Cottonwood County Hunting

Measured on Census maps, Cottonwood County holds 640 square miles; Windom serves as the county seat. Its 2024 population estimate is 11,338 (-1.5% against 2020). For wildlife business it falls in the DNR South Region, run from New Ulm. The DNR sets deer designations by permit area, and 295, 296, 250, 238 and 252 reach into the county. Public ownership by GIS measure runs near 13,372 acres, overlaps counted once.

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.

Cottonwood County dates from September to May

Deer dates in Cottonwood County follow its deer permit areas (295, 296, 250, 238 and 252), not the county line. The 49 rows below come from the 2026-2027 DNR booklet.

Youth, special hunts and lottery permits are on their own pages.

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.

Where the public may hunt around Cottonwood County

39 public hunting units on our Minnesota list reach into Cottonwood County; Talcot Lake Wildlife Management Area is the largest at 5,319 acres. Federal waterfowl production areas take up some 3,592 acres.

• Wetland management districts, 1Windom Wetland Management District (17,029 ac*)
• Wildlife management areas, 22Talcot Lake Wildlife Management Area (5,319 ac*), Expandere Wildlife Management Area (1,178 ac), Budolfson Wildlife Management Area (617 ac*), String Lakes Wildlife Management Area (589 ac), Little Swan Wildlife Management Area (412 ac), Hurricane Lake Wildlife Management Area (360 ac), Delft Wildlife Management Area (352 ac), Bennett Wildlife Management Area (344 ac), Pats Pasture Wildlife Management Area (319 ac), Banks Wildlife Management Area (312 ac), Farhagen Wildlife Management Area (183 ac), Grunflur Wildlife Management Area (163 ac), Rock Ridge Wildlife Management Area (158 ac), Arnolds Lake Wildlife Management Area (123 ac), Winkler Wildlife Management Area (119 ac*), Typhoon Wildlife Management Area (83 ac), Highwater Creek Wildlife Management Area (80 ac), Mountain Lake Wildlife Management Area (70 ac), Regehr Wildlife Management Area (65 ac), Carpenter Wildlife Management Area (61 ac), Wolf Lake Wildlife Management Area (55 ac), Voit Wildlife Management Area (47 ac*)
• Waterfowl production areas, 14 hereMartin J. Baker Waterfowl Production Area (716 ac), Wolf Lake Waterfowl Production Area (494 ac), Storden Waterfowl Production Area (442 ac), Watonwan River Waterfowl Production Area (357 ac), Clear Lake Waterfowl Production Area (317 ac), Cottonwood Lake Waterfowl Production Area (310 ac), Des Moines River Waterfowl Production Area (309 ac), Long Lake Waterfowl Production Area (236 ac), Blixseth Waterfowl Production Area (162 ac), Harder Lake Waterfowl Production Area (160 ac), Swan Lake Waterfowl Production Area (146 ac), Westbrook Waterfowl Production Area (68 ac), Dutch Creek Waterfowl Production Area (19 ac), Mountain Lake Waterfowl Production Area (16 ac)
• Aquatic management areas, 2Bingham Lake Aquatic Management Area (19 ac), Scheldorf Creek Aquatic Management Area (10 ac)

* Multi-county property, total acreage shown.

Walk-In Access sites

Some 109 acres of leased private land (4 sites) are open by Walk-In Access in Cottonwood County.

• WIA #1020
• WIA #163
• WIA #249
• WIA #1027

Walk-In Access (WIA) Program

Units in bordering counties

• Wilder Wildlife Management Area11 miles distant · 4 ac
• String Lake Waterfowl Production Area12 miles distant · 231 ac
• Fish Lake Waterfowl Production Area13 miles distant · 99 ac
• Timber Lake Wildlife Management Area13 miles distant · 907 ac
• Sanborn Aquatic Management Area14 miles distant · 114 ac

Within the county, Purrington Prairie Scientific and Natural Area and Rock Ridge Prairie Scientific and Natural Area stay shut to hunting.

Land by type · Wildlife management areas · Walk-In Access · Waterfowl production areas

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.

Cottonwood County legal hunting light

Pheasant hunting starts at 9 a.m. and runs to sunset, early teal runs sunrise to sunset, and big game gets the half hour on each end.

Pheasant hours start at 9 a.m. whatever the sunrise.

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.