Feeding deer in Minnesota is legal in some parts of the state and banned in others, and hunting deer over bait is illegal everywhere. As of mid-2025, 33 Minnesota counties have active feeding and attractant bans triggered by Chronic Wasting Disease detections in nearby wild or farmed deer.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Deer Feeding and Attractants Bans Outside those counties, putting food out for deer is technically allowed, though the DNR discourages it. Where you live, what you’re putting out, and whether you’re hunting all change the answer.
Counties Where Feeding Is Banned
Minnesota’s feeding bans are county-by-county, not statewide. As of 2025, the following 33 counties have active feeding and attractant bans: Aitkin, Anoka, Beltrami, Carver, Cass, Clay, Crow Wing, Dakota, Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, Hubbard, Itasca, Le Sueur, Mower, Norman, Olmsted, Polk, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Steele, Traverse, Wabasha, Washington, Wilkin, Winona, and Wright.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Deer Feeding and Attractants Bans
The list has expanded several times as CWD has spread, and it changes without much warning. Check the DNR’s current map before you assume your county is clear.
What Counts as Feeding
Minnesota defines deer feeding broadly. Placing or distributing grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, hay, or any other food capable of attracting deer counts as feeding, regardless of your intent.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97B.328 – Baiting Prohibited Dumping a pile of apples behind the shed in a ban county violates the rule even if you weren’t trying to attract deer.
A few things are excluded. Liquid scents, plain salt blocks, and mineral blocks are not treated as bait or feed, provided they contain no actual food ingredients. Agricultural crops left standing from normal farming, forest management, or wildlife food plantings are also exempt. That exemption ends if harvested crops are hauled back and piled up where someone is hunting; at that point they become bait.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97B.328 – Baiting Prohibited
Attractants and Salt Licks in Ban Counties
Inside the 33 ban counties, the restrictions reach past food itself. The ban also covers deer attractants, a separate category that includes food-based scents, pre-scented items, and any product containing or claiming to contain deer urine, blood, gland oil, or other bodily fluids.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Deer Feeding and Attractants Bans Commercial “doe in heat” scents fall inside that definition.
Salt and mineral blocks flip categories depending on where you are. In a non-ban county they’re legal and explicitly excluded from the definition of bait. Inside a ban county they’re swept into the attractant prohibition. A salt lick that was fine last year can become a violation the moment your county joins the list.
Bird Feeders and Backyard Feeding
The statutory definition of deer feeding covers “any food capable of attracting deer,” and birdseed qualifies. Deer readily eat sunflower seeds, millet, and cracked corn. In a ban county, a low-hanging bird feeder that deer can reach could put you in violation.
The DNR’s published guidance on the feeding ban doesn’t carve out a statewide exemption for bird feeders, though some cities within ban areas have created local exemptions for small backyard feeders. If you live in one of the 33 counties and want to feed birds, mount feeders high enough that deer can’t reach them and clean up spilled seed. A quick call to your local DNR office is worth the time.
Hunting Over Bait Is Illegal Statewide
No matter which county you’re in, you cannot hunt deer using bait anywhere in Minnesota. The prohibition sits in Minnesota Statute 97B.328, which makes it illegal to take deer with the aid of bait.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97B.328 – Baiting Prohibited A landowner scattering corn for deer in a non-ban county in January may be fine. A hunter doing the same thing during firearms season is not.
Cleanup timing matters. Once bait has been placed at a spot, the area is considered baited for ten days after every last bit of food is removed.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97B.328 – Baiting Prohibited Sweeping up a corn pile the day before opener does not make that stand legal. You need ten full days after complete removal.
The Adjacent Property Rule
Minnesota protects hunters who happen to be near someone else’s bait. If you’re hunting on property next to land where bait or food is present, you’re not violating the law as long as you didn’t participate in, assist with, or agree to the feeding on that neighboring property.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97B.328 – Baiting Prohibited The burden falls on you to show you had nothing to do with the neighbor’s feed. If a conservation officer sees signs of coordination, expect scrutiny.
Why the Rules Exist
Chronic Wasting Disease drives nearly all of Minnesota’s feeding regulations. CWD is a fatal neurological disease of deer, elk, and moose. It spreads through direct contact and through infectious prions shed in saliva, urine, and feces, and those prions can persist in soil for years. A pile of corn concentrates deer nose-to-nose in the same spot, day after day, which is the exact behavior the disease exploits.
No human case of CWD has ever been documented, and as of early 2026 the disease has not been shown to infect people. The CDC notes that some primate studies suggest CWD could theoretically cross to humans through consumption of infected meat, and hunters who eat venison would be the most exposed group if that ever happened.3Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Once CWD establishes itself in a herd, it’s essentially impossible to eradicate, which is why the state’s response is aggressive.
Penalties for Violating a Feeding Ban
Violating a county feeding or attractant ban is a game and fish misdemeanor in Minnesota.4Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97A.301 – Misdemeanor The statutory ceiling is up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, though fines for feeding violations typically land well below that in practice. A conviction can also void your hunting license and block you from getting a new one, depending on your record.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97A.421 – Validity and Issuance of Licenses After Conviction
You do not need to be a hunter to face a citation. If a conservation officer sees a corn pile in your yard drawing deer, the ban applies. It covers everyone in the affected counties.
Penalties for Hunting Over Bait
Hunting deer over bait is also a misdemeanor under Minnesota’s game and fish laws.4Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97A.301 – Misdemeanor A conviction carries a fine, potential forfeiture of the firearm or bow used, and a one-year prohibition on obtaining any deer license.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97A.421 – Validity and Issuance of Licenses After Conviction A lifetime hunting license gets suspended for the same period.
The consequences climb for trophy deer. Taking a deer that scores above 170 under the state’s restitution scoring method over bait doubles the license revocation to two years, and restitution payments can be added on top of the misdemeanor fine. If the restitution value of illegally taken wildlife exceeds $2,000, the revocation period jumps to ten years. At the $1,000 restitution threshold, you’re looking at a five-year ban from obtaining any wildlife license.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 97A.421 – Validity and Issuance of Licenses After Conviction