Minnesota · Bear · 2026 Edition
Minnesota Bear Season 2026: Dates, Zones & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Firearms & archery, drawn license required | 15 quota Bear Permit Areas (12, 13, 14, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31, 41, 45, 46, 47, 51, 53) | Sep 1 – Oct 18 |
| Firearms & archery, license sold over the counter | No-quota area (east-central and far-northwest Minnesota) | Sep 1 – Oct 18 |
02 — Bag limits & check-in
| Statewide | One adult bear per licensed hunter per year. Shooting a cub or a female bear accompanied by cub(s) is prohibited |
|---|---|
| BPA lottery | In the 15 quota Bear Permit Areas, a hunter must apply and be drawn for that specific BPA before hunting bear there; 5,330 licenses were available across the quota areas for 2026, ranging from 10 permits (Area 14) up to 1,500 (Area 51). The no-quota area has no permit cap |
| Registration | Validate the harvest at the kill site and register it within 48 hours, via the DNR mobile app or a licensed agent |
| Biological sample | Submit a tooth sample from the harvested bear for age/population monitoring, per DNR instructions provided at registration |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (September 1, 2026) 06:08 — 20:25
Rule: One-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset (Minn. Stat. 97B.075) — Minnesota's general big-game rule; no bear-specific exception found. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Minnesota sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Bear hunters in Minnesota need a Minnesota hunting license — in the 15 quota Bear Permit Areas, a drawn license from the lottery (apply by May 1, notification by June 1, purchase by Aug 1); in the no-quota area covering east-central and far-northwest Minnesota, licenses are sold over the counter all season with no application needed Check-in or reporting a harvest is typically mandatory; see the row above for Minnesota's specific rule.
Minnesota hunting license cost →
Where to hunt public land in Minnesota — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — Scouting gear
Patterning bear activity before Minnesota's opener usually means glassing feeding areas and running a trail camera through summer — check the state's own rules on baiting before you set one over bait.
- Hunting binoculars on Amazon →
- Trail cameras on Amazon →
- Trail camera SD cards — class, capacity & format explained →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. These are category links, not a single named pick — we run no product tests of our own.
06 — FAQ
When does bear season open in Minnesota?
The earliest 2026 opener is September 1, 2026. See the table above for each method and zone.
When does bear season end in Minnesota?
The latest 2026 closing date is October 18, 2026. Individual segments and zones can close earlier — see the table above.
Do I need a separate bear license or tag in Minnesota?
in the 15 quota Bear Permit Areas, a drawn license from the lottery (apply by May 1, notification by June 1, purchase by Aug 1); in the no-quota area covering east-central and far-northwest Minnesota, licenses are sold over the counter all season with no application needed
How many bears can you shoot in Minnesota?
2026 bag limits: Statewide — One adult bear per licensed hunter per year. Shooting a cub or a female bear accompanied by cub(s) is prohibited. BPA lottery — In the 15 quota Bear Permit Areas, a hunter must apply and be drawn for that specific BPA before hunting bear there; 5,330 licenses were available across the quota areas for 2026, ranging from 10 permits (Area 14) up to 1,500 (Area 51). The no-quota area has no permit cap. Registration — Validate the harvest at the kill site and register it within 48 hours, via the DNR mobile app or a licensed agent. Biological sample — Submit a tooth sample from the harvested bear for age/population monitoring, per DNR instructions provided at registration. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting bear in Minnesota?
On opening day (September 1, 2026) legal light runs 06:08 to 20:25. The rule is: One-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset (Minn. Stat. 97B.075) — Minnesota's general big-game rule; no bear-specific exception found. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Minnesota sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt bear on my own land in Minnesota without a license?
Minnesota's exemption is narrow: it covers small game only, and only on land that is your actual principal residence — owning land you don't live on doesn't qualify. Deer, bear, and turkey always need a license and tags, even at home.
Verified · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources · Last verified 2026-08-14
Publisher's note. Season dates, permit-area structure and harvest-registration summary read directly from the DNR's bear-hunting landing page and its 'how to apply for a bear hunting license' page; the April 2, 2026 DNR news release (dnr.state.mn.us/news/2026/04/02/bear-hunt-lottery-applications-open-through-may-1) confirms the same season dates and the 5,330-permit, 15-quota-area total for 2026. The official bear regulations PDF (files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/hunting/bear/bear-regs.pdf) was also fetched but rendered with OCR/formatting issues; its bag-limit and cub-protection language is corroborated against the DNR's own web pages rather than relied on alone. Shooting hours are Minnesota's general big-game rule under Minn. Stat. 97B.075 (half hour before sunrise to half hour after sunset) — no bear-specific exception was found on an official page this round; confirm directly with the DNR before relying on it. Minnesota runs bear hunting through a Bear Permit Area (BPA) lottery in 15 designated quota areas — a hunter needs an approved application and a drawn license for a specific BPA before hunting bear there, similar in spirit to a formal limited-access hunt, but per build instructions this is described in bagLimits/licenseNote rather than via the site's dedicated 'access' warning-box component, which is reserved for a different, smaller set of states. Outside the 15 quota BPAs, an unlimited number of over-the-counter licenses are sold for the state's no-quota area (east-central and far-northwest Minnesota) with no application or drawing required.