You don’t need to drive 3-4 hours to find good hunting. There are all kinds of WMA’s around the metro, head north, south, east or west, lots of great land to hunt. With this weather we are having, I would suggest finding thick grass or better yet, cattails.(have fun walking, I hate cattails) The birds are going to be in the thicker stuff
The Mn Dnr is a great place to start your search for hunting land. Also, the deer season will be over soon and getting on some private land may be a little easier, just go knock on some doors, worst they can tell you is no. If you get permission on some private stuff, go back when your done hunting to say Thanks, it goes a long way if you plan to come back and hunt. I always ask the land owners name, first and last. If I get permission to hunt, I walk to the truck and write their name down in my note book. It will come in handy in the future when I show back up at their farm to hunt again.
Good luck and happy hunting