Which deer licenses you actually need in 2026

A Michigan deer hunter holds a base license and a deer license before a deer can be tagged, and only the second is a choice. The base license is “required for everyone who hunts in Michigan” and, the 2026 Deer Hunting Regulations Summary adds, “is not a kill tag”. The deer license comes as a single deer license (one kill tag) or a deer combo license (two kill tags), chosen once, at purchase, for the license year. The single gives you the opportunity to take one antlered deer; the combo, two. That holds statewide except in deer management unit (DMU) 117, where the antlered limit is one. A universal antlerless license, bought separately, adds a tag for an antlerless deer.

Base license, then single or combo

The summary’s fee table, read Oct. 30, 2026, gives these statewide prices; the PDF edition’s cover says its rules apply Aug. 1, 2026 to July 31, 2027. The base license is “valid through March 31, 2027.”

The combo is “Two kill tags (regular and restricted) valid for one deer per kill tag.” The licenses are exclusive: “If you purchased a single deer license, you cannot purchase a second single deer license or the deer combo license.” Both are valid on public and private land in both peninsulas, with the landowner’s permission on private land.

Antlerless licenses and the new use limits

A universal antlerless license is “One kill tag valid for one antlerless deer only.” No application is needed, and the summary allows up to 10 per license year, statewide. In the Lower Peninsula it works in all open DMUs, the summary says.

New for 2026 is the use limit. The summary’s opening notes say “Universal antlerless deer license use limits have been implemented by DMUs in the Upper Peninsula and by counties in the Lower Peninsula,” and that use limits “cap the number of universal antlerless deer licenses that can be used by an individual within the designated area.” In a county with a limit of three, no more than three of your licenses can be used there.

In the Upper Peninsula it works only in “the southernmost DMUs (022, 055, 121, 122, 155 and 255),” and the summary lists the Upper Peninsula DMUs where it cannot be used. The early and late antlerless firearm seasons are Lower Peninsula seasons; the summary says “All Upper Peninsula DMUs are CLOSED for the early and late antlerless firearm deer seasons.” It adds that the Upper Peninsula antlerless access permit drawing has been eliminated for 2026.

The DMU 487 antlerless license is one kill tag for one antlerless deer, $5, and it counts toward the cap of 10; where DMU 487 is and what testing applies there is covered in the baiting and disease rules piece in this issue. A deer management assistance permit covers antlerless deer on the property it was issued for, is not a stand-alone license, and counts against neither the cap of 10 nor your use limit.

Antler point restrictions, in words

An antler point restriction (APR) is, in the summary’s glossary, a tool that allows hunters “to harvest only bucks with a certain number of antler points on a side.” An antlered deer has “at least one antler that extends 3 inches or more above the skull.”

The DNR’s 2026 deer hunting preview (read Oct. 30, 2026) states one region’s rule in words. In the southern Lower Peninsula, a buck taken with a single license or the combo’s regular tag must have at least one antler three inches or longer. A deer taken on the restricted tag must have four or more antler points, each at least one inch long, on at least one side. Hunters there may also use a single or combo license on an antlerless deer, and “No antlerless license is necessary to use this option.”

That is the only region the DNR’s text spells out. The summary says “APRs vary throughout the state based on the type of deer license and the hunting location,” and prints the rest as charts: find your DMU on the map, then match its color to the Lower or Upper Peninsula chart. This guide sends you to the charts rather than copying them.

Statewide, “Youth hunters 16 and younger, individuals licensed under the Mentored Hunting Program, and apprentice license holders are exempt from APRs in all seasons, in all deer management units and under all licenses”. Everyone else follows the APRs “for the deer season they are participating in, regardless of the equipment they are using,” so a crossbow hunter in an Upper Peninsula firearm season follows that season’s antlerless restrictions. Legal firearms for Nov. 15 are covered in the zone explainer in this issue.

Who else is in camp

The fee table shows no base, single or combo license for a hunter 9 or younger. The mentored youth license is $7.50, and the summary says it allows youth hunters 9 years old and younger to hunt deer “with a qualified mentor.” A youth 10 to 16 with a hunter education certificate “must be accompanied by an adult 18 years old or older while hunting, unless the youth is hunting on land where a parent or guardian regularly lives.” The Apprentice Hunting Program lets a person 10 or older without a certificate hunt with a qualified mentor for up to two license years. The fee table has no apprentice or deer management assistance permit row, so those prices are whatever the DNR eLicense catalog lists at purchase.

A hunter born on or after Jan. 1, 1960 must present a hunter education certificate or previous hunting license (other than a base apprentice license) to buy; the summary exempts those licensed under the Mentored Hunting Program. The hunt/fish combo bundles a fishing license, a base license and a deer combo license.

Buying, and the tag in your hand

Where you buy decides the tag. You may buy from a license agent, online, or through the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app (the summary); an agent gives a paper kill tag at the point of sale, the DNR’s deer hunting preview says. Online, “your paper kill tag will be mailed to you 10 to 15 business days after your purchase. You cannot go hunting without the paper kill tag in your possession.” Ten business days is at least two calendar weeks, so an online purchase made inside two weeks of the Nov. 15 firearm opener may not arrive in time; the two-week plan in this issue carries the dates. In the app the eHarvest tag is “available on your mobile device immediately after purchase,” with no paper tag. Per the summary and the DNR’s eHarvest page (read Oct. 30, 2026), an eHarvest hunter validates the tag in the app immediately after the kill and needs no physical tag while the deer is attended; a paper-tag hunter attaches it.

A kill tag is personal: “You cannot use another person’s kill tag or allow another person to use your kill tag” (summary, statewide). The report is due “within 72 hours of harvest or before you transfer possession, whichever comes first,” and the tagging and report guide in this issue walks through it.

What the officer may ask to see

• Your base license and deer license or licenses.
• The identification used to purchase them; the summary requires you to carry both and present them on demand to a conservation officer or other law enforcement officer.
• Your paper kill tag, if you bought online or from an agent.
• A phone with the Hunt Fish app, if you chose an eHarvest tag: “you must be able to present the electronic kill tag on your mobile device.”

When to check again

Prices, use limits and APR charts are printed in the 2026 summary’s license types and fees, deer licenses, universal antlerless deer license use limits, and deer management units and antler point restrictions sections. For boundaries, the summary names Michigan.gov/Deer for an interactive DMU map and Michigan.gov/DNRLaws for detailed descriptions; the DNR’s Deer Management Unit Info page (read Oct. 30, 2026) warns that it is “updated every three years” and may not match the summary’s map.

The PDF cover’s rule year ends July 31, 2027, and the DNR’s May 15, 2026 release on the Natural Resources Commission’s decisions says use limits “will be reviewed and published annually.” The same release lists 2027 changes for the Lower Peninsula only, including one buck per hunter, and says Upper Peninsula deer regulations will remain unchanged in 2027. Those are 2027 rules, not 2026 rules. Before buying for 2027, read that year’s summary.