Three Important Changes All Minnesota Deer Hunters Need To Know About For This Season

The 2026 Minnesota firearms deer hunting season gets underway on Saturday, November 7. As hunters get ready for this year's season, there are three important changes all hunters need to know about.

Here's a look at each of these three big changes for CWD testing, licensing, and registration that will impact hunters across Minnesota and what to know about each of them.

Buying your Minnesota deer hunting license is different now

You've probably heard by now that the Minnesota DNR has shifted to electronic licensing, which will allow hunters, anglers, and outdoorspeople to buy licenses at home or anywhere on their phone via the new MN DNR Licensing app.

You can still get a license the old-fashioned way from participating retailers, though the number of locations has changed.

Account setup and license purchases for doing it yourself can be done on the DNR website or via the iPhone app or Android app.

If you are doing this for the first time, you'll need to set up an account. You'll need your driver's license number, your Minnesota DNR ID number (found at the top of any previous hunting or fishing license you may have), and the last 4 digits of your Social Security number. The setup process took me about 10 minutes, including the wait for the verification email.

Once your account is set up, buying a license is pretty quick. Find the firearms deer license, set your deer permit area, and add the license to your cart. I bought my license in a matter of a couple of minutes on my phone, and now I have a copy of it on my phone and can print it if I'd like. More on that in a bit.

While the number of in-person locations has changed, there are still places you can go to buy a hunting or fishing license from a store. You can find the list of participating retailers here.

The process for registering your deer harvest in Minnesota has changed

Gone are the days of needing to load up your deer and haul it to a registration site, starting this season. That is still an option, however.

The new process starting this year is as follows:

Step 1: Harvest validation - Before you can move your deer, you will need to validate your harvest. This can be done using the MN DNR Licensing app mentioned above, or it can also be done by hand using a printed paper site validation (your license tag).

Just like in the past, you'd mark the date and time of your harvest either on the paper or through the app.

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Step 2: Harvest Registration - You need to register your deer harvest before processing the animal, within 48 hours of harvest.

On the MN DNR Licensing app or website, there is an option for harvest validation and registration. The app is offline-capable, which means you can site validate and complete the harvest process without a cell signal, and then the process will be completed once you reopen the app when you're back in an area with service or a wifi connection.

If you choose to do it the old-fashioned way, you can find a map of harvest registration locations here.

The CWD testing requirements in Minnesota have changed starting this year

The Minnesota DNR is changing its chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing and monitoring procedures starting with the 2026 deer hunting season.

From this year forward, the Minnesota DNR will rotate mandatory opening-weekend testing to different surveillance blocks around the state.

This year, Southwestern Minnesota will be the place where required opening-weekend CWD testing will occur. If you harvest a deer on opening weekend, you will need to bring your deer in to have a CWD testing sample taken at a collection site or provide a CWD testing sample.

Minnesota DNR

Northwestern Minnesota will be the surveillance location next year, followed by Northeastern Minnesota in 2028 and Southeastern Minnesota in 2029.

This new CWD surveillance plan has been put in place because the Minnesota DNR believes CWD is not widespread across the state, and this new procedure will do a better job of monitoring across the state while being more efficient in the process.