Coyote Hunting Michigan, Laws, Regulations, Season, & License Info

Coyote classification & license in Michigan

What is the classification of coyotes in Michigan?

A furbearer, and Michigan’s definition is a plain list:

Furbearer — badger, beaver, bobcat, coyote, fisher, fox (gray and red), marten, mink, muskrat, opossum, otter, raccoon, skunk and weasel.¹

Unlike Florida, the label does not switch large blocks of rules off. Michigan writes most of its restrictions for furbearers, so being one is what puts you inside the Furbearer Harvest Regulations rather than outside them — the seasons, the night equipment list, the light rules and the trapping regime all reach the coyote directly.

Are coyotes protected in Michigan?

No closed season in practice and no bag limit — the season table records coyote as “No limit” for both daily and season take.²

But “no closed season” is doing more work than it looks. The three regimes in the table above are what add up to year-round, and each has conditions. See season.

Is a hunting license required to hunt coyotes in Michigan?

A base license, and for a resident that is all — $11 for ages 17–64, $5 for seniors 65 and over, $6 for youth 10–16.³

I am a resident of Michigan. Can I hunt coyotes with just a base license?

Yes. Michigan residents can HUNT coyotes with a base license. However, if you are hunting coyotes Nov. 10–14, you must have a fur harvester license. Residents trapping coyotes must have a fur harvester license.⁴

Three things follow, and the middle one catches people every year:

• Hunting, resident: base license only.
• Hunting during the quiet period, 10–14 November: base plus a fur harvester license, even though you are only hunting.
• Trapping, resident: base plus fur harvester license ($15).³

No license at all is needed on the damage route — see season.

The prices above are resident prices. A non-resident needs both licenses rather than one, and pays substantially more — see what a non-resident needs.

Is hunter education required?

Yes, and Michigan attaches it to the base license rather than to the hunt. Every first-time hunter born on or after 1 January 1960 must pass a hunter safety course, and without proof of it the DNR will not sell a base license — the apprentice license being the one exception.⁵

That matters here because the base license is what a coyote hunt runs on. Michigan also issues a mentored youth license at $7.50 and an inclusive mentored license at no cost.³

Can a non-resident hunt coyotes in Michigan?

Yes, and it costs substantially more than it does for a resident. A non-resident needs both licenses rather than one:

If you are a nonresident or a nonresident youth with a valid fur harvester license, you can hunt coyote, fox, opossum, raccoon, skunk and weasel and trap beaver, coyote, fox, mink, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, skunk and weasel.⁶

The DNR states the point directly for the management season: “A nonresident hunting or trapping coyotes, then you will need a current-year base license and a fur harvester license.”⁷

That is $151 for the base license plus $15 for the fur harvester license — $166 against a resident’s $11.³

See also is a hunting license required — the license rules there, and the exemptions and add-ons that go with them, apply to you too.

Season, hours & bag limits in Michigan

What is the season for coyote hunting in Michigan?

Three regimes. Read all three, because the one you are relying on decides your rules.

1. The regular hunting season — 15 October to 1 March, statewide.

Coyote hunting · Statewide · Oct. 15 – March 1 · Nighttime hunting allowed⁸

Trapping runs the same dates, with nonlethal cable restraints permitted only from 1 January to 1 March.⁹

2. The coyote management season — 2 March to 14 October. This is the part that is new:

The furbearer management seasons are intended to address interspecies conflict and overabundance, statewide, for beavers, coyotes, muskrats and raccoons.

Coyote management · Statewide · March 2, 2026 – Oct. 14, 2026 · Hunting and trapping allowed⁷

Its conditions differ from the regular season in four ways:

• Land: “During the coyote management season, coyotes can be hunted on public and private lands. Coyotes can be trapped on private lands only.”⁷
• Dogs: prohibited 16 April to 7 July.⁷
• Trapping gear: nonlethal cable restraints are prohibited.⁷
• Carcasses: must be used, or “buried completely or wrapped and disposed of in a landfill.” Private landowners may compost on their own land where local rules allow.¹⁰

3. Damage — any day of the year, no license.

Beavers, coyotes, muskrats, opossums, raccoons, skunks and weasels can be harvested year-round, using all legal hunting and trapping methods for those species, on private property when doing or physically present where they could imminently cause damage… A license or written permit is not needed.¹¹

Michigan defines the term rather than leaving it to argument:

Damage means physical harm to forest products, roads, dams, buildings, orchards, apiaries, livestock and horticultural or agricultural crops.¹¹

Note what is not on that list: pets, and general nuisance. This is an agricultural and property-damage provision.

