Deer Permit Area 238, Minnesota
Unit info
- Game species
- White-tailed Deer, Pheasant
- Group
- Zone 200 — Central Minnesota
- Area
- 98 mi²
- Public land
- N/A
White-tailed Deer — season & harvest
- Reported harvest
- 113
Draw odds for White-tailed Deeraren't on file for this unit yet. Check your state wildlife agency website for current draw statistics.
Season & harvest data is published for White-tailed Deer so far. Pheasant also occur here — that data can be added as the community contributes.
About this unit
AI-compiled · sourcedDPA 238 is a small, 95-square-mile antlerless lottery permit area in southwest Minnesota centered on the 5,000+ acre Talcot Lake Wildlife Management Area in the Murray/Nobles county area. The landscape is dominated by row-crop agriculture (72%) interspersed with prairie potholes and wetlands, with only about 10 square miles of public hunting ground split between state WMAs and USFWS Waterfowl Production Areas. Hunters draw a lottery antlerless permit (50 offered in 2025) on top of their base license, with low hunting pressure (~3 hunters/sq mi) and a 30% success rate on a modest deer population of roughly 1.1-1.3 deer per square mile.
Flat to gently rolling southwest Minnesota prairie and agricultural land; 72% annual row crops, 19% grassland and wetlands (prairie potholes), 3% open water, 1% woody cover. The Des Moines River crosses the northwest corner. No significant forest cover.
low
Deer are the primary big game target; modest population of ~1.1-1.3 deer/sq mi with 2024 total harvest of 104 (81 firearms, 17 archery, 6 muzzleloader). Pheasant are present given the prairie/ag/wetland habitat mosaic typical of southwest MN. No meaningful ruffed grouse, turkey, or bear habitat given only 1% woody cover and no forest.
Talcot Lake WMA is the centerpiece of the unit, offering wetland-edge deer hunting in an otherwise heavily agricultural landscape. Antlerless permit quota is managed conservatively (L50 in 2025) to rebuild population following a period of higher harvest. Very low hunter density makes for a quiet hunt when access is secured. Prairie potholes and WPAs attract waterfowl and support pheasant populations.
Questions, tips & discussion
Ask anything about Deer Permit Area 238— or drop a tip or trick: access points, where game holds, glassing spots, conditions, crowding, gear that worked. This is where the unit's species-specific intel gets built, hunter by hunter.
Nothing posted yet about Deer Permit Area 238.
Be the first — ask a question (“Best public access on the north end?”) or share a tip (“Glass the burn scars off the main ridge at first light”).
Boundaries: MN DNR official Deer Permit Areas. Community info last updated 23d ago.