Minnesota · 2026-27
Shooting hours in Minnesota
For big game (deer, bear, elk, moose), Minnesota legal shooting hours run 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset — the Minnesota DNR rule is quoted below. Sunrise and sunset shift every day and with every county, so the lookup here turns the rule into your exact minutes.
Legal light for
Big game (deer, bear, elk, moose)
Ramsey County · Aug 20, 2026
Legal start
—
sunrise − 30 min
Legal end
—
sunset + 30 min
Hunting from exact coordinates instead
These minutes apply the statewide rule at your chosen spot — they can’t see zone, season, or species exceptions. Always verify in the current Minnesota DNR regulations before you hunt — rules change annually. Rule checked against Minnesota DNR Aug 20, 2026.
The rule, straight from the regs
“Shooting hours for big game are ½ hour before sunrise to ½ hour after sunset.”
— 2026 Minnesota Hunting & Trapping Regulations, Big Game (p. 79), checked Aug 20, 2026
The official times
Exceptions the regs call out
The window above — 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset — is the rule for big game (deer, bear, elk, moose). These run on different clocks:
- Waterfowl
- Shooting hours for sandhill crane, rail, snipe, ducks, coots, moorhens, mergansers and geese are ½ hour before sunrise to sunset for the entire season — except during teal season, when hours for teal begin at sunrise (2026 regulations booklet).
- Turkey
- Turkey shooting hours are ½ hour before sunrise to sunset (2026 regulations booklet).
Opening day, worked out
Firearms Season A opens Nov 7, 2026 in Minnesota. In Ramsey County that morning, sunrise is 6:59 AM — so legal light starts at 6:59 AM − 30 min = 6:29 AM CST. Sunset is 4:52 PM, so the day ends at 4:52 PM + 30 min = 5:22 PM CST. A county line east or west moves those minutes, and the Minnesota DNR official times are the ones that count — check them before you go.
More Minnesota, more states
The whole Minnesota board · Deer season in Minnesota · Straight-wall cartridge states
Shooting hours elsewhere: GA · MI · MO · NY · OH · PA · TX · WI