Minnesota Public Hunting Land Maps - 7 Categories Of Hunting Land

The United States has many forests, but all of them cannot be counted as public hunting lands. Compared to many other states, Minnesota can provide a fair number of public hunting lands for the eager hunter. Also, plenty of resources are available to provide information regarding these lands. As a matter of fact, Minnesota public hunting land maps are readily provided by the Minnesota DNR or Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

All the public hunting properties looked after by the state of Minnesota can be pinpointed on the Minnesota public hunting land maps. Hunting regulations and rules slightly vary in each type of land.

According to the Minnesota public hunting land maps, hunting areas in this state have been categorized as follows--

(1) Wildlife Management Areas.
(2) State Forests.
(3) Wildlife Protection Areas.
(4) National Wildlife Refuges.
(5) National Forests.
(6) Industrial Forest Lands.
(7) County-owned Lands.

Each kind of land is described below--

(1) The Department of Natural Resources looks after uplands, woods and wetlands listed as "Wildlife Management Areas". Public hunting is allowed on these locations during the normal hunting season.

(2) There are 56 forests belonging to the state. Covering an area of three million acres, these "state forests" are home to animals like bear, deer, ruffled grouse and moose. The public is given access for hunting in these areas.

(3) Some areas are under federal protection, yet open for limited public hunting. These "Wildlife Protection Areas" consist of a few uplands and wetlands. The Minnesota Public Recreation Information (PRIM) maps will lend Minnesota public hunting land maps to search for these locations.

(4) The US Fish and Wildlife Service gives access to Minnesota public hunting land maps as well as hunting laws related to its 8 "National Wildlife Refuges". Hunting is restricted to certain parts only, and the harvest allowed is limited.

(5) The 2 "National Forests" of the state are Superior and Chippewa. A hunter can get Minnesota public hunting land maps for directions to these northern forests from the US National Forest Service, since hunting is allowed on these properties.

(6) Large companies dealing with forest products also own "Industrial Forest Lands". Hunters are geneally allowed access to these properties during the regular hunting season, unless a company wants to use its land for another purpose.

(7) Landowners who have not been able to pay their taxes, lose their properties (generally forested areas) to the government. They are then considered as "County-owned Lands". There are Minnesota public hunting land maps to provide directions as well as the list of hunting regulations to be followed. Each county has its own hunting laws. Also, the acreage varies from place to place.