How do you hunt northern bobwhite in Michigan?

How to hunt northern bobwhite in Michigan

Last updated 2026-09-24 · from MDNR data · 2025–26 licence year

Northern bobwhite in Michigan is hunted in broomsedge and native warm-season grass with bare ground under it, brushy field borders, and the edge of a cut field against a hedgerow. quail need to walk under the cover, not through it, which is why manicured ground holds none. Hunt the edges of managed early-succession fields and the borders between crop and brush. Coveys hold in a few known spots and use them year after year; the singles after a covey rise scatter into the thickest nearby cover. MDNR describes the cover as: Brushy fencerows, weedy field corners and shrub thickets — in Michigan, only in the southernmost counties. Dogs are legal for this species in Michigan. Michigan's 2025–26 northern bobwhite season runs October 20, 2025 to November 14, 2025, on dates that depend on the zone.

The cover

Broomsedge and native warm-season grass with bare ground under it, brushy field borders, and the edge of a cut field against a hedgerow. Quail need to walk under the cover, not through it, which is why manicured ground holds none.

MDNR on the cover: Brushy fencerows, weedy field corners and shrub thickets — in Michigan, only in the southernmost counties.

How it is hunted

Hunt the edges of managed early-succession fields and the borders between crop and brush. Coveys hold in a few known spots and use them year after year; the singles after a covey rise scatter into the thickest nearby cover.

Dogs

A pointing dog with range, on ground open enough to use it. Wild-bird quail hunting on public land is a matter of covering a lot of edge to find few coveys.

Dogs legal: Yes, for this species in Michigan.
Dogs closed: April 16 – July 7
Dog training: July 8 – April 15. The closed season needs a DNR Wildlife Division permit.

Equipment

Legal devices: Bow, Crossbow, Firearm, Slingshot
Gauge: not regulated
Choke: not regulated
Shot: not regulated
Capacity: Six shells in barrel and magazine combined for a semi-automatic, unless it is .22-caliber or smaller rimfire.

Prohibited: Snares, traps, cages, nets, pitfalls or deadfalls
Prohibited: Spears, fully automatic firearms, airbows, or mechanical devices other than bows, crossbows, firearms and slingshots
Prohibited: Cartridges containing tracer or explosive bullets
Prohibited: Drugs, poisons, anticoagulants, stupefying substances, smoke, gas or explosives

Read from 2026 Michigan Small Game Hunting Regulations Summary, Equipment regulations pp. 34-38, Hunting methods pp. 40-42.

The cover, tactics and dog notes above are written for this app — not an agency description and not a regulation. Everything that is a rule carries the page it was read from.

The other questions

By region

Northern bobwhite hunting in southern Michigan

Open the hunting map →Public land and bird cover, drawn for the bird you are after.