Carlton County Hunting

With Carlton as its seat, Carlton County takes in 861 square miles of the Arrowhead, the Iron Range and the North Shore. Roughly 36,745 people lived here in 2024, 1.5% up on the 2020 base. Its DNR region is the Northeast Region; staff there work out of Grand Rapids. 7 deer permit areas split the county: 156, 153, 199, 154, 182, 173 and 181. GIS layers count close to 82,139 acres of state and federal ground within the line.

Land area from the Census 2024 Gazetteer, population from Census Vintage 2024 estimates, region from the DNR county region list, DPAs from the DNR deer permit area layer, public acres from DNR, USFS and USFWS GIS layers (not official acreages). Checked October 28, 2026.

Seasons that reach Carlton County

WMAs, state forests and private land share these dates in Carlton County; refuges, state parks and special hunts add their own rules.

Lottery DPAs need an antlerless permit for does in the firearm seasons; the DPA pages list the 2026 quota.

From the 2026-2027 Minnesota Hunting and Trapping Regulations booklet (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources) and the DNR deer permit area map, checked October 28, 2026.

WMAs, forests and refuges of Carlton County

Open ground in Carlton County spans 18 records: 10 wildlife management areas, 3 state forests, 2 aquatic management areas and 1 ruffed grouse areas and walking trail. Forest acreage by GIS: state 51,900. Special hunts are the only way into most state parks.

• State forests: 3Nemadji State Forest (90,057 ac*), Fond du Lac State Forest (40,830 ac*), Riverlands State Forest (22,662 ac*)
• Wildlife management areas, 10 listedBlackhoof River Wildlife Management Area (4,510 ac), Kettle Lake Wildlife Management Area (1,312 ac), Gichigami Ziibi Wildlife Management Area (895 ac), Firebird Wildlife Management Area (727 ac), Sawyer Wildlife Management Area (600 ac), Red Clover Wildlife Management Area (322 ac), Mervin Wildlife Management Area (242 ac), Dye Wildlife Management Area (161 ac), Wrenshall Wildlife Management Area (160 ac), Carl Sandell Wildlife Management Area (40 ac)
• State parks with hunts, 1 listedJay Cooke State Park (7,875 ac)
• Aquatic management areas, 2 listedBlackhoof River Aquatic Management Area (1,572 ac), Little Otter Creek Aquatic Management Area (202 ac)
• Ruffed grouse areas and walking trails, 1 listedBirch Hill Ruffed Grouse Management Area (696 ac)
• Scientific and natural areas, 1 listedHemlock Ravine Scientific and Natural Area (53 ac)

* Acres for the whole property, which reaches into another county.

Just outside the county

• Moose Lake Wildlife Management Area16 miles out · 47 ac
• Hjalmar & Frances Storlie Wildlife Management Area17 miles out · 79 ac
• Sturgeon Lake Wildlife Management Area18 miles out · 160 ac
• St. Louis River Ruffed Grouse Management Area18 miles out · 873 ac
• General C.C. Andrews State Forest19 miles out · 5,718 ac

Skip Anderson Creek Aquatic Management Area, Bear Lake Aquatic Management Area, Midway River Aquatic Management Area, Net River Aquatic Management Area, Otter Creek Aquatic Management Area and Silver Creek Aquatic Management Area: they are closed to hunting by rule or by the managing agency.

Public land hub · WMA index · Walk-In Access page · All 60 state forests

Units from our Minnesota land list (DNR WMA, SNA, AMA, forest and park pages, USFWS and USFS records); acres by kind from the DNR management units layer, the USFS ownership layer and the USFWS interest layer (GIS measures); Walk-In Access from the DNR Walk-In Access program; special hunts from the booklet special hunt tables. Checked October 28, 2026.

Carlton County legal hunting light

Legal light for deer at Carlton County brackets sunrise and sunset by 30 minutes; ducks and geese open 30 minutes before sunrise and stop at sunset.

Clock time includes Daylight Saving Time until Nov. 1.

Hours rule from the DNR booklet shooting hours page; sun times calculated for the county centre (NOAA method, Central Time), checked against U.S. Naval Observatory tables; checked October 28, 2026. Legal hours for every county.