St. Louis County Hunting

Duluth anchors St. Louis County, a county of 6,248 land square miles and 612 water square miles. About 200,794 residents call it home, after a 0.3% 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 178, 118, 119, 176, 181, 132, 130, 177, 182 and 109. State and federal land mapped inside the county totals some 1,405,376 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.

St. Louis County season dates, 2026-27

24 species and 49 dated windows touch St. Louis 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 St. Louis County

The 58 St. Louis County listings break down as 16 wildlife management areas, 15 ruffed grouse areas and walking trails, 10 state forests and 7 aquatic management areas. State and national forest land open to hunting covers about 353,935 state forest acres and 789,766 Superior National Forest acres. State park acres count toward the total but hunt only by special hunt.

• National forests in St. Louis (1)Superior National Forest (2,172,387 acres*)
• National forest districts: 3 on fileKawishiwi Ranger District, Superior National Forest (431,828 acres*), Lacroix Ranger District, Superior National Forest (409,160 acres*), Laurentian Ranger District, Superior National Forest (349,280 acres*)
• State forests, 10 listedKabetogama State Forest (162,190 acres*), Savanna State Forest (128,689 acres*), Sturgeon River State Forest (56,661 acres), Cloquet Valley State Forest (50,513 acres), Fond du Lac State Forest (40,830 acres*), Bear Island State Forest (26,130 acres*), Burntside State Forest (24,902 acres), Riverlands State Forest (22,662 acres*), Whiteface River State Forest (2,503 acres), Lake Jeanette State Forest (1,357 acres)
• State parks with hunts: 3Savanna Portage State Park (15,186 acres*), Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park (4,550 acres), McCarthy Beach State Park (1,971 acres*)
• Ruffed grouse areas and walking trails: 15Whiteface River Ruffed Grouse Management Area (3,674 acres), McNiven Ruffed Grouse Management Area (3,500 acres), Echo Lake Ruffed Grouse Management Area (2,081 acres), Bear River Ruffed Grouse Management Area (1,794 acres*), Willow River Ruffed Grouse Management Area (1,361 acres), Shannon River Ruffed Grouse Management Area (1,004 acres), St. Louis River Ruffed Grouse Management Area (873 acres), Hwy 115 Ruffed Grouse Management Area (674 acres), Nelson Creek Ruffed Grouse Management Area (661 acres), Mooseline Ruffed Grouse Management Area (642 acres), Shoe Pack Ruffed Grouse Management Area (640 acres), White Corner Ruffed Grouse Management Area (636 acres), Pelican Lake Ruffed Grouse Management Area (534 acres), Mud Hole Ruffed Grouse Management Area (218 acres), Celina Ruffed Grouse Management Area (218 acres)
• Wildlife management areas: 16Canosia Wildlife Management Area (2,489 acres), Sax Wildlife Management Area (943 acres), Zim Wildlife Management Area (909 acres), Gold Portage Wildlife Management Area (902 acres*), Darwin S. Myers Wildlife Management Area (746 acres), Ricehaven Wildlife Management Area (655 acres), Fermoy Wildlife Management Area (503 acres), Little Whiteface River Wildlife Management Area (442 acres), Great Scott Wildlife Management Area (278 acres), Floodwood Wildlife Management Area (217 acres), Anchor Lake Wildlife Management Area (216 acres), Owens Wildlife Management Area (164 acres), Lieuna Wildlife Management Area (99 acres), Old Koschak Farm Wildlife Management Area (89 acres), Pike Bay Wildlife Management Area (44 acres), Pine Island Wildlife Management Area (35 acres)
• Scientific and natural areas: 3Lost Lake Peatland Scientific and Natural Area (3,178 acres), Big Island Scientific and Natural Area (226 acres), Moose Mountain Scientific and Natural Area (179 acres)
• Aquatic management areas: 7Sucker River Aquatic Management Area (1,091 acres), Knife River, West Branch Aquatic Management Area (985 acres*), French River Headwaters Aquatic Management Area (522 acres), Whiteface River Aquatic Management Area (188 acres), Wolf Lake Aquatic Management Area (142 acres), Donna Lake Aquatic Management Area (124 acres), Knife River Aquatic Management Area (5 acres*)

* Whole-property acreage, not just this county.

Special deer hunts in St. Louis County

Minnesota Forest Legacy Conservation Areas

Nearest land outside St. Louis

• Peloquin Ruffed Grouse Management Area30 miles by map · 2,738 acres
• Peloquin Wildlife Management Area31 miles by map · 322 acres
• Stoney Ridge Ruffed Grouse Management Area31 miles by map · 3,364 acres
• Sand Lake Peatland Scientific and Natural Area38 miles by map · 5,375 acres

Plan around Amity Creek Aquatic Management Area, Angora Creek Aquatic Management Area, Artichoke Creek Aquatic Management Area, Bear River Aquatic Management Area, Bear Trap Creek Aquatic Management Area, Berry Creek Aquatic Management Area, Burntside Islands Scientific and Natural Area and Carey Creek Aquatic Management Area and 43 more, 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.

St. Louis 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.