Grouse hunting

Read this important notice

Grouse season is closed. Information on this page and pages linked to it applies to 2023 seasons and may be outdated.

Details for the 2024 season will be available on Thursday, Aug. 1.

View hunting dates on the hunting and trapping seasons page.

News & notices

Mangement areas

Ruffed grouse management areas are a great destination for the hunter looking to experience grouse and woodcock hunting. Located throughout the primary grouse range, these areas are managed to promote suitable habitat conditions for these species.

Hunter walking trails

Check out our searchable directory of hunter walking trails. These trails provide comparatively easy access to grouse and woodcock areas, winding their way through Wildlife management areas and sometimes connecting with state forests and other public hunting lands.

You need blaze clothing

Grouse hunters must wear at least one visible article of clothing above the waist that is blaze orange or pink. This could be a hat, jacket or hunting vest. Remember to stay abreast when walking with other hunters in the woods so you remain visible and behind the line of fire.

Seasons

Season Dates
Ruffed & spruce grouse Sept. 16-Jan. 1, 2024
Hungarian partridge Sept. 16-Jan. 1, 2024
Sharp-tailed grouse, northwest zone Sept. 16-Nov. 30
Sharp-tailed grouse, east-central zone Closed *
Woodcock Sept. 23-Nov. 6
* Significant population declines and changing habitat have prompted changes in the east-central zone.

Shooting hours

½ hour before sunrise to sunset (Sunrise and sunset data)

Limits

Daily

Species Limit
Ruffed & spruce grouse 5 combined
Hungarian partridge 5
Sharp-tailed grouse 3
Woodcock 3

Possession

Species Limit
Ruffed & spruce grouse 10 combined
Hungarian partridge 10
Sharp-tailed grouse 6
Woodcock 9

Ranges & zones

Map showing Minnesota's ruffed grouse range.

Map showing Minnesota's spruce grouse range.

Map showing Minnesota's sharp-tailed grouse range.

Map showing Minnesota's woodcock range.

Map showing Minnesota's sharp-tailed grouse hunting zones.

    Sharp-tailed zones

Minnesota's sharp-tailed grouse hunting zones

The shaded area is closed to sharp-tailed grouse hunting, except for licensed prairie chicken hunters within their selected zone. The east-central zone is closed to all sharp-tailed grouse hunting during the season.

Work the swamp edges when hunting ruffed grouse and you're bound to find woodcock, which often share the same woods with their drumming cohorts.

Northwestern Minnesota is home to isolated populations of Hungarian partridge.

Learn to hunt

Do you value strong connections to your outdoors and the food you eat? Are you looking for a new way to interact with the fields, woods and waters around you?

Please check out our grouse and woodcock hunting how-to guide to get started.

Management

Hunting is only one aspect of the DNR's effort to manage grouse and woodcock for the public trust. Visit our grouse management page to learn about the things we do to manage grouse for the benefit of all Minnesotans now and into the future.

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