What are the 2025–26 sharp-tailed grouse hunting regulations in Michigan?

Michigan sharp-tailed grouse regulations, 2025–26

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

Michigan's 2025–26 sharp-tailed grouse season runs October 10, 2025 to October 31, 2025, on dates that depend on the zone. The bag is 2 per day, 4 in possession. Hunter orange is required. Stamps: Free sharp-tailed grouse stamp. Read against the 2025–26 licence year, from MDNR.

Season and limits

Season: Sharp-tailed grouse — October 10, 2025 to October 31, 2025
Bag limit: 2 per day, 4 in possession
Hunter orange: required Small game hunters must wear a hunter-orange cap, hat, vest, jacket or rain gear as the outermost garment, visible from all sides. Camouflage counts if it is at least 50% orange.
Stamps: Free sharp-tailed grouse stamp
Sundays: No statewide Sunday closure for small game. A few counties restrict firearm hunting on private land under PA 319 of 1994 — not mapped here.

The Department of Natural Resources opens sharp-tailed grouse only inside the zone 1 sharp-tailed grouse management unit, in the eastern Upper Peninsula, and states that the remaining portion of the state is closed. Wildlife Conservation Order 3.503(1) with the unit of 12.751, read August 2026.
The unit lies within Chippewa and Mackinac counties but is not the whole of either. Its boundary is described as a chain of roads, rivers and section corners and is not drawn in this app — being in one of those two counties is not the same as being in the unit. Read 12.751 or the digest's map before you hunt.
Beyond the daily and possession limits there is a season limit of 6 sharp-tailed grouse — Wildlife Conservation Order 3.503(2). It is the only season limit in this app.
The free sharp-tailed grouse stamp is issued on request and becomes part of the licence. It is free and it is not optional.
Do not confuse it with the spruce grouse, which shares the same Upper Peninsula country, is protected in Michigan and has no season at all.

Zones

Zone	Opens	Closes	Days
Zone 1 sharp-tailed grouse unit — partly open	October 10, 2025	October 31, 2025	22
Closed to sharp-tailed grouse	Closed season

Licences

Base licence
Everyone, before any other licence — Required to hunt small game in Michigan, and it is what every other tag is added to.
Hunter safety certificate
Anyone born on or after 1 January 1960 — Or an apprentice licence, which lets an uncertified hunter hunt under supervision.
Federal HIP registration
Woodcock and every other migratory bird — Free, but not optional — it registers you with the federal harvest survey.
Free woodcock stamp
Woodcock hunters — Free and separate from HIP. Both are required.

The other questions

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