Features

Deer season changes

Regarding baiting and antlerless deer

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has implemented changes governing hunting regulations, regional licensing structures and seasonal baiting limits ahead of the Sunday’s start of the traditional firearm deer season.

Universal antlerless deer license use limits have been implemented by Deer Management Units in the Upper Peninsula and by counties in the Lower Peninsula. According to the 2026 DNR regulations summary, universal antlerless deer licenses are restricted to designated northern units, including Delta, Iron, Dickinson, Marquette and Menominee counties. Licenses are invalid for antlerless harvest outside of these designated zones. State administrators officially eliminated the traditional Upper Peninsula antlerless access permit drawing alongside the complete dissolution of Deer Management Units 351 and 352.

The licensing changes accompany reduced seasonal management units and tight baiting restrictions enforced under Wildlife Conservation Order Amendment No. 6 of 2026. The traditional December muzzleloader season in the Upper Peninsula has been reduced to a single three-day window, running from Dec. 4 through Dec. 6. State wildlife biologists indicated that shortening the season to a single weekend limits the ability of hunters to intercept migrating deer when they are highly concentrated, preserving the localized wintering population.

State law mandates hunters utilizing bait must cap individual deposit piles at exactly 2 gallons per hunting site. The regulatory package stipulates that all bait materials must be distributed over a maximum 10-by-10 foot area to limit artificial wildlife concentration.

Hunters are also reminded by state enforcement officials that hunter orange or hunter pink apparel must constitute at least 50 percent of all visible outerwear, including caps and jackets, while operating in the field during active firearm cycles. Regular firearm season parameters remain unchanged, running statewide from November 15 through November 30.