As publishedSept. 19, 2026 - Jan. 3, 2027
Statewide.Bag limit is combined with spruce grouse (5 daily / 10 possession combined, of which no more than 2 daily / 4 possession may be spruce grouse). Blaze orange/pink required above the waist.
2026 spring drumming count: 1.7 drums/stop statewide, down slightly from 2025 as the population enters a declining phase of its typical 8-11 year cycle after peaking in 2024. Published July 6, 2026 (MN DNR press release / Charlotte Roy, grouse project leader, dnr.state.mn.us/news/2026/07/06/ruffed-grouse-declining-phase-population-cycle).
Roy: drumming counts alone don't reliably predict fall hunting-season numbers — nesting success and chick survival over spring/summer are the bigger driver, and heavy June 2026 rain negatively affected both, which will weigh on fall numbers more than the spring count's modest decline by itself.