Keith Lusher 11.24.25
Minnesota’s deer hunting landscape will see a major shift next year. A change approved in the last legislative session will eliminate the long-standing shotgun-only zones beginning in 2026, allowing hunters to use legal rifles or shotguns statewide unless a county chooses to keep restrictions in place.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says the decades-old rule was never truly about safety. Acting Big Game Program Coordinator Paul Burr explained that many hunters have assumed shotguns were required in southern and western Minnesota because bullets from rifles travel farther. Burr said that belief has never been accurate.
“The purpose behind the shotgun zone is actually not for safety,” Burr said. “That is a misconception.”
According to Burr, the zones were created in the 1940s as a deer population management tool. Southern and western Minnesota once held very few deer, and wildlife managers were concerned that hunters using more efficient rifles would harvest too many animals.
“There weren’t very many deer in the southern part of the state,” Burr said. “One way to limit harvest is by restricting weapons.”
Today, deer numbers in those regions have rebounded. After several mild winters and improving habitat conditions, the population has reached levels where the state no longer believes hunters need to be limited by firearm type.
“Allowing rifles will hopefully result in people being more successful with deer hunting,” Burr said. “They tend to be more accurate and are arguably a better tool for deer hunting.”
Under Minnesota’s regulations, a legal rifle for big game must be centerfire and at least .22 caliber. Burr said the activity remains very safe, and he does not expect incident numbers to rise. He pointed to Wisconsin, which eliminated its shotgun-only zones in 2013 without seeing an increase in shootings.
“Other states have done this and incidents remain very low,” Burr said.
The Minnesota Deer Hunter’s Association supported the legislative change. Executive Director Jared Mazurek said rifles are more effective for controlling deer densities, which could help with disease management.
“It is really the southern part of the state where we are trying to lower the deer population,” Mazurek said. “Allowing hunters to use a rifle will help with those population goals.”
However, not everyone welcomes the change. Some local officials worry about rifle use near populated areas.
Olmsted County Commissioner David Senjem, who opposed the change while serving in the state legislature, said the idea of high powered rifles near Rochester and its surrounding wooded subdivisions concerns many residents.
“It was just not something that was acceptable to us,” Senjem said.
A provision in the new law allows counties that were previously shotgun-only to keep that restriction if they hold public hearings and vote to do so. But enforcing a patchwork of county rules may prove difficult. Deer Permit Areas, which hunters use when registering a harvest, do not follow county boundaries.
“It is going to be challenging,” Burr said. “It will also be difficult for hunters to follow along.”
The shotgun-only rules remain in place for the current season. Counties now have several months to decide whether they will adopt their own restrictions before the changes take effect statewide next fall.
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