And one closure cuts across all of it:

Beavers, coyotes, muskrats and raccoons cannot be taken in state park and recreation areas from April 1 to Sept. 14.⁷

What is the bag limit for coyotes in Michigan?

No limit, daily or seasonal.²

What are the legal hunting hours for coyotes in Michigan?

Daytime hours in every regime, plus night hunting during the regular season — the season table marks the 15 October to 1 March season “Nighttime hunting allowed.”⁸

The management season table carries no such note, so treat the 2 March to 14 October window as a daylight season unless the DNR says otherwise. This is the single most important thing to confirm before planning a spring or summer night hunt in Michigan — call the DNR at 517-284-9453.

Sunday hunting is legal in Michigan, which is worth knowing if you are crossing from a state where it is not.

Can you hunt coyotes during deer or big game season?

Yes, and Michigan layers three separate restrictions over the autumn. They matter more here than the season dates do.

The quiet period, 10–14 November. A fur harvester license becomes mandatory even for hunting,⁴ and equipment is cut back: you may carry “a shotgun with shotshells for hunting small game, but cannot possess buckshot, slugs, ball loads or cut shells,” plus a rimfire .22 or smaller while actively hunting or checking traps.¹²

The firearm deer season, 15–30 November, in the limited firearms deer zone. Unless you are killing a trapped animal or hunting with dogs between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m., you are restricted to a shotgun, a muzzleloader or black powder handgun, a .35-caliber-or-larger straight-walled handgun or rifle, or a .35-caliber-or-larger air rifle — or a bow or crossbow.¹³

Hunter orange, with two exemptions that are unusually generous to coyote hunters:

Do I need to wear hunter orange while hunting furbearers at night? No.

Do I need to wear hunter orange while stationary and hunting bobcat, coyote or fox? No. If you are hunting bobcat, coyote or fox and are stationary, you are exempt from the hunter orange requirement.¹⁴

Read the second one carefully: the exemption is for a stationary hunter. Walking between stands, you are back inside the requirement.

Night hunting in Michigan

Can you hunt coyotes at night in Michigan?

Yes, during the regular season of 15 October to 1 March, and Michigan attaches two conditions no other state on this site imposes together.

If you are a licensed fur harvester hunting furbearers at night, you can travel afoot with a bow; a crossbow; a pneumatic gun; a rimfire firearm .22-caliber or smaller; a shotgun with loads other than buckshot larger than size 3, slug or cut shell; or a centerfire rifle or centerfire pistol .269-caliber or smaller… A fur harvester hunting furbearers at night must use a game call, predator call, bait or the aid of dogs.¹²

Condition one — afoot. Not from a vehicle, not from a stand you drove to and sat in without walking. The rule is written as traveling on foot.

Condition two — a call, bait or dogs is mandatory. Like Maine’s calling-device rule, Michigan requires an active method. Unlike Maine’s, Michigan lets you satisfy it with bait or dogs as well as a call.

Dogs cannot be used 16 April to 7 July, and when hunting with dogs at night “a fur harvester can only possess a loaded firearm, a cocked crossbow or a bow with a nocked arrow at the point of kill.”¹²

Can you use artificial lights for coyote hunting in Michigan?

Yes while night hunting, in a specific form:

Yes. If you are in compliance with the nighttime regulations… you can use artificial light of the type ordinarily held in the hand or on the person.¹⁵

Outside that permission Michigan’s shining law is among the strictest in the country, and it catches scouting:

It is unlawful to use an artificial light (including vehicle headlights) to locate wild animals at any time during November and all other days of the year between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

It is unlawful to use an artificial light on a highway or in a field, wetland, woodland or forest while having in your possession or control a bow, firearm or other device capable of shooting a projectile.¹⁵

There is a narrow carve-out: a light may be used 1–30 November on your own property, or immediate family property, provided you have no weapon with you. And shining on a national wildlife refuge violates federal law at any time.¹⁵

Can you use night vision in Michigan?

