Otter Tail County Hunting

Census mapping gives Otter Tail County 1,972 square miles of dry ground and 253 under water; the courthouse is in Fergus Falls. The 2024 estimate of 60,884 people is +1.4% off the 2020 count. Administratively the county belongs to DNR Region 1, the Northwest Region based in Bemidji. Deer rules follow 5 deer permit areas rather than the county line: 239, 240, 241, 213 and 270. Mapped public land (WMAs, forests, refuges, WPAs and the rest) comes to roughly 51,579 acres by GIS measure.

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.

Otter Tail County hunting calendar, species by species

Waterfowl rows follow the North, Central and South zones and furbearer rows the North and South zones, so check which side of the line you hunt in Otter Tail County.

Pheasant hunting opens at 9 a.m. each day; trapping seasons and falconry are on the species 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.

Ground open to hunters across Otter Tail County

Otter Tail County has 164 listed properties open to hunters, led by Maplewood State Park (8,305 acres). GIS counts 24,545 acres of USFWS waterfowl production areas. Most state park ground is closed except during special hunts.

• Wetland management districts in Otter Tail (1)Fergus Falls Wetland Management District (49,774 acres*)
• Waterfowl production areas: 105 on fileRidgeway Waterfowl Production Area (1,603 acres), Nicholson Waterfowl Production Area (1,234 acres), Julsrud Waterfowl Production Area (987 acres), Backstrom Waterfowl Production Area (699 acres), Agassiz Beachline Waterfowl Production Area (683 acres), Ten Mile Waterfowl Production Area (657 acres), Reger Waterfowl Production Area (636 acres*), Rabbit River Waterfowl Production Area (604 acres), Rokes Waterfowl Production Area (601 acres), Pelican Valley Waterfowl Production Area (522 acres), Simpson Waterfowl Production Area (520 acres), Baumann Waterfowl Production Area (489 acres), Braukmann Waterfowl Production Area (473 acres), Busko Waterfowl Production Area (468 acres), Scribner Waterfowl Production Area (416 acres), Kube Waterfowl Production Area (408 acres*), PCA Waterfowl Production Area (408 acres), Putnam Waterfowl Production Area (400 acres), Staff Waterfowl Production Area (377 acres), Mondt Waterfowl Production Area (377 acres), Lightning Lake Waterfowl Production Area (359 acres), Wirth Waterfowl Production Area (354 acres), Hensch Waterfowl Production Area (347 acres), Haugen Waterfowl Production Area (346 acres), Rush Lake Waterfowl Production Area (334 acres), Bjerkevedt Waterfowl Production Area (332 acres), Neumann Waterfowl Production Area (315 acres), Bakke Waterfowl Production Area (292 acres), Erhards Grove Waterfowl Production Area (289 acres), Mickelson Waterfowl Production Area (285 acres), all 105
• Wildlife management areas in Otter Tail (37)Orwell Wildlife Management Area (2,129 acres), Elmo Wildlife Management Area (1,508 acres), Inman (Wunderlich) Wildlife Management Area (1,352 acres), Eastern Wildlife Management Area (1,027 acres), Dead Lake Wildlife Management Area (896 acres), Amor Wildlife Management Area (720 acres), Doran Wildlife Management Area (616 acres), Head Lake Wildlife Management Area (421 acres), Bluff Creek Wildlife Management Area (404 acres), Davies Wildlife Management Area (390 acres), Folden Woods Marsh Wildlife Management Area (320 acres), Aastad Wildlife Management Area (317 acres), Perham Wildlife Management Area (314 acres), Erlandson Wildlife Management Area (283 acres), Coyour Memorial Wildlife Management Area (240 acres*), Sonnenberg Wildlife Management Area (239 acres), Wrightstown Wildlife Management Area (221 acres), Nycklemoe Wildlife Management Area (208 acres), Copeland Wildlife Management Area (200 acres), Almora Wildlife Management Area (164 acres), Prairie Ridge Wildlife Management Area (160 acres), Long Branch Creek Wildlife Management Area (147 acres), Valdine Wildlife Management Area (140 acres), Hi-View Wildlife Management Area (134 acres), Jensen Memorial Wildlife Management Area (133 acres), Lake Sixteen Wildlife Management Area (119 acres), Norwegian Wildlife Management Area (84 acres), Oscar Wildlife Management Area (83 acres), Butler Wildlife Management Area (71 acres), Otto Wildlife Management Area (69 acres), all 37
• State parks with hunts in Otter Tail (1)Maplewood State Park (8,305 acres)
• National wildlife refuges, 1Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge (6,030 acres*)
• Aquatic management areas in Otter Tail (19)Dead Lake Aquatic Management Area (111 acres), Dead River-Walker Lake Aquatic Management Area (72 acres), Toad River Aquatic Management Area (34 acres*), Long Lake Aquatic Management Area (34 acres), East Lost Lake Aquatic Management Area (25 acres), Franklin Lake Aquatic Management Area (13 acres), Jewett Lake Aquatic Management Area (12 acres), Leek/Towbridge Lake Aquatic Management Area (11 acres), Lake Seven Aquatic Management Area (10 acres), Lake Six Aquatic Management Area (8 acres), Little Pelican Lake Aquatic Management Area (7 acres), McDonald Lake Aquatic Management Area (7 acres), Eagle Lake Aquatic Management Area (6 acres), North Turtle Lake Aquatic Management Area (5 acres), Loon Lake Aquatic Management Area (3 acres), Lizzie Lake Aquatic Management Area (3 acres), Sybil Lake Aquatic Management Area (2 acres), Fish Lake Aquatic Management Area (0 acres), Scalp Lake Aquatic Management Area (0 acres)

* Acres cover every county the property touches.

Our list marks Gilmore Waterfowl Production Area, Holmstad Creek Aquatic Management Area, Larson Waterfowl Production Area, Mavis Waterfowl Production Area, Otter Tail Prairie Scientific and Natural Area, Ottertail Fish Hatchery Aquatic Management Area and Townsend Waterfowl Production Area as closed to hunting.

Land finder · All WMAs · Walk-In rules · All WPAs

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.

Otter Tail County shooting time on key dates

Sunrise in Moorhead comes well after sunrise in Grand Marais, so use the local times worked out for Otter Tail County.

Spring turkey runs half an hour before sunrise to sunset, the same as the bird column.

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.