Around Hawks, the 2026 Deer Season's Biggest Changes Come After Opening Day

Firearm deer season opens Sunday, Nov. 15, in Presque Isle County, on the same date it always does, and runs through Nov. 30. For 2026, the changes start after that. December now holds a short firearm weekend that didn't exist before. The county also carries a bigger share of the state's bovine TB testing than any of its neighbors outside the core zone, and that affects what you do with a deer once it's down.

Hawks sits in deer country in both senses. The Presque Isle County treasurer's office lists Hawks mailing addresses under both Bismarck and Metz townships, so your township depends on your address, not the town name. Either way, the same 2026 rules apply on every forty and every camp road around here.

The calendar from Hawks, start to finish

In May, the Michigan Natural Resources Commission approved the most significant Lower Peninsula season changes in years, and the DNR's announcement lays them out. Laid out in order, the 2026 season looks like this, using dates from the 2026 Michigan Hunting Digest season table:

1. Early archery: Oct. 1 through Nov. 14
2. Regular firearm: Nov. 15 through Nov. 30
3. Late archery: Dec. 1 through Jan. 1
4. December Firearm Deer Season: Dec. 4 through Dec. 6
5. Late antlerless firearm: Dec. 7 through Jan. 1, 2027, everywhere in the Lower Peninsula except DMUs 145 and 245

The early antlerless firearm weekend and the Liberty Hunt took place Sept. 12 and 13, and the Independence Hunt ran Oct. 15 through 18.

Two seasons are gone from the list. The NRC eliminated the Extended Late Antlerless season and the January Archery season, so all deer hunting now wraps up after Jan. 1. Late archery is still in the digest's table and still runs through Jan. 1. The separate January season that used to follow it is the one that's gone.

December used to be muzzleloader time

The biggest change for anyone who keeps a stand up past Thanksgiving is the December weekend. The statewide muzzleloader season ran 10 days. It's now three days, Friday through Sunday, starting on the first Friday in December, and it's been renamed the December Firearm Deer Season. In the Lower Peninsula, any legal firearm may be used. On the 2026 calendar, that's Dec. 4 through 6. The late antlerless firearm season opens the next Monday, Dec. 7.

The NRC also eliminated the Lower Peninsula's Limited Firearms Deer Zone, so all legal firearms have been allowed throughout the Lower Peninsula since Sept. 12, 2026. Some rules carry over unchanged. Baiting is still banned in the entire Lower Peninsula, on public and private land alike. The only exception covers hunters with disabilities who meet specific requirements, and only during the Liberty and Independence hunts. Universal antlerless licenses can still be bought up to 10 per hunter, and the 2026 use limit in both Presque Isle and Alpena counties is 10.

People are noticing. Talking with The Alpena News in September, Alpena Sportsmen's Club representative Kaminski described what hunters at the club were bringing up:

"A lot of deer, the deer population is good in some areas. They want to talk about the complexity of the new law coming out. A lot of questions."

Presque Isle County is being asked for more deer heads than its neighbors

The DNR divides its bovine TB surveillance into zones. The core is a 4-county area with a combined goal of 2,800 deer. Around it, seven surrounding counties carry a listed goal of 2,100. The DNR's note on that ring sets the sampling rate at 500 deer in Presque Isle County and 300 for each of the other counties in the zone. Presque Isle sits outside the core, yet its goal is two-thirds higher than any other county in its ring.

The cattle side helps explain why. Michigan's Modified Accredited Zone for cattle TB covers Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency and Oscoda counties. Presque Isle is in the Accredited Free Zone with the rest of the state. On Nov. 13, 2025, though, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development announced a TB-positive cattle herd in Presque Isle County. Annual whole-herd surveillance caught it. It was Michigan's 84th infected herd since 1998 and the first in the state since January 2025. By April 6, 2026, Michigan Farm News was reporting positive herds in both Alpena and Presque Isle counties. It also noted that Presque Isle, while in the Accredited Free Zone, has some of the same cattle testing and movement requirements as the MAZ.

Here's how the local deer numbers compare, from the DNR's 2025 final results and its 2026 results as of Oct. 16, 2026:

The 404 stands out. As of Oct. 16, a month before the rifle opener, Presque Isle County has already reached about 81 percent of its 500-deer goal for the year. Neighboring Montmorency is at 85 and Cheboygan at 5. The 2026 figures count only deer with final results, and pending samples aren't included, so they'll move once November harvests start coming in.

Where a Hawks-area deer head goes

The DNR's 2026 deer hunting preview is specific about deer taken in Presque Isle or Alpena counties. Hunters shouldn't extract lymph nodes themselves, because of TB risk. They should complete harvest reporting first and then submit the head. The DNR isn't running focused CWD collection in the Northern Lower Peninsula in 2026. Hunters who want a CWD test along with the TB test should take the head to a DNR wildlife field office.

The nearest options listed on the DNR's disease-sample location page are:

• Posen Community Building, 10813 Michigan Ave., Posen. A 24-hour drop box from Oct. 1 through Jan. 4, with no staffed hours listed.
• DNR Alpena Field Office, 4343 M-32 West, Alpena. Staffed 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays through Nov. 13, every weekday from Nov. 16 through Nov. 30, and Wednesdays and Fridays from Dec. 1 through Dec. 18. Its drop box is also available Oct. 1 through Jan. 4. The office is closed Nov. 11 and Nov. 26 and 27.

Both list 989-785-5304 as the phone number. The DNR asks hunters to remove the head before bringing it in, and it says locations and hours can change during the season, so call before you drive. Thanksgiving week is worth planning for. The regular firearm season is still open Nov. 26 and 27, when the Alpena office is closed, so the drop boxes are the option on those days.

For processing, the DNR's wild-game processor directory lists SAWS LLC in Lachine at 989-255-3496. The directory includes only businesses that agreed to a public listing, and the DNR notes that a listing isn't an endorsement. Call ahead for hours and drop-off details.

Before the opener, and the year after

If your rifle needs checking before Nov. 15, the Alpena Sportsmen's Club is holding public sight-in days Nov. 1 through 14. Anyone can use the club's shooting ranges, and members will be on hand to help. The club also put in all-new targets on its archery practice range ahead of the Oct. 1 bow opener.

The questions at the club are already turning to 2027. For Lower Peninsula seasons next year, the NRC approved a one-buck-per-hunter limit. A single deer license will cover one deer with at least three antler points on one side, or one antlerless deer. Combo licenses will cover one antlered plus one antlerless deer, or two antlerless deer. That leaves this fall as the last season under the old buck limits, and it's also the first with the new December weekend.

This post is general information, not legal advice. Check the current DNR regulations and your own license before you head out.

I've lived in Presque Isle since 2019, and the woods around Hawks are a big part of why. If deer camp has you thinking about a hunting parcel of your own, or about what to do with family acreage, Eric Arnoldi is glad to walk the land with you and talk through it, no pressure. Let's Connect.