Yes, expressly — and after the Northeast states this is a refreshing sentence to be able to quote:

Can I use optics such as scopes or laser sights when hunting furbearers at night?

Yes. If you are in compliance with the nighttime regulations outlined in the Bows, crossbows and firearms during nighttime hours section, you can use scopes, open sights, thermal sights, infrared sights or laser sights.¹⁵

That is an affirmative permission in the agency’s own regulations summary, not an inference from silence. The only condition is that you are otherwise inside the night rules — right season, afoot, call or bait or dogs, legal firearm.

Can you use thermal in Michigan?

Yes — thermal sights are named in the same sentence as night vision and laser sights.¹⁵

Michigan is one of the clearest states in the country on this question. Compare Maine and New Hampshire, where the answer has to be reasoned out of statutory silence: here the DNR simply lists thermal as permitted equipment.

The constraint that does bite is the firearm, not the optic. Your centerfire is capped at .269 caliber at night,¹² which allows a .223 or a .243 but rules out most deer cartridges — so a thermal setup in Michigan is built around a varmint rifle.

Are there specific weapons restrictions for hunting coyotes at night in Michigan?

Yes, and this is the answer that changed. Michigan now permits a centerfire rifle or pistol at night, capped at .269 caliber or smaller.¹² The full night list:

• Bow, crossbow or pneumatic gun
• Rimfire firearm .22 caliber or smaller
• Shotgun with loads other than buckshot larger than size 3, slug or cut shell
• Centerfire rifle or centerfire pistol .269 caliber or smaller

Two hard exclusions:

It is unlawful to use a centerfire rifle or centerfire pistol to take an animal during nighttime hours in any state park or state recreation area.¹²

And during the quiet period and the firearm deer season the autumn restrictions above apply on top.¹²

Firearms, ammunition & suppressors in Michigan

What firearms are allowed or restricted for coyote hunting in Michigan?

By day, broad — rimfire firearms of any caliber may be used to hunt furbearers during regular daytime hours statewide, outside the quiet period, and shotguns and handguns are permitted subject to the general rules.¹⁶

Capacity is capped at six, and it applies to both actions:

You cannot hunt a furbearer with a semi-automatic rimfire firearm that can hold more than six shells in the barrel and magazine combined, unless it is a .22-caliber or smaller rimfire.

You cannot hunt a furbearer with a semi-automatic shotgun that can hold more than six shells in the barrel and magazine combined.¹⁶

Handgun hunters must be at least 18, must carry the handgun in plain view while afield, and may not lend it to another person other than under a concealed pistol license.¹⁶

Are suppressors allowed for coyote hunting in Michigan?

Yes. Michigan permitted suppressor hunting by Wildlife Conservation Order amendment adopted by the Natural Resources Commission in February 2016, and there is no suppressor restriction anywhere in the current Furbearer Harvest Regulations Summary — the words “suppressor” and “silencer” do not appear in it.¹²

Federal requirements are unchanged: ATF Form 4, a $200 stamp and the wait.

Are there any ammunition restrictions?

No caliber floor for coyotes, and one caliber ceiling at night — the .269 limit on centerfire.¹² During the firearm deer season in the limited firearms deer zone the straight-walled cartridge rules apply.¹³

Lead-free is recommended, not required:

While not required by law, it is recommended that you use lead-free ammunition when hunting a furbearer or dispatching a furbearer in a trap.¹⁶

Some national wildlife refuges do require it.¹⁶

Can you hunt using a .22 LR or other rimfire cartridge?

Yes — rimfire of any caliber by day outside the quiet period, and .22 or smaller at night.¹⁶¹²

The .22 rimfire is also the one firearm you may carry during the 10–14 November quiet period, and the one permitted to dispatch a trapped animal in the limited firearms deer zone from 15–30 November.¹⁶

Is there a magazine capacity limit for hunting coyotes in Michigan?

Yes — six rounds in a semi-automatic, in the barrel and magazine combined, for both rimfire and shotgun, with .22-or-smaller rimfire exempt.¹⁶

Michigan’s cap sits between Maine’s five and Ohio’s absence of one, and note that it counts the chamber as well as the magazine.

