A large group of waterfowl takes flight from the Lake Andes Wetland Management District in South Dakota. (Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Minnesota’s regular waterfowl hunting season opens a half-hour before sunrise on Saturday, Sept. 27.
Spring waterfowl counts were generally higher than last year, with the full report from the spring waterfowl survey available on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources waterfowl management webpage (mndnr.gov/waterfowl). In the report, total breeding duck abundance (excluding scaup) was estimated at 417,000, which is 8% above the 2024 estimate and 32% below the long-term average going back to 1968.
Hunters can find important information about required waterfowl stamps, season dates and hunting regulations in the Minnesota Waterfowl Hunting Regulations booklet, available wherever hunting and fishing licenses are sold, and on the Minnesota DNR waterfowl hunting page (mndnr.gov/hunting/waterfowl).
Information to help hunters properly identify waterfowl is available in an illustrated guide on page 18 of the regulations booklet. For more information on what the Minnesota DNR is doing for ducks and habitat is available in the five year Duck Action Plan available on the DNR waterfowl management webpage (mndnr.gov/waterfowl).
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