Michigan · Pheasant · 2026–27 Edition
Michigan Pheasant Season 2026–27: Dates, Zones & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Regular season — Zone 1 | Upper Peninsula | Oct 10 – Oct 31 |
| Regular season — Zone 2 | Northern Lower Peninsula | Oct 20 – Nov 14 |
| Regular season — Zone 3 | Southern Lower Peninsula | Oct 20 – Nov 14 |
| Regular season — Zone 3 (December extension) | Southern Lower Peninsula | Dec 1 – Jan 1 |
02 — Bag limits
| Daily — statewide, all zones (roosters only) | 2 rooster pheasants |
|---|---|
| Possession — statewide | 4 |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (October 10, 2026) 07:21 — 19:35
Rule: Half hour before sunrise to half hour after sunset — Michigan's standard small-game default; exact clock times vary by zone/date per the DNR's separate hunting-hours table and map, not reproduced here. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Michigan sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Pheasant hunters in Michigan need a Michigan hunting license — a $25 Pheasant License in addition to a base hunting license, required for hunters 18+ to hunt pheasants (wild or DNR-released) on public land in the Lower Peninsula or on Hunting Access Program land — private-land hunters statewide, all Upper Peninsula public-land hunters, hunters under 18, lifetime license holders, and game-bird-preserve-only hunters are exempt
Michigan hunting license cost →
Where to hunt public land in Michigan — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does pheasant season open in Michigan?
The earliest 2026–27 opener is October 10, 2026. See the table above for each segment and zone.
When does pheasant season end in Michigan?
The latest 2026–27 closing date is January 1, 2027. Individual segments and zones can close earlier — see the table above.
Can I shoot hen pheasants in Michigan?
See the bag limit table above — most states restrict the daily bag to roosters only, but rules vary and this is worth double-checking against Michigan Department of Natural Resources before you hunt.
How many pheasants can you shoot in Michigan per day?
2026–27 bag limits: Daily — statewide, all zones (roosters only) — 2 rooster pheasants. Possession — statewide — 4. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting pheasant in Michigan?
On opening day (October 10, 2026) legal light runs 07:21 to 19:35. The rule is: Half hour before sunrise to half hour after sunset — Michigan's standard small-game default; exact clock times vary by zone/date per the DNR's separate hunting-hours table and map, not reproduced here. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Michigan sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt pheasant on my own land in Michigan without a license?
A Michigan resident, their spouse, and their children may hunt small game without a license on farmland they're actually domiciled on. Deer and turkey aren't covered, and owning land you don't live on doesn't qualify.
Verified · Michigan Department of Natural Resources · Last verified 2026-08-15
Publisher's note. michigan.gov returns 403 Forbidden to this project's automated fetcher, so every michigan.gov page below was read through the r.jina.ai text-extraction proxy instead, each fetched successfully. The DNR hunting-season-calendar and small-game-regulations pages agree: Zone 1 (Upper Peninsula) Oct. 10-31, 2026; Zone 2 (Northern Lower Peninsula) Oct. 20-Nov. 14, 2026; Zone 3 (Southern Lower Peninsula) Oct. 20-Nov. 14, 2026 plus a December extension Dec. 1, 2026-Jan. 1, 2027 (the extension is sometimes labeled the 'December Pheasant Management Unit' on the calendar page but the small-game-regulations page confirms it is the same Zone 3, not a fourth zone). Roosters only; daily bag 2, possession 4, statewide. Shooting hours are the standard Michigan small-game default (half hour before sunrise to half hour after sunset) per the small-game-regulations page — exact clock minutes vary by zone and date on the DNR's separate hunting-hours table/map, not reproduced here. The michigan.gov/dnr/things-to-do/hunting/small-game and .../pheasant-release-info pages both confirm the $25 Pheasant License is still required for 2026-27 to hunt pheasants on public land in the Lower Peninsula or on Hunting Access Program land (private-land hunters statewide, all Upper Peninsula public-land hunters, hunters under 18, lifetime license holders, and preserve-only hunters are exempt) — a secondary source claimed the enabling Public Act 262 of 2020 had a Jan. 1, 2026 sunset clause, but both current DNR pages describe the license as an active 2026-27 requirement, so that sunset either didn't take effect or was extended; flagging the discrepancy rather than silently picking a side. Michigan layers an active pheasant release/stocking program on top of this same wild season rather than running it on separate dates: the DNR releases pen-raised pheasants at roughly a dozen state game areas in the Lower Peninsula (including Cass City, Cornish, Crane Pond, Crow Island, Dansville, Erie, Lapeer, Leidy Lakes, Point Mouillee, Rose Lake, and St Johns Marsh) during the regular season window described above — hunters need the same base license plus the $25 Pheasant License to hunt these release sites, and the same statewide bag/possession limits apply; Michigan was not flagged as a 'B' (stocked-designation) state for this build, so no access block was added, but readers should understand both wild and DNR-released birds are legal quarry under the single set of dates above. No dedicated youth-only pheasant day was found on any of the pages checked.