Calls, decoys, bait & dogs in Michigan

Are electronic calls allowed for coyote hunting in Michigan?

Yes, expressly:

You can use electronic calls, mouth calls, predator calls or other types of game calls when hunting bobcat, coyote, fox, opossum and raccoon during the respective hunting seasons.¹⁷

And a call is one of the four ways to satisfy the mandatory-method rule at night.¹²

Are decoys allowed for coyote hunting in Michigan?

Yes, including mechanical and electronic ones:

You can use mechanical or electronic decoys to hunt bobcat, coyote, fox, opossum and raccoon during the respective hunting seasons. The use of live decoys is prohibited.¹⁷

Michigan also settles a question most states leave open: a wind-driven decoy anchored to the ground, moving only by natural wind, is not a mechanical decoy.¹⁷

Is baiting allowed for coyote hunting in Michigan?

Yes, and Michigan is unusually specific about what you may use:

You can use the parts of game animals as bait if the game animal used as bait was lawfully trapped or hunted during the open season for that game animal. Some game animals killed as the result of a motor vehicle collision may be used as bait.¹⁸

Roadkill needs a salvage permit — the DNR points to Michigan.gov/RoadKillPermit.¹⁸

Bait is also one of the four ways to satisfy the night-hunting method requirement.¹²

One trapping restriction sits alongside it: foothold traps may not be set within 20 feet of bait visible from more than four feet above it, though dried hide, fur, feathers or bones under 36 square inches and free of meat may be used as a visual attractant.¹⁸

Can you use dogs to hunt coyotes in Michigan?

Yes, with one seasonal blackout that is easy to miss:

For coyote and raccoon hunting, the use of dogs is prohibited from April 16 to July 7.⁷

That closure sits inside the management season and covers denning and pup-rearing.

At night, dogs are one of the four permitted methods, but when hunting with them “a fur harvester can only possess a loaded firearm, a cocked crossbow or a bow with a nocked arrow at the point of kill.”¹²

If you run dogs in the Upper Peninsula, read the wolf question before you turn them loose.

Private property, vehicles & public land access in Michigan

Is it legal to shoot coyotes on private property (e.g. in your backyard) in Michigan?

On rural private land, yes — and the damage provision means a landowner dealing with an animal harming livestock, crops, orchards, apiaries or buildings needs no license and no written permit at all.¹¹

Local ordinances on discharging firearms still govern near towns, and the shining restrictions above apply regardless of whose land you are on.

Can you hunt coyotes from a motorized vehicle in Michigan?

No. Firearms must be unloaded in the barrel when you are afield outside legal hunting hours,¹⁵ the night permission is written as traveling afoot,¹² and using vehicle headlights to locate wild animals is expressly unlawful during November and between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. year-round.¹⁵

Can you hunt coyotes on public land in Michigan?

Yes, and this is where the three regimes differ most.

• Regular season, 15 Oct – 1 Mar: open on public land.⁸
• Management season, 2 Mar – 14 Oct: hunting is open on public and private land; trapping is private land only.⁷
• Damage: private property only.¹¹

Two public-land exclusions:

Beavers, coyotes, muskrats and raccoons cannot be taken in state park and recreation areas from April 1 to Sept. 14.⁷

It is unlawful to use a centerfire rifle or centerfire pistol to take an animal during nighttime hours in any state park or state recreation area.¹²

You also cannot hunt or trap coyotes in a state park or recreation area where the digest’s general area restrictions apply — check the area before you go.¹⁹

Is it legal to trap or snare coyotes in Michigan?

Yes, with a fur harvester license, on dates that differ from the hunting dates:

• Regular trapping season: 15 Oct – 1 Mar, statewide. Nonlethal cable restraints may be used only 1 Jan – 1 Mar.⁹
• Management season trapping: 2 Mar – 14 Oct, private land only, and nonlethal cable restraints are prohibited.⁷

Body-gripping trap dimensions and placement are regulated in detail,¹⁸ and trap-check requirements apply throughout.⁷ Read the trapping sections of the summary directly before setting.

Is it legal to poison coyotes in Michigan?

