Michigan DNR to Release More Than 7,000 Pheasants for 2026 Hunting Season

Attention, pheasant hunters, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is set to release more than 7000 pheasants for the 2026 hunting season.

According to WXYZ, roughly 7300 pheasants will be released across Michigan’s southern Lower Peninsula, and release dates are as follows,

• Tuesday, October 20, 2026, through November 14th, 2026
• December 1st, 2026, through January 1st, 2027.

You can see the list of locations the pheasants will be released in the gallery below.

Believe it or not, I used to go pheasant hunting with my dad when I was a kid. More often than not, we had a bird dog along to flush out the pheasants. If there was a hunting season when we didn't have a dog, I was the designated bird dog.

I would walk ahead of my dad, and with every step I took, I would think - please don't let a pheasant fly up. My dad would reassure me that he was not going to shoot me, but my 10-year-old self was not so sure.

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If you do plan to hunt pheasant on public land in the Lower Peninsula, or on lands enrolled in the Hunting Access Program, a license is required.

A license is not required to hunt on private land in the Great Lakes State or on public land in the Upper Peninsula. Hunters 17 and younger do not require a license either.

My days of pheasant hunting are behind me, but if you are game (pun intended), the Michigan DNR will be releasing pheasants in the areas listed below.