly recommended to be safe when using tree stands.

Deer hunters in a fabric or synthetic ground blind on public land must have a blaze orange safety covering on top of the blind that is visible from all directions, or a patch made of blaze orange material that is at least 144 square inches (12×12 inches) on each side of the blind.