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Where to hunt sharp-tailed grouse near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

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

There are 8 public units within 40 miles of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan that hold ground where sharp-tailed grouse is recorded — 423,108 acres of it. The most of it is in Hiawatha National Forest, 11.6 miles out, with 346,968 recorded acres. The season runs October 10, 2025 to October 31, 2025 — on dates that depend on the zone, bag 2 per day, 4 in possession, read against the 2025–26 licence year from MDNR. Public-land boundaries here are PAD-US, which records who manages a parcel rather than where the line runs or whether a unit carries a local closure — check with MDNR before you park.

Public land within 40 miles of Sault Ste. Marie

Distance is measured to the nearest edge of a unit rather than to its middle, in a straight line — this app carries no road network and will not print a drive time it cannot compute. A unit whose ground reaches inside the circle is listed for the acreage that is inside it, never for its statewide total.

Ordered by recorded acres — how much of each unit lies inside subbasins where sharp-tailed grouse is recorded at regular strength or better — rather than by how big the unit is. The biggest block in a state is often not in the half of it the bird is in. PAD-US splits a forest into many parcels, so acreage is summed over the unit's name, and the share is measured against the unit's drawn boundary rather than a centroid: a national forest can be two polygons across half a peninsula.

Season boundary drawn Narrowed to ground MDNR opens a season on (Zone 1 sharp-tailed grouse unit — partly open), which leaves 8 eligible units. That boundary is wider than the rule: the order bounds this unit with roads and section corners inside those counties, and the counties are the smallest ground this app can say it is somewhere inside. Being on this list is not the same as being in the unit.
Boundary: county lines (Census TIGER), which here are *not* the rule. WCO 12.751 bounds the unit with roads, rivers and section corners inside Chippewa and Mackinac counties; these two county polygons are the smallest area this app can say the unit is inside, and the feature is marked partial because of it.
Season geography read against the published rule on 2026-08-23.

UnitClassMilesRecorded acresAcres in rangeWhere the records are
Hiawatha National Forest part of the unit National forest 11.6 346,968 346,968 71% stronghold, 29% regular
Newberry State Forest Area part of the unit State forest 32.7 45,111 45,111 100% regular
Munuscong State Wildlife Management Area State game area 13.9 14,165 14,165 100% stronghold
Tahquamenon, Michigan Wild And Scenic River Study Area part of the unit Wild & scenic river corridor 31.7 7,037 7,037 100% regular
Carp, Michigan Wild and Scenic River Wild & scenic river corridor 34 6,013 6,013 100% stronghold
East Branch Tahquamenon, Michigan Wild and Scenic River Wild & scenic river corridor 29.1 2,992 2,992 100% regular
Carp, Michigan Wild And Scenic River Study Area Wild & scenic river corridor 37 559 559 100% stronghold
Cranberry Lake Flooding State Wildlife Management Area State game area 37.9 263 263 100% stronghold

A unit marked part of the unit has ground outside the circle as well, and the acreage here is only what is inside it. PAD-US records who manages a parcel, not where its line runs on the ground and not whether it carries a local closure: context, not permission. Check the unit with MDNR before you park.

Season and limits

MDNR's dates for the 2025–26 licence year, read from MDNR. Michigan lists this season as Sharp-tailed grouse. It is zoned, and a circle drawn round a town is not a zone — check which zone a unit falls in before you go.

ZoneOpensClosesDays
Zone 1 sharp-tailed grouse unit — partly openOctober 10, 2025October 31, 202522
Closed to sharp-tailed grouseClosed season
Open today
Shut
Bag limit
2 per day, 4 in possession
Hunter orange
requiredSmall 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.
Shooting hours
One half-hour before sunrise until sunset.
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.

What to walk when you get there

Open brushland — grass and low scrub with scattered clumps of aspen or willow, bog margin, and the pine barrens where sand keeps the timber from closing in. It is the opposite of grouse cover: if you cannot see a long way, you are in the wrong place.

Walk the open ground and expect flushes well out; birds hold poorly once the season is a week old and often go up in a bunch and fly a long way. Early season, before they pack, is the only time they sit. Mark where the flock lands and walk it again rather than following singles.

Written for this app rather than read off an agency page — the cover a bird uses does not change at a state line. Everything above that is a date, a limit or an acreage names the source it came from.

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