Saturday, Nov. 7 is the firearms opener in Minnesota permit areas that hold a statewide firearms season. The close is a permit-area fact. Match your area to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources row before you keep a second week open.
Hunt through Nov. 22 when the area is in the 100 series or is 604, 679 or 684. Close the first firearms season on Nov. 15 when the area is in the 200 series or on the named short list. When that area is also on the late southeast list, the same firearms license covers Nov. 21 through Nov. 29. Area 601 runs Nov. 7 through Nov. 29. Submit an opening-weekend chronic wasting disease sample only when the area is in this year's surveillance block and the deer is at least a year old.
STEP 1 · Season dates
The 100 series closes Nov. 22 and the short row closes Nov. 15
The DNR deer page sets Nov. 7 through Nov. 22 for the 100 series and for 604, 679 and 684. It sets Nov. 7 through Nov. 15 for the 200 series and for 338, 341, 605, 642, 643, 644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649, 655, 661, 666, 671 and 685. Late southeast firearms runs Nov. 21 through Nov. 29 in 338, 341, 605, 642, 643, 644, 645, 646, 647, 648 and 649. Metro area 601 runs Nov. 7 through Nov. 29.
The 2026 handbook prints those same firearms dates. It places a late CWD season on Dec. 18 through Dec. 20 in 605, 642, 643, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649 and 655. Area 644 is on the late southeast firearms list and is absent from that December list.
The deer page archived Oct. 13, 2025 opened the 2025 statewide season on Saturday, Nov. 8. The long row ran through Nov. 23. The short row ran through Nov. 16, and the areas named on it stopped at 671. Late southeast ran Nov. 22 through Nov. 30. Area 601 ran through Nov. 30. Muzzleloader was Nov. 29 through Dec. 14. For 2026 the deer page sets muzzleloader as Nov. 28 through Dec. 13. The season shape held. The short row now names 685.
STEP 2 · License rule
One firearms license still covers late southeast
The handbook says the statewide firearms license is valid in any area that opens November 7 and can be used in any area open during the late southeast season. The B season license has been eliminated. The 2025 page already said one statewide firearms license was valid for the regular deer season and the late southeast season. That split did not return.
The FAQ says you can hunt the entire state. The area number you give at purchase does not lock the hunt to that area. In an antlerless lottery area, a regular firearms hunter without an either-sex permit is restricted to bucks only. Bonus permits are not valid there. The deer page says winners have been selected and there will be no surplus lottery antlerless permits this year. You may buy no more than one firearms deer license in a calendar year. Bought before legal shooting hours, it is valid the same day once the season is open. Bought after shooting hours have begun, it is valid the next day. The clock for those hours was not on the deer page opened for this guide.
Site validation replaces the physical carcass tag. The deer page says you validate at the kill with the DNR mobile app, a paper form or the electronic licensing system before the deer moves. The 2025 page still told hunters to notch month, date and time on a site tag before moving the deer. A legal buck still needs one antler at least 3 inches long. A button buck is not a legal buck.
STEP 3 · County rifles
Thirteen counties still limit rifles after the repeal
The 2025 page said the shotgun zone would remain for fall 2025 and that the repeal was effective for the 2026 season. The 2026 deer page says the repeal is now in effect and sends hunters to the county list. The county page says that outside a shotgun-only ordinance, firearms deer hunters may use all legal shotguns, handguns and rifles where deer hunting is allowed.
The July 27, 2026 news release said 13 counties had ordinances in effect for this season on all or part of the county. The county page opened for this guide still marks Clay and Wilkin as partial. Wilkin's row says there is no change from last year. The handbook table is dated as of May 5, 2026. Both the handbook and the county page say to check the county. We did not open the county ordinance documents. On a partial county, that DNR list does not draw the boundary.
STEP 4 · CWD weekend
Mandatory sampling follows the 2026 surveillance block
Submit a sample for a deer one year or older killed on Saturday, Nov. 7 or Sunday, Nov. 8 when the permit area is in the rotational block. Outside that block, opening-weekend sampling is voluntary. A management-zone label by itself does not create the duty.
The deer page says mandatory sampling applies only in the surveillance block on that opening weekend. Sampling is voluntary in a management zone unless the zone is in the current block. The block page lists 213, 214, 215, 218, 219, 234, 237, 238, 250, 252, 253, 270, 272, 273, 274, 275, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 286, 288, 289, 290, 291, 294, 295, 296, 299, 671 and 685. The CWD page prints the same areas under mandatory testing for Nov. 7 to 8. Register the deer before sampling. Any adult deer one year or older taken Saturday or Sunday in the block has to be sampled.
The 2025 page required that sample for deer one year and older taken Nov. 8 or Nov. 9 in every DPA designated as a CWD management or surveillance zone. Management areas on that page were 601, 604, 605, 642, 643, 644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649, 655, 661, 666, 671, 679 and 684. Surveillance areas were 229, 239, 262, 269, 270, 285 and 338. The 2026 deer page adds 685 and marks it new. Areas 671 and 685 are also on this year's block, so they keep the opening-weekend requirement. Our rule for the other management areas is voluntary sampling on this opener. The handbook says sample submission is not required in a management zone unless that zone falls in the block.
Staffed stations on the block page run 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 7 and Nov. 8, then 9 a.m. to noon on Monday, Nov. 9. Every station on that page also offers self-service from Saturday, Nov. 7 through Monday, Nov. 9. Finish sampling within 24 hours unless you use the mail-in path on the deer page. The kit has to be in hand before Saturday, Nov. 7. The sample has to be postmarked within 72 hours of the kill.
Carcass movement restrictions are no longer in place for management zones, and the DNR will no longer provide dumpsters. Disposal rules cover all deer including fawns. The carcass page says the carcass may leave the zone immediately. Legal options there are a landfill or refuse hauler, a Minnesota licensed processor, a Minnesota licensed taxidermist, or the private land of the kill with the owner's permission. A not-detected test allows other legal disposal. Deer killed outside a management zone are not subject to that disposal rule. A whole deer, elk, moose or caribou carcass taken outside Minnesota is still illegal to import.
STEP 5 · October dates
Early antlerless and youth still sit on their own weekend
Early antlerless and youth dates still sit on their own October weekend. This guide does not restate every special hunt.
Our 2025 registration paper reports 146,341 firearm deer for 2025. It reports that 44.9 percent list Nov. 8 or Nov. 9 as the kill date. Those dates were the statewide opener on the archived 2025 schedule. The share is registered firearm deer for that year, including earlier firearms seasons in the same feed. It does not forecast one stand.
NOTES AND SOURCES
Fully Drawn Research is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency, transportation agency, mapping provider or outfitter. This guide reports official agency dates and rules as published when it was written. Confirm with the state agency before you hunt.
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