Minnesota’s regular waterfowl season opens this Saturday

Minnesota’s regular waterfowl hunting season opens 30 minutes before sunrise on Saturday, Sept. 26.

Spring waterfowl counts were substantially higher than last year. The full report from the spring waterfowl survey is available on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources waterfowl management webpage (mndnr.gov/waterfowl). In the report, total breeding duck abundance (excluding diving ducks) was estimated at 677,868, which is 62% above the 2025 estimate and 11% above the long-term average going back to 1968. Higher counts this year were due to timely April rains that improved settling conditions for ducks.

Hunters can find important information about required waterfowl stamps, season dates, hunting regulations and information to help properly identify waterfowl on the Minnesota DNR waterfowl hunting webpage (mndnr.gov/hunting/waterfowl).

Reminder about licensing changes

For this waterfowl season, hunters will see changes in how they buy licenses as they use the new electronic licensing system launched in June. With the new system in place, the Minnesota DNR is urging hunters to buy their hunting licenses early this year.

Buying early helps hunters prevent any last-minute delays they encounter while getting a hunting license from interfering with their hunt. That way they can be confident they have everything ready so they can focus on the hunt and enjoy the season.

There are three ways to buy a license (mobile app, online, or in person from a license agent) and three ways to carry it (paper, PDF, or stored in the app). Customers can access the new system on the Minnesota DNR website (mndnr.gov/buyalicense) or by searching “Minnesota DNR Licensing” in the Apple or Google app stores. In-person license agents can be found on a map on the Minnesota DNR website (mndnr.gov/licenses/agents-map.html).

If buying in person, hunters should also check that the place where they want to buy a license is selling them this year. The Minnesota DNR has an online map of 2026 license agents (mndnr.gov/licenses/agents-map.html).