DNR’s 10 tips before Michigan’s Nov. 15 firearm deer opener: tags, orange, baiting and the 450-foot rule

MID-MICHIGAN — With Michigan’s traditional firearm deer season opening Saturday, Nov. 15, the Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday published 10 best practices meant to cut the violations conservation officers see every year.

The season runs through Nov. 30. We previously outlined 2026 deer-season dates, the Lower Peninsula rifle change and digital tags, and noted Camp Grayling’s Range 30 closures during firearm season. Tuesday’s release focuses on field mistakes that still draw tickets.

Licenses, tags and reporting

Hunters must buy a deer license before hunting. The DNR Hunt Fish app issues digital licenses and tags immediately; licenses are also sold at DNR Customer Service Centers and retail agents. The eLicense website will not sell deer licenses and tags through Nov. 30 so mailed tags are not delayed; website sales resume Dec. 1, the DNR said.

Before field dressing or moving a deer, physical kill tags must show the month and date, sex and antler-point count, then be attached to the animal. App tags must be validated in the app before the deer is moved — cellular service is not required. Harvests must be reported within 72 hours. Officers often find the wrong kill tag on a deer; the fix is to retag correctly as soon as the error is noticed.

Safety distance, orange and bait

No one may hunt with a firearm within 450 feet of an occupied dwelling, cabin, barn or farm building without the landowner’s permission. Firearms in vehicles must be unloaded in the barrel and magazine and cased or in the trunk. Between Nov. 15 and 30, deer hunters — including archers — must wear hunter orange on the outermost layer, visible from all directions; camouflage is allowed if it is at least 50% hunter orange.

Deer baiting is not allowed in the Lower Peninsula. In the Upper Peninsula, baiting is allowed Sept. 15–Jan. 1 with no more than 2 gallons spread over at least a 10-by-10-foot area. On public land, tree stands and blinds left overnight must show the owner’s name and address, driver’s license number or DNR Sportcard number, and platforms may not be nailed or screwed to trees. Stands on state land are first-come, first-served and cannot be reserved with “no trespassing” signs.

Legal shooting hours run from 30 minutes before local sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. Suspected poaching or hunter harassment should be reported to the Report All Poaching hotline at 800-292-7800. Full regulations are at Michigan.gov/Hunting and in the Hunt Fish app.

The DNR also reminds hunters to leave no trash — propane bottles, hand-warmer wrappers and food waste left in the woods can bring a fine — and to treat public-land stands as first-come, first-served rather than private property. Conservation officers are fully licensed law-enforcement officers; the release lists Katie Gervasi in the DNR newsroom as the media contact for the tip sheet.

Sources:
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, “10 tips for a safe, successful firearm deer hunting season,” Nov. 4, 2026 (Nov. 15–30 season, licensing/tagging, eLicense pause, 450-foot rule, public-land stands, hunter orange, baiting, hours, RAP hotline), https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/about/newsroom/releases/2026/11/04/10-tips-for-a-safe-and-successful-firearm-deer-hunting-season
Photo: Dwight Burdette, “White-tailed Buck in a Wooded Area Kensington Metropark Michigan.JPG,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), cropped and resized, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:White-tailed_Buck_in_a_Wooded_Area_Kensington_Metropark_Michigan.JPG

Mid-Michigan

Tags: Deer season · DNR · Firearm hunting · Hunter orange · Michigan · Conservation officers