Apply through Aug. 18 for Camp Ripley archery hunts
Hunters can apply for the fall archery deer hunt at Camp Ripley near Little Falls through Friday, Aug. 18. This year, the three-day hunt will happen Oct. 27-29 (Friday through Sunday, application code 668). A total of 2,500 permits will be made available. The bag limit is two and bonus permits may be used to take antlerless deer.
The archery hunt at Camp Ripley is an annual event. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources coordinates the hunt in collaboration with Central Lakes College Natural Resources Department and the Minnesota Department of Military Affairs, which manages the 53,000-acre military reservation.
Complete details on how to apply, hunt rules and other important instructions are available on the Minnesota DNR website.
Apply through Aug. 18 for special youth deer hunts
Hunters can apply for special youth deer hunt permits through Friday, Aug. 18. The number of permits for each hunt 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. These firearms hunts are for youth ages 12-15 at the time of the hunt.
Youth archery hunters in Sand Prairie Wildlife Management Area in Sherburne County can be ages 10-17.
Special youth deer 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 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website.
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 opens in a new browser tab and can be found by typing “hunting methods” in the search box and clicking “What hunting methods are illegal?”
Apply through Aug. 18 for prairie chicken hunt lottery
Hunters can apply through Friday, Aug. 18, to be chosen for one of 125 permits for the 2023 Minnesota prairie chicken hunting season. The nine-day prairie chicken season begins Saturday, Sept. 23, 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 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website.