When the leaves start to turn around Crosslake, the woods fill up in a second way: hunting season. Crow Wing County sits in Minnesota's central zone, and every autumn the lands around the Whitefish Chain come alive with deer archery, ruffed grouse, small game, and waterfowl. Whether you hunt, or you just own a lake home and want to know when the woods will be busy, here is the 2026 fall hunting calendar and where the public land is near the chain.
Deer archery opens September 19
Minnesota's deer archery season opens Saturday, September 19, 2026, and runs through December 31. It is a long, quiet season that lets bowhunters pick their moment through the fall. One change worth knowing: crossbows are now legal for all archery license holders in Minnesota, not just those who qualify under the old exceptions. That has opened up the sport to a lot more people, and the woods around Crosslake see steady bow traffic from late September through the rut.
Ruffed grouse opens the same weekend
Ruffed grouse season also opens on Saturday, September 19, 2026, running into January with a daily bag of five and a possession limit of ten (spruce grouse count toward that combined total). The aspen and birch stands around the Lakes Area hold good grouse numbers, and the same quiet two-tracks that carry you to a fishing spot in summer make fine grouse covers in fall. A flush from a patch of hazel is one of the great sudden moments of a northern Minnesota autumn.
Waterfowl: early teal through the central zone
Waterfowl season is a ladder that starts in early September. Early teal ran September 5 through 9, and early goose ran September 5 through 20. The youth waterfowl hunt paired with early goose fell on September 12 and 13, a great chance to take a young hunter out. The regular waterfowl opener is Saturday, September 26 statewide. In the central zone, which covers Crow Wing County and the Crosslake area, the regular duck, coot, and merganser season is split, running September 26 through October 4, then again October 10 through November 29. (The printed regulations booklet listed the second segment slightly differently, but the corrected online dates use October 10.) September goose runs September 12 through 27 for those chasing geese before the regular season settles in.
Small game and grouse country
General small-game seasons for squirrel and rabbit open around the same time and run through the winter across the state. For grouse and deer, the real draw is the public land surrounding the Brainerd Lakes. Crow Wing State Forest sits to the south of the chain near Brainerd, and the state forests of Land O'Lakes, Savanna, Hill River, and Waukenabo offer public hunting access across Crow Wing County. North of Pequot Lakes, Paul Bunyan State Forest stretches into the country between the chain and the woods beyond. Those public forests are where a lot of local hunters put in their miles once the leaves fall and visibility opens up.
How hunting affects lake home life
For lake home owners, hunting season is a low-key, mostly good thing. The heavy summer boat traffic is gone, the lakes are quiet, and the woods around the chain get busy only in the early and late hours during the peak of the season. Waterfowl hunters work the lakes and bays through September and October, so it is a good idea to wait a beat and let a working retriever finish a retrieve before you motor past a point. The deer season that runs into December is generally a quiet affair, with most hunting pressure on the public lands rather than the developed shorelines.
If you are thinking about buying near the chain, it is worth knowing that living here puts you five minutes from a boat ramp and twenty minutes from some of the best public hunting in central Minnesota. A lake home on the Whitefish Chain is a base camp for every outdoor season, fishing in the open water months, and hunting and ice fishing the rest. For anyone who wants all four seasons of the north woods, there are few better places to be.
Come see the chain in fall
Fall is my favorite time to show a property on the Whitefish Chain. The colors are out, the lakes are calm, and you can get a true sense of the four-season life a lake home offers. 12388 Brookwood Circle sits right on the chain with a beautiful sandy beach, steps from a year-round outdoor playground. If you have ever wanted to know what fall and winter lake living feel like, come see it for yourself.
12388 Brookwood Circle is a lakefront property on the Whitefish Chain with a beautiful sandy beach, a base camp for all four seasons of the north woods. Fall is the perfect time to see what lake living on the chain is really about. Contact Noah for a showing.
Contact Noah