Deer Permit Area 661, Minnesota
Unit info
- Game species
- White-tailed Deer, Pheasant, Ruffed Grouse
- Group
- Zone 200 — Central Minnesota
- Area
- 796 mi²
- Public land
- N/A
White-tailed Deer — season & harvest
- Reported harvest
- 437
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, Ruffed Grouse also occur here — that data can be added as the community contributes.
About this unit
AI-compiled · sourcedDPA 661 covers the Red River Valley flatlands surrounding Crookston in northwest Minnesota, encompassing Polk County agricultural land between the Red River to the west and U.S. Highway 75 to the east, stretching north toward Alvarado. The area holds a solid whitetail population supported by row-crop agriculture and brushy wooded draws, though it gained added regulatory significance after a CWD-positive buck was detected near Climax, triggering mandatory testing and carcass movement restrictions. Hunters willing to navigate the CWD rules will find relatively accessible public land and good deer numbers in a classic northwest Minnesota agricultural corridor.
Flat to gently rolling Red River Valley agricultural land dominated by corn, soybean, and sugar beet fields with wooded river-bottom draws, shelter belts, and brushy wetland edges. The landscape transitions between open prairie and small woodlots typical of the northwest Minnesota farming corridor.
moderate
Whitetail deer are the primary quarry, supported by abundant agricultural food sources and river-bottom cover. Ring-necked pheasant are present in brushy field edges and CRP ground. Ruffed and sharp-tailed grouse inhabit the transition areas between agriculture and brushland. No bear or moose hunting in this agricultural flatland unit.
Located in the East Grand Forks-Crookston-Climax CWD Early Detection Management Zone. CWD testing is mandatory during opening weekend of firearms season. Carcass movement restrictions apply — head and spinal column must remain within the permit area. Three-deer limit area. Archery season runs through late November; nine-day firearms season opens the Saturday nearest November 6.
Questions, tips & discussion
Ask anything about Deer Permit Area 661— 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 661.
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.