Stearns County Hunting

Stearns County spreads across 1,343 square miles of land plus 47 of lakes and rivers, governed from St. Cloud. That ground is shared by some 163,997 residents, near 122 to each square mile. The DNR regional office that covers it sits in St. Paul, home of the Central Region. Permit area lines decide deer limits here, and the ones that matter are 218, 215, 219, 277 and 213. DNR, Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service polygons add up to about 20,192 public acres inside the county.

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.

What is open around Stearns County and when

Rows marked with a DPA apply only in that part of Stearns County; firearms deer runs Nov. 7 to 15 in 200-series areas and Nov. 7 to 22 in the 100 series.

Where a deer permit area line splits the county, check the DNR deer map before you hunt near the 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 ground a Stearns County hunter can walk

By kind, Stearns County public land counts 42 wildlife management areas, 42 waterfowl production areas, 2 scientific and natural areas and 1 state forest. Forests add 511 state forest acres by GIS measure. Some 9,988 acres are WPAs run by the wetland management districts.

• Wetland management districts, 1 hereLitchfield Wetland Management District (37,899 ac*)
• Waterfowl production areas, 42 listedLovell Lake Waterfowl Production Area (914 ac), Ashley Waterfowl Production Area (856 ac), Padua Waterfowl Production Area (716 ac), St. Martin Waterfowl Production Area (449 ac), Trisko Waterfowl Production Area (442 ac), Prairie Storm Waterfowl Production Area (404 ac), Whitney Waterfowl Production Area (398 ac), Eden Valley Waterfowl Production Area (394 ac), Crow Lake Waterfowl Production Area (378 ac), Behnen Waterfowl Production Area (371 ac), Sand Lake Waterfowl Production Area (315 ac), Bauman Waterfowl Production Area (306 ac), Zion Waterfowl Production Area (279 ac), Erpelding Waterfowl Production Area (277 ac), Roscoe Waterfowl Production Area (264 ac), Greenwald Waterfowl Production Area (253 ac), Kenna Waterfowl Production Area (250 ac), McCormick Lake Waterfowl Production Area (245 ac), Rice Lake Waterfowl Production Area (184 ac), Brockway Waterfowl Production Area (180 ac), Lake Henry Waterfowl Production Area (172 ac), Farming Waterfowl Production Area (162 ac), Krain Waterfowl Production Area (162 ac), Twin Lakes Waterfowl Production Area (159 ac*), Pope Waterfowl Production Area (159 ac), Cedar Lake Waterfowl Production Area (151 ac), Oak Waterfowl Production Area (145 ac), Zehrer Waterfowl Production Area (145 ac), Collegeville Waterfowl Production Area (122 ac), Gettel Waterfowl Production Area (116 ac), 12 smaller ones
• Wildlife management areas, 42 hereSauk River Wildlife Management Area (939 ac), Stearns Prairie Heritage Wildlife Management Area (756 ac*), Minnesota Veterans Wildlife Management Area (650 ac*), Tamarac Wildlife Management Area (615 ac), Follies Wildlife Management Area (610 ac*), Edward Raymond Mohs Wildlife Management Area (336 ac), Padua Wildlife Management Area (324 ac), Mel Roehrl Wildlife Management Area (307 ac), Regal Meadows Wildlife Management Area (306 ac*), Norman T. Dahlman Wildlife Management Area (303 ac), North Fork Wildlife Management Area (256 ac), Dr. L. Daniel Frenzel Jr and Virginia Frenzel Wildlife Management Area (240 ac*), Christopher Kurilla Wildlife Management Area (239 ac), Vision Wildlife Management Area (234 ac), Tribute Wildlife Management Area (232 ac), Zion Wildlife Management Area (214 ac), Daniel Shay Wildlife Management Area (211 ac), A Shau Valley Wildlife Management Area (210 ac*), Oxcart Crossing Wildlife Management Area (210 ac), Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area (205 ac), Milton Kjeldahl Wildlife Management Area (196 ac), Prairie Smoke Wildlife Management Area (174 ac), Spirit Prairie Wildlife Management Area (173 ac), Victor Winter Wildlife Management Area (160 ac), Crow River Wildlife Management Area (155 ac), Discovery Wildlife Management Area (127 ac), Alice Hamm Wildlife Management Area (121 ac), Partners Wildlife Management Area (119 ac), Ritter Wildlife Management Area (100 ac), Tower Wildlife Management Area (76 ac), 12 smaller ones
• Scientific and natural areas, 2 hereSt. Wendel Tamarack Bog Scientific and Natural Area (663 ac), Avon Hills Forest Scientific and Natural Area (354 ac)
• State forests: 1 on fileBirch Lakes State Forest (519 ac)

* The acreage includes ground in a neighbouring county.

Over the line

• Roseville Wildlife Management Area13 miles off · 64 ac
• Regal Flats Wildlife Management Area15 miles off · 508 ac

Hunting is barred at Cedar Lake Aquatic Management Area, Cold Spring Heron Colony Scientific and Natural Area, Luxemburg Creek Aquatic Management Area, Partch Woods Scientific and Natural Area, Quarry Park Scientific and Natural Area, Roscoe Prairie Scientific and Natural Area, Sedan Brook Prairie Scientific and Natural Area and Willow Creek Aquatic Management Area, so plan around them.

All land pages · WMAs statewide · WIA program · WPAs statewide · 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.

Stearns County shooting time on key dates

Sun times below are calculated for Stearns County; the big game column adds the half hour after sunset and the bird column stops at sunset.

Times are rounded to the minute.

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.