Deer Permit Area 604, Minnesota
Unit info
- Game species
- White-tailed Deer, Black Bear, Ruffed Grouse, Wild Turkey
- Group
- Zone 100 — Northern Minnesota
- Area
- 825 mi²
- Public land
- N/A
White-tailed Deer — season & harvest
- Reported harvest
- 3,535
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. Black Bear, Ruffed Grouse, Wild Turkey also occur here — that data can be added as the community contributes.
About this unit
AI-compiled · sourcedDPA 604 covers a large block of north-central Minnesota spanning Crow Wing, Aitkin, and Cass counties, centered on the lake-dotted mixed forest country between Brainerd, Aitkin, and Pine River. The area offers a classic Minnesota northwoods deer hunt in transitional boreal habitat of aspen, birch, jack pine, and conifer lowlands threaded by the Mississippi, Crow Wing, and Gull rivers. It is designated a CWD Early Detection Management Zone with mandatory sampling on opening firearms weekend, and hunters may take up to two deer under the standard two-deer limit designation.
North-central Minnesota transitional forest: rolling uplands of aspen, birch, jack pine, and red pine mixed with spruce-fir lowlands and extensive wetlands. Numerous lakes, river corridors (Mississippi River western boundary, Crow Wing River, Gull River), and bog complexes create diverse edge habitat. Elevation is modest but terrain varies from open lake shorelines to dense boreal-transition stands.
moderate
Deer season structure: 16-day regular firearms season beginning the Saturday nearest November 6; archery season runs mid-September through December; muzzleloader season follows firearms. DPA 604 is a two-deer limit area (one buck plus bonus antlerless via standard bonus permit system). CWD Early Detection Management Zone — mandatory sampling opening weekend; disease management permits available at $1.50 for additional antlerless harvest. Ruffed grouse are abundant in the young aspen habitat throughout the area. Black bear are present and huntable under the MN DNR bear zone system covering north-central Minnesota. Wild turkey populations exist in the Crow Wing and Aitkin county portions of the DPA and are huntable under spring and fall turkey licenses.
Classic north-central Minnesota deer hunt in aspen-birch transitional forest with abundant lakes and river corridors. Two-deer limit allows harvest of a buck plus a bonus antlerless deer. CWD Early Detection Management Zone status means mandatory sampling on opening firearms weekend (November 8-9) but also allows purchase of unlimited disease management permits for additional antlerless harvest. Excellent dual-purpose hunt for deer and ruffed grouse in prime young-aspen habitat. Black bear season overlaps fall deer seasons in this part of the state.
Questions, tips & discussion
Ask anything about Deer Permit Area 604— 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 604.
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Boundaries: MN DNR official Deer Permit Areas. Community info last updated 23d ago.