Roseau County Hunting

Census mapping gives Roseau County 1,672 square miles of dry ground and 7 under water; the courthouse is in Roseau. The 2024 estimate of 15,265 people is -0.5% off the 2020 count. Administratively the county belongs to DNR Region 1, the Northwest Region based in Bemidji. Deer rules follow 8 deer permit areas rather than the county line: 105, 267, 201, 268, 263, 101, 111 and 264. Mapped public land (WMAs, forests, refuges, WPAs and the rest) comes to roughly 272,874 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.

Roseau 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 Roseau 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 Roseau County

Roseau County has 39 listed properties open to hunters, led by Beltrami Island State Forest (288,124 acres). Expect wooded public ground: state forest units of 137,550 acres. Most state park ground is closed except during special hunts.

• State forests, 2Beltrami Island State Forest (288,124 acres*), Lost River State Forest (52,152 acres)
• Wildlife management areas in Roseau (31)Roseau River Wildlife Management Area (75,163 acres*), Thief Lake Wildlife Management Area (54,650 acres*), Wapiti Wildlife Management Area (31,759 acres*), Beaches Lake Wildlife Management Area (30,623 acres*), Palmville Wildlife Management Area (14,891 acres*), Caribou Wildlife Management Area (14,138 acres*), East Park Wildlife Management Area (10,427 acres*), Nereson Wildlife Management Area (9,863 acres), Roseau Lake Wildlife Management Area (8,025 acres), South Shore Wildlife Management Area (1,571 acres*), Cedar Bend Wildlife Management Area (1,473 acres), Skime Wildlife Management Area (870 acres), Bonasa Wildlife Management Area (848 acres*), Lind Wildlife Management Area (653 acres), Border Wildlife Management Area (505 acres*), Polonia Wildlife Management Area (357 acres), Bear Creek Wildlife Management Area (285 acres), Hereim Wildlife Management Area (184 acres), Ondatra Wildlife Management Area (122 acres), Taxidae Wildlife Management Area (121 acres), Marbel Wildlife Management Area (87 acres), R.C. #3 Wildlife Management Area (81 acres), Clear River Wildlife Management Area (80 acres), Enstrom Wildlife Management Area (79 acres), Wannaska Wildlife Management Area (79 acres), Moose Marsh Wildlife Management Area (77 acres), Hayes Wildlife Management Area (74 acres), East Branch Wildlife Management Area (39 acres), Rosver Wildlife Management Area (37 acres), Deer Wildlife Management Area (35 acres), all 31
• Scientific and natural areas in Roseau (4)Two Rivers Aspen Parkland Scientific and Natural Area (1,396 acres), Luxemberg Peatland Scientific and Natural Area (1,166 acres), Pine Creek Peatland Scientific and Natural Area (953 acres), Sprague Creek Peatland Scientific and Natural Area (829 acres)
• State parks with hunts in Roseau (1)Hayes Lake State Park (2,727 acres)
• Ruffed grouse areas and walking trails in Roseau (1)Palmville – West Ruffed Grouse Management Area (1,416 acres*)

* Acres cover every county the property touches.

Next-door public land

• Wapiti – North Ruffed Grouse Management Area21 miles away · 240 acres
• Thief Lake – South Ruffed Grouse Management Area21 miles away · 946 acres
• Whiteford Wildlife Management Area24 miles away · 76 acres
• Morehouse Road Ruffed Grouse Management Area24 miles away · 1,235 acres
• Huntly Wildlife Management Area25 miles away · 6,506 acres

Land finder · All WMAs · Walk-In rules · State forest 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.

Roseau County shooting time on key dates

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