REGIONAL— Minnesota’s regular waterfowl hunting season opens a half-hour before sunrise this Saturday, Sept. 27.
Hunters should find a few more ducks on area lakes and ponds than last year.
Spring waterfowl counts were generally higher than in 2024 with the full report from the spring waterfowl survey available on the Department of Natural Resources’ waterfowl management webpage (mndnr.gov/waterfowl). In the report, total breeding duck abundance (excluding scaup) was estimated at 417,000, which is eight percent above the 2024 estimate. That’s still 32 percent below the long-term average going back to 1968.
Hunters can find important information about required waterfowl stamps, season dates and hunting regulations in the Minnesota Waterfowl Hunting Regulations booklet, available wherever hunting and fishing licenses are sold, and on the Minnesota DNR waterfowl hunting page (mndnr.gov/hunting/waterfowl).
Information to help hunters properly identify waterfowl is available in an illustrated guide on page 18 of the regulations booklet.