Rice County Hunting

Faribault anchors Rice County, a county of 496 land square miles and 20 water square miles. About 69,025 residents call it home, after a 2.9% gain since 2020. DNR counts it in Region 4 (South), with regional headquarters in New Ulm. On the 2026 deer map the county falls inside DPAs 605, 292, 293 and 232. State and federal land mapped inside the county totals some 7,944 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.

Rice County season dates, 2026-27

24 species and 52 dated windows touch Rice 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 Rice County

The 30 Rice County listings break down as 18 wildlife management areas, 5 aquatic management areas, 3 waterfowl production areas and 2 state parks with hunts. Waterfowl production areas, open under federal rules, cover about 472 acres. State park acres count toward the total but hunt only by special hunt.

• Wetland management districts: 1Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District (8,340 acres*)
• Wildlife management areas: 18Boyd Sartell Wildlife Management Area (1,366 acres), Prairie Creek Wildlife Management Area (760 acres), Faribault Wildlife Management Area (681 acres*), Cannon River Wildlife Management Area (270 acres), Circle Lake Wildlife Management Area (262 acres), Milest Wildlife Management Area (215 acres), Sakatah Wildlife Management Area (212 acres), Sunktokeca Creek Wildlife Management Area (202 acres), Robert J. Lick Wildlife Management Area (193 acres), Phelps Lake Wildlife Management Area (170 acres), Peat Bog Wildlife Management Area (154 acres), Cannon River Trout Lily Wildlife Management Area (129 acres), Big Woods Heritage Forest Wildlife Management Area (127 acres), Gray Fox Wildlife Management Area (76 acres), Paulson Marsh Wildlife Management Area (62 acres), Dwyer Wildlife Management Area (56 acres), Esker Wildlife Management Area (48 acres), Lois Bean Illsley Wildlife Management Area (10 acres)
• State parks with hunts: 2Nerstrand Big Woods State Park (1,630 acres), Sakatah Lake State Park (732 acres*)
• Waterfowl production areas in Rice (3)Erin Prairie Waterfowl Production Area (173 acres), Wolf Creek Waterfowl Production Area (164 acres), Hurley Waterfowl Production Area (152 acres)
• Aquatic management areas: 5Cannon River Aquatic Management Area (212 acres), Caron Lake Aquatic Management Area (86 acres), Sakatah Lake Aquatic Management Area (64 acres), Dudley-Kelly Aquatic Management Area (8 acres), Circle Lake Aquatic Management Area (2 acres)
• Scientific and natural areas: 1Prairie Creek Woods Scientific and Natural Area (83 acres)

* Whole-property acreage, not just this county.

Nearest land outside Rice

• Mud Creek Wildlife Management Area9 miles by map · 157 acres
• Anton Velishek Memorial Wildlife Management Area11 miles by map · 80 acres
• Dora Lake Wildlife Management Area13 miles by map · 741 acres
• Rice Lake Waterfowl Production Area13 miles by map · 53 acres
• Horseshoe Lake Aquatic Management Area13 miles by map · 165 acres

Plan around Cannon River Trout Lily Scientific and Natural Area, Cedar Lake Aquatic Management Area, Roberds Lake Aquatic Management Area, Spring Brook Aquatic Management Area, Townsend Woods Scientific and Natural Area and Whitney Island 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.

Rice 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.