Crow Wing County Hunting

Brainerd anchors Crow Wing County, a county of 998 land square miles and 158 water square miles. About 68,642 residents call it home, after a 3.8% gain since 2020. DNR counts it in Region 2 (Northeast), with regional headquarters in Grand Rapids. On the 2026 deer map the county falls inside DPAs 604, 249, 172 and 171. State and federal land mapped inside the county totals some 38,255 acres.

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.

Crow Wing County season dates, 2026-27

24 species and 50 dated windows touch Crow Wing County; the last column compares each one with today.

DNR draws the waterfowl zone lines on MN 210/23/39 and US 212/I-494/I-94, and the furbearer line on I-94/US 10; check the DNR map near a line.

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.

Public land and WMAs in Crow Wing County

The 48 Crow Wing County listings break down as 23 aquatic management areas, 19 wildlife management areas, 3 state forests and 1 state parks with hunt. State and national forest land open to hunting covers about 7,903 state forest acres. State park acres count toward the total but hunt only by special hunt.

• State forests, 3 listedLand O'Lakes State Forest (29,316 acres*), Crow Wing State Forest (6,505 acres), Emily State Forest (640 acres)
• Wildlife management areas: 19Birchdale Wildlife Management Area (1,426 acres), Duck Lake Wildlife Management Area (1,041 acres), Round-Rice Bed Wildlife Management Area (978 acres), Little Nokasippi River Wildlife Management Area (481 acres), Hesitation Wildlife Management Area (370 acres), Indian Jack Lake Wildlife Management Area (320 acres), Harold & Marie Deutsch Wildlife Management Area (313 acres), Poor Farm Wildlife Management Area (312 acres), Kim Hennings Wildlife Management Area (275 acres), Ray Cook Wildlife Management Area (252 acres), Lower Dean Wildlife Management Area (243 acres), Loerch Wildlife Management Area (207 acres), Lowell Wildlife Management Area (158 acres), Mission Lake Wildlife Management Area (147 acres), Uppgaard Wildlife Management Area (110 acres), Roosevelt Wildlife Management Area (80 acres), White Fish Lake Wildlife Management Area (58 acres*), Telef Paulson Wildlife Management Area (40 acres), Upper Dean Wildlife Management Area (40 acres)
• State parks with hunts: 1Crow Wing State Park (2,648 acres*)
• State recreation areas: 1 on fileCuyuna Country State Recreation Area (2,423 acres)
• Aquatic management areas: 23Cuyuna Scout Camp Aquatic Management Area (243 acres), Bertha Moody Aquatic Management Area (211 acres), Gilbert Lake Aquatic Management Area (169 acres), Arrowhead Lake Aquatic Management Area (161 acres), Greenwood Lake Aquatic Management Area (148 acres), Roosevelt Lake Aquatic Management Area (110 acres*), Pelican Lake Aquatic Management Area (109 acres), Whiskey Creek Aquatic Management Area (106 acres), Allen Lake Aquatic Management Area (73 acres), North Long Lake Aquatic Management Area (56 acres), Rogers Lake Aquatic Management Area (54 acres), Upper Whitefish Aquatic Management Area (49 acres), Bay Lake Aquatic Management Area (46 acres), Little Pelican Lake Aquatic Management Area (32 acres), Love Lake Aquatic Management Area (29 acres), Garrison Aquatic Management Area (24 acres), Ruth Lake Aquatic Management Area (20 acres), West Lower Hay Lake Aquatic Management Area (20 acres), White Sand Lake Aquatic Management Area (19 acres), Big Trout Lake Aquatic Management Area (13 acres), East Twin Lake Aquatic Management Area (5 acres), Lower Hay Aquatic Management Area (4 acres), Pine River Aquatic Management Area (3 acres)
• Scientific and natural areas: 1Mille Lacs Moraine Scientific and Natural Area (319 acres)

* Whole-property acreage, not just this county.

Minnesota Forest Legacy Conservation Areas

Nearest land outside Crow Wing

• Grassy Point Aquatic Management Area13 miles by map · 15 acres
• Cedar Lake Wildlife Management Area13 miles by map · 97 acres
• Agate Rearing Pond Aquatic Management Area14 miles by map · 30 acres
• Farm Island Lake Wildlife Management Area14 miles by map · 34 acres
• Mud River Aquatic Management Area14 miles by map · 113 acres

Plan around Borden Creek Aquatic Management Area, Hubert Lake Aquatic Management Area, Lougee-Markee Aquatic Management Area, Pleasant Lake Aquatic Management Area, Upper Mission Lk Aquatic Management Area and Whitley's Creek Aquatic Management Area, where hunting is not allowed.

Minnesota public land · WMA list · Walk-In sites · DNR 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.

Crow Wing 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.

Raccoon and fox may be hunted day or night after 9 a.m. on opening day.

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.