Polk County Hunting

Crookston anchors Polk County, a county of 1,971 land square miles and 27 water square miles. About 30,413 residents call it home, after a 2.5% drop since 2020. DNR counts it in Region 1 (Northwest), with regional headquarters in Bemidji. On the 2026 deer map the county falls inside DPAs 661, 210, 256, 257, 265 and 209. State and federal land mapped inside the county totals some 69,402 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.

Polk County season dates, 2026-27

27 species and 53 dated windows touch Polk 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 Polk County

The 89 Polk County listings break down as 45 wildlife management areas, 40 waterfowl production areas, 2 national wildlife refuges and 1 wetland management district. Waterfowl production areas, open under federal rules, cover about 13,928 acres. State park acres count toward the total but hunt only by special hunt.

• Wetland management districts: 1Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District (51,280 acres*)
• Wildlife management areas: 45Pembina Wildlife Management Area (6,677 acres*), Polk Wildlife Management Area (2,764 acres), Chicog Wildlife Management Area (2,434 acres), Mentor Prairie Wildlife Management Area (2,184 acres), Maple Meadows Wildlife Management Area (1,394 acres), Liberty Wildlife Management Area (1,369 acres), Crane Wildlife Management Area (1,297 acres*), Erskine Wildlife Management Area (1,221 acres), Thorson Prairie Wildlife Management Area (1,109 acres), Burnham Wildlife Management Area (990 acres), Dugdale Wildlife Management Area (960 acres), Tympanuchus Wildlife Management Area (848 acres), Trail Wildlife Management Area (609 acres), Larix Wildlife Management Area (590 acres), Gully Wildlife Management Area (446 acres), Tilden Wildlife Management Area (426 acres), Dorr Wildlife Management Area (378 acres), Kertsonville Wildlife Management Area (371 acres), Enerson Wildlife Management Area (283 acres), Onstad Wildlife Management Area (280 acres), Hovland Wildlife Management Area (220 acres), Hasselton Wildlife Management Area (216 acres), Kakaik Wildlife Management Area (204 acres), Belgium Wildlife Management Area (190 acres), Sagaiigan Wildlife Management Area (178 acres), Stipa Wildlife Management Area (162 acres), Shypoke Wildlife Management Area (161 acres), Le Blanc Wildlife Management Area (159 acres*), Timber Doodle Wildlife Management Area (158 acres), Godfrey Wildlife Management Area (145 acres), +15 on the hub
• National wildlife refuges, 2 listedGlacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge (23,763 acres), Rydell National Wildlife Refuge (2,077 acres)
• Waterfowl production areas in Polk (40)Winger Waterfowl Production Area (1,758 acres), Erskine Complex Waterfowl Production Area (1,348 acres), Melvin Slough Waterfowl Production Area (1,212 acres), Clarke Waterfowl Production Area (868 acres), Hill River Waterfowl Production Area (630 acres), Jenkins Waterfowl Production Area (598 acres), Vesledahl Waterfowl Production Area (571 acres), Gustafson Waterfowl Production Area (448 acres), Hagen Waterfowl Production Area (383 acres), Salvhus Waterfowl Production Area (380 acres), Jacobson Waterfowl Production Area (362 acres*), Maple Lake Waterfowl Production Area (357 acres), Beito Waterfowl Production Area (323 acres), Smith Waterfowl Production Area (322 acres), Woodside Waterfowl Production Area (315 acres), Union Lake Waterfowl Production Area (298 acres), Sollie Enterprises Waterfowl Production Area (297 acres), Maltrod Lake Waterfowl Production Area (295 acres), Lengby Waterfowl Production Area (233 acres), Mee Waterfowl Production Area (216 acres), Aasen Waterfowl Production Area (200 acres), Moren Waterfowl Production Area (191 acres), Turtle Lake Waterfowl Production Area (169 acres), Espeseth Waterfowl Production Area (163 acres), Halverson Waterfowl Production Area (163 acres), Vaa Waterfowl Production Area (161 acres), Lepier Waterfowl Production Area (160 acres), Haslie Lake Waterfowl Production Area (160 acres), Hanson Waterfowl Production Area (158 acres), Sand Hill Lake Waterfowl Production Area (152 acres), +10 on the hub
• Scientific and natural areas: 1Gully Fen Scientific and Natural Area (1,626 acres)

* Whole-property acreage, not just this county.

Nearest land outside Polk

• Huot Wildlife Management Area7 miles by map · 425 acres
• Moran Wildlife Management Area8 miles by map · 426 acres
• Marcoux Wildlife Management Area8 miles by map · 380 acres
• Gervais Wildlife Management Area15 miles by map · 83 acres
• Terrebonne Wildlife Management Area15 miles by map · 1 acres

Plan around Agassiz Dunes Scientific and Natural Area, Malmberg Prairie Scientific and Natural Area, McIntosh Waterfowl Production Area and Pembina Trail Scientific and Natural Area, where hunting is not allowed.

Minnesota public land · WMA list · Walk-In sites · WPA list

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.

Polk County shooting time on key dates

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.