DNR photo

LANSING — Turkey hunters will not need to enter into a drawing for a fall license this year. Licenses will new be available over the counter on a first-come first-served basis.There are 2,200 licenses available for the Upper Peninsula and an unlimited amount in the Lower Peninsula. The licenses will go on sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 15 for the season that runs from from Sept. 15 to Nov. 14.

In prior years, a fall turkey license in the U.P. required a drawing for 1,700 potential hunters. The quota has increased this year by 500 along with the ability to simply purchase the license over the counter. DNR Upland Game Bird Specialist Adam Bump said the changes were made to help streamline the regulations and eliminate unnecessary regulations or complications with licenses. He added that in prior years, successful license lottery winners would sometimes not purchase a license which would them go unused. With the change, this year all 2,200 licenses will be available for use.

“While reviewing fall turkey regulations for 2026, we looked first at our stated goals for the season,” Bump said. “Historically we have stated the goal was primarily population and nuisance control. However, we removed very few turkeys statewide and do not harvest enough birds, particularly hens, to impact populations except at possibly extremely small scales (removing individual nuisance birds).”

Bump explained in DNR staff and the U.P. Turkey Stakeholder Workgroup felt retaining a quota would be beneficial for now to ensure interest in the season does not increase the harvest beyond what is desired. Only the set number of licenses will be provided. Bump expects more hunters out in the U.P. for the fall turkey season and likely see a slight increase in the harvest.

Northwoods Sporting Goods owner Rick Freeman is happy with the changes, believing the application process for turkey was pointless but wants the state maintain its lottery for black bear and elk. “I am extremely glad they got rid of the application period, because there was always leftovers, and then there were years where you could get an application, and then when they opened it to buy the leftovers, you could and go get a second tag,” Freeman said.

Freeman feels there may be a downside to the new process. He said there is an expectation older hunters had throughout the years and putting in for the application as soon as possible. He said many older hunters have come in to receive their applications, only to be confused when told there was no application this year. He encouraged them to read into any updates and to read up on the Michigan Fall Turkey pamphlets which can be found in most outdoor stores and gas stations. “The only downside to this no application process is not everybody may be available August 15 when they go on sale, and that might definitely deny a few people a turkey tag if they sell out very, very quickly,” Freeman said.

Freeman did say he would like to see the DNR produce different regulations for turkey harvest throughout the U.P. since the peninsula is so large and the turkey population seems to differ by region. “I’ve had people mention the lower part of the U.P. may not have the same effect that the turkeys are having on the upper part of the Upper Peninsula. Maybe in the future, the DNR might think about slicing the up in half for the turkey season, or even three sections too. Do north, south, east and west maybe, because the U.P. is a very large area. Having them lump us into one thing? Everything’s different. You go two hours south, it is a little different. And then you go to Sault Ste. Marie, it’s different too. I just think maybe the DNR can look into that. They split up the U.P. for deer after all,” Freeman said.

The largest change implemented in the Lower Peninsula is opening prior areas which were closed to the hunt, and now includes every county except for Monroe. A higher harvest is expected in the Lower Peninsula this year due to the new opportunities on previously closed lands. Fall turkey hunters are limited to one turkey of either sex for the season.