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Where to hunt sharp-tailed grouse near Hibbing, Minnesota

Last updated 2026-09-24 · seasons from MN DNR · 2026 season year

There are 5 public units within 40 miles of Hibbing, Minnesota that hold ground where sharp-tailed grouse is recorded — 94,231 acres of it. The most of it is in Chippewa National Forest, 23.6 miles out, with 48,148 recorded acres. The closest is Miscellaneous at 2 miles. The season runs September 19, 2026 to November 30, 2026 — on dates that depend on the zone, read against the 2026 season year from MN DNR. Public-land boundaries here are PAD-US, which records who manages a parcel rather than where the line runs or whether a unit carries a local closure — check with MN DNR before you park.

Public land within 40 miles of Hibbing

Distance is measured to the nearest edge of a unit rather than to its middle, in a straight line — this app carries no road network and will not print a drive time it cannot compute. A unit whose ground reaches inside the circle is listed for the acreage that is inside it, never for its statewide total.

Ordered by recorded acres — how much of each unit lies inside subbasins where sharp-tailed grouse is recorded at regular strength or better — rather than by how big the unit is. The biggest block in a state is often not in the half of it the bird is in. PAD-US splits a forest into many parcels, so acreage is summed over the unit's name, and the share is measured against the unit's drawn boundary rather than a centroid: a national forest can be two polygons across half a peninsula.

Season boundary not carried MN DNR zones this season and this app does not hold the boundary, so these units are not narrowed to it. Nothing here says the season is open on any of them — read the boundary with MN DNR before you go.
Season geography here is read off a dates table rather than the rule itself, and a dates table carries no boundary.

UnitClassMilesRecorded acresAcres in rangeWhere the records are
Chippewa National Forest part of the unit National forest 23.6 48,148 89,809 54% regular, 35% present, 12% no records
George Washington part of the unit State forest 12.5 36,177 95,336 38% regular, 62% present
Bowstring part of the unit State forest 30.1 8,360 12,739 66% regular, 1% present, 33% no records
Miscellaneous part of the unit State forest 2 1,517 41,449 4% regular, 30% present, 5% occasional, 62% no records
Larson Lake Forest Recreation Area State forest 33.7 29 29 100% regular

A unit marked part of the unit has ground outside the circle as well, and the acreage here is only what is inside it. PAD-US records who manages a parcel, not where its line runs on the ground and not whether it carries a local closure: context, not permission. Check the unit with MN DNR before you park.

Season and limits

MN DNR's dates for the 2026 season year, read from MN DNR. Minnesota lists this season as Sharp-tailed grouse. It is zoned, and a circle drawn round a town is not a zone — check which zone a unit falls in before you go.

ZoneOpensClosesDays
Northwest zoneSeptember 19, 2026November 30, 202673
East-central zoneClosed season
Open today
Open in Northwest zone
Bag limit
not shown No single bag limit is shown for this species here — read the notes below and check the current MN DNR regulations before you go.
Hunter orange
required
Shooting hours
not carried

What to walk when you get there

Open brushland — grass and low scrub with scattered clumps of aspen or willow, bog margin, and the pine barrens where sand keeps the timber from closing in. It is the opposite of grouse cover: if you cannot see a long way, you are in the wrong place.

Walk the open ground and expect flushes well out; birds hold poorly once the season is a week old and often go up in a bunch and fly a long way. Early season, before they pack, is the only time they sit. Mark where the flock lands and walk it again rather than following singles.

Written for this app rather than read off an agency page — the cover a bird uses does not change at a state line. Everything above that is a date, a limit or an acreage names the source it came from.

Read next

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