What are the 2025–26 wild turkey hunting regulations in Michigan?

Michigan wild turkey regulations, 2025–26

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

Michigan's 2025–26 wild turkey season runs September 15, 2025 to November 14, 2025, on dates that depend on the zone. No single bag limit is shown for it here — read the notes below and check the current MDNR regulations before you go. Hunter orange is not required for this species. Read against the 2025–26 licence year, from MDNR.

Season and limits

Season: Wild turkey (fall) — September 15, 2025 to November 14, 2025
Bag limit: not shown No single bag limit is shown for it here. Where MDNR publishes one that changes by zone or partway through the season, the figures are in the notes below and this page will not pick one of them; where it publishes none at all, this page leaves it empty rather than guess — a wrong limit is worse than a missing one, because it looks researched. Check the Michigan Hunting Digest.
Hunter orange: not required for this speciesSmall 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.
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 the fall season in its fall turkey management units, not statewide: unit M is the Upper Peninsula and unit I is the Lower Peninsula except Monroe county. Wildlife Conservation Order 3.303 with 12.654 and 12.675, read August 2026.
Fall turkey is also quota-limited and licensed by unit. Being inside a unit is not the same as holding a tag for it — this app draws where the season is, not what you are licensed for.
Exempt from the hunter-orange requirement.

Zones

Zone	Opens	Closes	Days
Fall turkey units I and M	September 15, 2025	November 14, 2025	61
Outside both fall turkey units	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

By region

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