Friends and neighbors,
One significant victory from this year’s legislative session was that we successfully eliminated the archaic shotgun-only hunting zone for southern Minnesota. Hunters here will finally be treated fairly with the rest of the state.
For many years, a large portion of southern and western Minnesota was designated as a “shotgun-only zone” during firearm deer season. In this zone, hunters could not use rifles and were limited to shotguns, handguns, and muzzleloaders.
This rule was created in 1942, during a time of severely low deer population levels, to reduce the number of deer that were harvested by hunters. Since shotguns were recognized to be less accurate and effective than rifles, policymakers of the time limited firearm type to limit deer harvest. The dynamics of today are much different. Deer numbers are very high in some areas of southern Minnesota, which is contributing to the spread of chronic wasting disease.
While the blanket rifle ban was eliminated, under the new law, local governments can, if they choose, pass their own ordinance to reinstate a shotgun-only zone within their jurisdiction. But that decision will be made at the local level, not by an overbearing state government. The new law takes effect for the 2026 deer hunting season.
Sincerely,