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Autumn 2026 · The Fifteenth Free newsletters: The Sunday Almanac The Daily Dispatch
Michigan Hunt & Fish News
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MHF Staff

The staff byline of Michigan Hunt and Fish. Stories under this byline were researched and drafted with AI assistance under the direction of the editor-in-chief and the publisher, checked by a separate AI reviewer against the named DNR and agency sources, edited by the editors and approved for publication by the publisher. No interviews were conducted for them.

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20 stories
Anglers stand along a metal railing beside a steel-walled bank above fast blue water, with bare trees beyond. FEATURE Fishing · Oct 31, 2026 Seven rivers open to steelhead in November, and the rules on each From the flies-only water above Gleason's Landing to the closed apron below Foote Dam, stream type, limit and tackle change river by river, and the special lure rules on four of the seven end Nov. 15. A sandy forest road runs straight between hardwoods in red, orange and yellow leaf, with fallen leaves scattered across the ground. FEATURE Hunting · Oct 31, 2026 The fifteenth, the date Michigan built a deer season around In 2026 the opener falls on a Sunday, in the first season after the Natural Resources Commission rewrote the rules around it. A narrow, clear river bends through woods in orange, yellow and green leaf, with fallen limbs across the water. EXPLAINER Fishing · Oct 31, 2026 Reading a Michigan river’s type before you fish it Type 1 and 2 streams closed to all fishing on Sept. 30, Type 3 and 4 streams stay open, and a river in none of the lists, booklet or Fisheries Order, runs on a rule of its own. A wet paved road with a double yellow centerline curves away through yellow maples and dark evergreens, with leaves along the shoulder. GUIDE Hunting · Oct 31, 2026 Opening week on public land, where everyone else is State forest, game area, national forest, Commercial Forest and HAP land each set their own rules for stands, blinds and vehicles, and the DNR's MiHunt map shows which is which. Typographic card: Bait splits by peninsula and deer disease rules by county EXPLAINER Hunting · Oct 31, 2026 Bait splits by peninsula and deer disease rules by county The Lower Peninsula bans bait, the Upper Peninsula limits it, the DNR says the feeding rules may change at the NRC's Nov. 12 meeting, and CWD rules follow county and township lines. Typographic card: The limited firearm zone is gone from the Lower Peninsula EXPLAINER Hunting · Oct 31, 2026 The limited firearm zone is gone from the Lower Peninsula Since Sept. 12 every legal firearm may be used across the Lower Peninsula, and the definition of a legal firearm, the orange rule, the safety zone and posted township closures still apply. Typographic card: Two weeks before the deer opener, day by day GUIDE Hunting · Oct 31, 2026 Two weeks before the deer opener, day by day A dated plan for Nov. 1 to 14: the tag, permission, the stand and the range day, and from Nov. 10 a quiet period that changes what can ride in the truck. Typographic card: Which deer licenses you actually need in 2026 GUIDE Hunting · Oct 31, 2026 Which deer licenses you actually need in 2026 The choice at the counter, a single license or a combo, decides how many antlered deer you may take all year, and the universal antlerless license now carries a use limit by county or Upper Peninsula DMU.