Apply through Aug. 18 for special youth deer, prairie chicken hunts

Brad Dokken, Grand Forks Herald
Updated ·2 min read
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Aug. 15—ST. PAUL — Friday, Aug. 18, is the deadline to apply for Minnesota's special youth deer hunts and the northwest Minnesota prairie chicken season, the Department of Natural Resources said in a reminder.

The number of permits available for each of the special youth deer hunts is limited. Individual hunts will be held in several state parks, and in the Rydell National Wildlife Refuge, on various dates in the fall. Adults must accompany youth during these hunts. The firearms hunts are for hunters ages 12 to 15 years old at the time of the hunt.

Youth archery hunters in Sand Prairie Wildlife Management Area in Sherburne County can be 10 to 17 years old.

The hunt at Rydell NWR, near Erskine, Minnesota, in Polk County, is set for Oct. 28-29. Other special hunts in northwest Minnesota are scheduled or Oct. 14-15 at Lake Bronson State Park in Kittson County and Oct. 20-22 at Lake Bemidji and Zippel Bay state parks in Beltrami and Lake of the Woods counties, respectively.

The special hunts are different from the statewide youth deer season, which takes place Oct. 19-22 and does not require an application. More information is available on the DNR website at

www.mndnr.gov/hunting/deer/special-deer-hunts.html

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In most instances, hunters may only possess and use nontoxic ammunition when participating in a special hunt in a Minnesota state park; however, nontoxic ammunition requirements do not apply to youth special hunts in the shotgun-use area if hunters remove all parts of harvested deer from the field, including the entrails.

Where nontoxic ammunition is required, bullets, slugs, muzzleloader ammunition and other single projectiles must be made entirely of nontoxic material approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A full list is available in the Code of Federal Regulations — www.ecfr.gov — and can be found by typing "hunting methods" in the search box and clicking "What hunting methods are illegal?"

Meanwhile, the DNR is offering 125 permits for the 2023 Minnesota prairie chicken hunting season. The nine-day season begins Saturday, Sept. 30, and is open to Minnesota residents only. The hunt takes place in northwestern Minnesota from St. Hilaire south to Breckenridge. Hunters can find details about the season on the DNR website at

mndnr.gov/hunting/prairiechicken

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