Short answer: probably, but check your county first. Minnesota repealed the shotgun-only zone effective January 1, 2026, which makes centerfire rifles legal statewide for deer — except where a county in the former zone has held a public hearing and passed its own restriction. 2026 is the transition year, and the answer genuinely differs by county.
What changed
The Legislature repealed the southern shotgun-only zone effective January 1, 2026. For the first time in decades, the default statewide is: rifles legal where deer hunting is legal.
The catch
Counties inside the former zone keep the authority to restrict firearm types — but they must act through a public hearing process and pass a local ordinance. No county action, no restriction: rifles are legal there this fall.
And counties are acting. Pope County has posted formal notice of a public hearing on a deer-firearms ordinance that would take effect for the 2026 season. Nicollet County has hosted public hearings on the question, and a hearing has been set in the New Ulm area. Whether any of these become ordinances is each board's call — which is exactly why the county check matters.
How to check your county
The DNR does not publish a county-by-county firearm-status list today (its deer pages update for 2026 by Aug. 1). Until then: check your county board's published ordinances and hearing notices — counties that restrict must do it in public — and watch the DNR's 2026 hunting regulations, which will reflect the final picture. Five minutes on your county's website beats a citation in November.
Our read
Our read, as of June 2026 — interpretation, not established fact: most former-zone counties will not restrict, based on how the repeal passed and the public-hearing burden on counties. If that's right, rifles will be legal across most of the former zone this fall. If we're wrong, restrictions will cluster where boards have already signaled concern — the hearings above are where to watch. We'll revisit this as counties act and the DNR publishes finals, and if a verifiable county-status table becomes possible, this post gets it in an update.
What this means for your fall
Check your county. Confirm in the Aug. 1 regulations. Then pattern your practice to your legal firearm — a first rifle season in the former zone is a different practice plan than another shotgun year. The full 2026 picture — season dates by zone, the Sept. 10 antlerless deadline, and license structure — is in our Minnesota deer season 2026 hub. And if you hunt a CWD management or surveillance zone, look up your DPA's CWD status before the opener — sampling is mandatory on opening firearms weekend in designated zones.
Season dates and firearm rules are set by the Minnesota DNR and county boards; the DNR publishes final 2026 regulations by Aug. 1. Always verify at mndnr.gov and with your county before you hunt. Published June 11, 2026 · 2026 season.
Want to know the moment your county acts? We track regulation changes across the Upper Midwest and cover them in the weekly brief — county ordinances and the final DNR rules included. Get the changes that affect your season →