Hunting & Fishing Any info on hunting in Minnesota??

[Dylan in AZ]

How is MN as far as hunting and gun laws go? I'm from AZ and used to very loose gun laws with pretty good hunting opportunities. I've lived in the desert my whole life and know it pretty well. I'm considering moving to MN for a while for personal reasons and I'm wondering if it's going to be depressing from a hunter's viewpoint.

Thanks in advance!

 

[my human host]

Re: Any info on hunting in Minnesota??

Good and bad, as far as the gun laws go. No cans here. You can get a concealed carry permit if you complete an approved course.

Where I am in SW Minn, the general public is very accepting of firearms. I've never been f*cked with for being a shooter or a hunter. Shotgunners are prevalent here. Very few hardcore rifle shooters.

I don't take part in much of the mainstream bird or big game hunting. I stick to varmints.

Keep in mind I'm a long ways from the Twin Cities.

 

[Dylan in AZ]

Re: Any info on hunting in Minnesota??

Unfortunately, I would most likely be just west of Minneapolis in the St. Louis Park area. I mainly hunt varmints too but I would really love to get into bird hunting again so that's great news to me. Trap shooting is an old passion of mine. I do enjoy big game hunting too, but it's not very high on my list. It's good to hear that prospects aren't as bleak as I was expecting!

 

[my human host]

Re: Any info on hunting in Minnesota??

There is some pretty decent pheasant hunting in the western portion of the state. Coyote populations have grown in MN the same as they have everywhere else. Calling is a tough business in my area. I'm told it gets better around the rivers, but I can't testify to the truth of it.

I know there is some pistol and three gun stuff in the metro area. I honestly can't tell you much about it. I'm not much of an urbanite.

The main rifle ranges I know of are in Harris and Elk River. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

 

[O_W]

Re: Any info on hunting in Minnesota??

i did serious damage on the predator population the last 5 years there. I lived just west of St. Louis park in Minnetonka. caught 17 coyotes one seanon in my back yard. You can get out and hunt quite a bit. Tons of public land and tons of public hunters. up north is great. Western Mn is real nice. you can be in ND in 3.5/4 hours yu are moving to a blue state that is expensive as hell to live in!!!

i really liked it. Glad to be back home in Florida.

Get yourself a nice snow blower!!!

 

[Chopperguy]

Re: Any info on hunting in Minnesota??

Life long MN resident here and I've been hunting since I was old enough to do so.

MN has tons of public land open to public hunting. If you want to hunt grouse, it really dosen't get much better than northern MN.

I grew up in St. Louis Park and even worked on the police department there for several years before taking a job with the state and moving up north 25 years ago. If you drive a couple hours north there are some great deer and bird hunting opportunities available. The Cunty I live in now has over a million acres of public land available for hunting.

Best way to discover these areas is to choose a spot in the state you thing you want to hunt. Buy yourself a platt map book and go exploring. Great summertime activity. There are many counties with active land management departments which actively sell timber. Timber sales and varying age growth forests are great for wildlife populations. And all these county tax forfeited and forest lands are open for hunting.

I'd really love to get a supressor, but not possible here. SBR is ok.

Some kinda goofy firearms laws here, but not hard to understand and work with.

Feel free to pm me if you want more specific information.

Got to tell you the winters here SUCK. The older i get, the less i can stand them. Worked outsdie all winter ost of my life and you havent felt cold until you go into a -40 F hanger and try to get a helicopter ready for an all day flight where the HIGH for the day is -15 - -20f.

I'm getting out of during winters here as soon as I can talk my wife into retiring. If she decides to work much longer, guess I'll miss here for those months I'm gone!

 

[mnhntr]

Re: Any info on hunting in Minnesota??

used to live in scottsdale in the 80s and now live in MN. Hunting is great here and the gun laws are ok. As for bird hunting you have grouse, pheasant, waterfowl, and woodcock.