As Michigan’s 2025 deer season gets underway, the Department of Natural Resources has provided observations, considerations and tips for deer hunters who are preparing to hit the woods and fields.

Introduction (all regions) Following is a brief overview of recent data, trends, and observations regarding weather conditions, past hunting season results and factors since the prior Michigan hunting season that might affect what hunters will see and experience in the season ahead. These are general overviews and might not reflect conditions at the specific location where you hunt. Bear in mind that insights on Michigan’s hunting season results are offered by two different sources. For many years, the Michigan Deer Harvest Survey has been completed by mail following conclusion of the hunting seasons to estimate participation and harvest. Beginning with the 2022 season, successful Michigan deer hunters have been required to report their harvest. You can find summaries of these results and other reports in the deer section of the DNR’s Wildlife publications page on michigan.gov/dnr

Hunters should be aware of important regulations or recent changes in each region and be prepared to report their harvest and assist with disease testing priorities in each region. Information and helpful resources are included to assist our hunters with planning accordingly. A detailed summary of all regulations is not provided, but readers can find additional regulations information through the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app, the mobile-friendly Deer Hunting Regulations Summary and the desktop-formatted digital version of the Deer Hunting Regulations Summary – all available through links on the Deer page.

Deer harvest reporting is mandatory for all successful hunters. Deer hunters are required to report their harvest within 72 hours or before transferring possession of the deer. The Deer harvest reporting page includes links for reporting your harvest or downloading the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish mobile app, along with reporting instructions, tips, a demonstration video and resources to get assistance if you encounter difficulties with reporting your harvest.

In 2025, the DNR is conducting focused collection for bovine tuberculosis (TB) and chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing in the following UP counties: Baraga, Chippewa, Dickinson, Houghton, Keweenaw, Luce, Mackinac, Ontonagon and Schoolcraft. Hunters in these counties are encouraged to submit samples to continue our ongoing surveillance efforts. Hunters outside of surveillance counties are eligible for free CWD testing by using a lymph node extraction kit that includes overnight shipping. The DNR is pleased to provide these resources and empower hunters across the state to assist with their own CWD testing efforts. Deer harvested from outside of the TB surveillance counties can still be turned in for TB testing at the hunter’s request, and all heads tested for CWD are also screened for TB.

Where to go

Basic information about how to find a place to hunt can benefit those new to deer hunting, new to one of the regions of our state or even seasoned veterans looking for a new area or more details about their go-to hunting spot. Hunters can use the Mi-HUNT mapping application to identify hunting lands (with approximate boundaries of all types of lands open to public hunting), State of Michigan facilities (Wildlife Division field offices, boat launches and access sites and state forest campgrounds) and types of habitat (using aerial photos and maps of vegetation types). Mi-HUNT may be used from a computer to scout new hunting areas or explore more details and find directions for reaching any site of interest or can be used from a mobile device for similar purposes while also viewing your location and marking locations of interest encountered in the field. A variety of information is also available regarding the types and locations of lands open to public hunting.

Hunters can start by visiting the DNR Where to hunt page. From there, links are available to the Mi-HUNT app and video tutorials regarding how to use it (either on a computer or mobile device). Links to explore state game areas and learn about hunting on national forests or commercial forest lands are also provided. The Public lands page is another source of information on the approximately 4.6 million acres of public lands stewarded by the DNR.

For each region, other important considerations are also provided regarding how the distribution of deer, hunting opportunities or accessibility might vary across the area.

UPPER PENINSULA

How’d it go

The total number of Upper Peninsula hunters in 2024 was similar to the prior year, but buck harvest increased compared to 2023. Hunters benefited from an extremely mild 2023-2024 winter that saw the number and condition of deer entering the season rebound following harsh conditions in the previous two years. This rebound might be slowed down in some areas this year. The 2024-2025 winter included periods of deep snow that lasted nearly long enough to be considered a severe year, though U.P. deer encountered considerably worse conditions in six out of the prior 10 years. Fortunately, deer had favorable conditions in the U.P. during the summer of 2025. Overall, deer numbers and condition of deer in the higher snowfall zone areas might decline somewhat compared to the 2024 season. As is typically the case, the highest deer numbers in the U.P. are expected in the south-central portion, where winters are generally milder and agriculture is most prevalent.

What to know

Hunters pursuing an antlered buck in the U.P. with a single deer or combo deer license should familiarize themselves with antler point restrictions (APRs) in the region. Consult the Upper Peninsula APRs section of the 2025 Deer Hunting Regulations Summary, available through the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app or in digital versions accessible through links on our Deer page. Review the APR requirements based on the options you have for licenses to purchase and the seasons in which you’ll be hunting.

U.P. hunters also have the option of using a single deer or combo deer license (both the regular and restricted tags) to harvest an antlerless deer during the archery season. No antlerless license is necessary to use this option. New for this year, this option is available throughout the late segment of the archery season – through Jan. 1 – in all areas of the U.P.

Hunters in the U.P. are allowed to use bait now through – Jan. 1. Bait cannot exceed 2 gallons of volume at a hunting site and must be spread over a minimum 10-foot-by-10-foot area. To minimize exposure of deer to diseases that may be present, the DNR recommends not placing bait repeatedly at the same point on the ground and only baiting when actively hunting. Review additional rules in the Baiting section of 2025 Deer Hunting Regulations Summary in the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app or in digital versions available through links on our Deer page.

In 2025, the DNR is conducting focused collection for CWD testing in the U.P., including deer harvested in Baraga, Chippewa, Dickinson, Houghton, Keweenaw, Luce, Mackinac, Ontonagon and Schoolcraft counties. Despite no additional cases of chronic wasting disease being detected in Dickinson County since 2018, the DNR encourages hunters to submit samples for testing in these continues to continue our baseline CWD surveillance. CWD testing is free for deer harvested in these counties. More information on testing and a link to find DNR drop boxes and staffed sample submission sites are available on the CWD testing page. All heads tested for CWD are also screened for bovine tuberculosis. Results are posted to the DNR lab results webpage.

Hunters in all other counties are eligible for free CWD testing by using a free lymph node extraction kit that includes overnight shipping. Kits can be picked up from the locations listed on the CWD testing page. Kits include instructions for hunters to extract lymph nodes themselves and submit them to Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for CWD testing. Results from deer submitted to MSU will be sent directly to the hunter and will not appear on the DNR lab results webpage.

Where to go

The U.P. has ample hunting opportunities on State Forests, National Forests and lands enrolled in the Commercial Forest Program, which includes over 2.2 million acres of privately owned forests across the state that are accessible by foot to the public for fishing, hunting and trapping. More information on these lands is available on the Commercial Forest Program website. Boundaries of all these lands may also be viewed by accessing Mi-HUNT through the DNR Where to hunt page.

As is often the case, a wild card for U.P. hunters this year will be potential effects from the 2024-2025 winter. Average winter conditions across the U.P. were just shy of what would be considered severe, but the average across the region might not factor into outcomes seen at a particular hunting location.

2025 deer hunting season dates

• Independence hunt Oct. 16-19, 2025

• Archery Oct. 1 – Nov. 14 and Dec. 1 – Jan. 1, 2026

• Regular firearm Nov. 15-30, 2025

• Muzzleloading Dec. 5-14, 2025

• Late antlerless firearm Dec. 15 – Jan. 1, 2026 on private and public lands in Lower Peninsula DMUs.

• Extended late antlerless firearm Jan. 2-11, 2026