Hunters who wish to apply for one of 186 permits for the 2012 Minnesota prairie chicken season must do so by Friday, Aug. 17, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said.
Application materials and maps of permit areas for both hunts are available on the DNR website at www.mndnr.gov/hunting/prairiechicken. Winners will be notified by mail by mid-September after applying at any DNR license agent, online at www.mndnr.gov/buyalicense or by phone at 888-665-4236.
The five-day prairie chicken season, which will begin on Saturday, Oct. 20, is open to Minnesota residents only. Hunters will be charged a $4 application fee and may apply individually or in groups up to four. Prairie chicken licenses cost $20.
The hunt will be conducted in 11 prairie chicken quota areas in west-central Minnesota between Warren in the north and Breckenridge in the south. Up to 20 percent of the permits in each area will be issued to landowners or tenants of 40 acres or more of prairie or grassland property within the permit area for which they applied. Resident hunters younger than 12 may apply for a prairie chicken license.
The odds of being drawn are about one-in-three depending upon the area chosen, said Steve Merchant, DNR wildlife population and regulation manager.
The season bag limit is two prairie chickens per hunter. Licensed prairie chicken hunters will be allowed to take sharp-tailed grouse while legally hunting prairie chickens.
Sharptails and prairie chickens are similar looking species and the general closure on taking sharp-tailed grouse by small game hunters in this area is to protect prairie chickens. Licensed prairie chicken hunters who wish to take sharptails must meet all regulations and licensing requirements for taking sharp-tailed grouse.
In 2011, an estimated 103 birds were harvested with 45 percent of hunters taking at least one bird.
(via MN DNR)