No. Poison is not among Michigan’s legal methods of take for furbearers, and predator toxicants are restricted-use products handled through USDA Wildlife Services rather than by private individuals.

Are there protected areas or additional local restrictions in Michigan?

Yes, five kinds:

• State parks and recreation areas — closed to coyote take 1 April to 14 Sept, and closed to centerfire at night year-round.⁷¹²
• The limited firearms deer zone during 15–30 November.¹³
• The quiet period, 10–14 November, statewide.¹²
• National wildlife refuges, where shining violates federal law and lead-free ammunition may be required.¹⁵¹⁶
• Municipal discharge ordinances.

After the shot: pelts, bounties & contests in Michigan

Are there regulations for possessing or transporting dead coyotes or pelts across state lines?

No kill tag and no registration for coyote — Michigan’s kill-tag regime covers bobcat, fisher and marten, not coyote.⁶

The carcass rule during the management season is the one to know, because it is new and it does not apply during the regular season:

Beavers, coyotes, muskrats and raccoons harvested during the respective management season can be used or must be properly disposed of. Carcasses must be buried completely or wrapped and disposed of in a landfill. Private landowners may compost carcasses on their own land, as allowed by local authority.¹⁰

Leaving a coyote in the field during the management season is not an option in Michigan.

Can you sell coyote pelts, and do you need a fur handler’s license?

Selling lawfully taken pelts is permitted, and a fur harvester license is the license that covers taking furbearers for fur.³ Confirm dealer requirements with the DNR before a first commercial sale.

Michigan pelts are genuinely good — these are northern animals, and a January or February coyote from the northern Lower Peninsula or the UP is prime, which is inside the regular season.

Is there a coyote bounty program in Michigan?

No state bounty. Michigan’s answer to overabundance is the management season rather than a payment scheme — which is precisely what the January 2026 rule change was for. See what’s changing.

Are coyote contests legal in Michigan, or can I hunt in Michigan for an out-of-state contest?

Michigan has not prohibited predator hunting contests.

Two scheduling notes. A round held between 2 March and 14 October runs under the management season, so trapping entries are private-land only, dogs are out from 16 April to 7 July, and carcasses must be disposed of to the standard above. A round in the regular season avoids all three but has to work around the quiet period and the firearm deer season.

What’s changing

14 January 2026 — the Natural Resources Commission restructured Michigan’s coyote seasons. The change replaced a single year-round approach with the two-season framework on this page: a shortened regular hunting and trapping season of 15 October to 1 March, plus a new coyote management season from 2 March to 14 October aimed at “interspecies conflict and overabundance.”⁷

What the restructure added, beyond the dates:

• Public-land hunting stays open in the management season, but management-season trapping is private land only.⁷
• A dog closure, 16 April to 7 July.⁷
• A state park and recreation area closure, 1 April to 14 September.⁷
• Carcass disposal requirements for animals taken in the management season.¹⁰
• Nonlethal cable restraints prohibited for management-season trapping.⁷

The net effect is that Michigan is still open all year, but no longer under one set of rules. Anyone working from a pre-2026 summary — including the version of this page that stood here for a decade — will have the license, land and method conditions wrong even when they have the dates right.

Also worth tracking: the gray wolf. Bills to delist it federally have passed the U.S. House and been reintroduced in Michigan to require a hunt within 90 days of any delisting. None has become law, and the wolf remains federally endangered here. See the wolf question.

Coyotes in Michigan

Are there coyotes in Michigan? How many, and where?

Yes, in all 83 counties — both peninsulas, from the Detroit and Grand Rapids suburbs to the far Upper Peninsula. The DNR’s move to a year-round management framework in 2026 reflects a population it considers abundant statewide.

Are Michigan coyotes dangerous to people or pets?

To people, very rarely. To pets and small livestock, routinely — and Michigan’s damage provision exists precisely because livestock, orchard and apiary losses are the recurring problem.¹¹

In the Upper Peninsula there is a second consideration, and it is about your dog rather than the coyote:

Wolves will defend their territories and may attack other wolves, coyotes and domestic dogs that are in their territory.²⁰

When is coyote mating season in Michigan, and when do pups arrive?

Breeding runs January into February, with pups born in April. Michigan’s 16 April to 7 July dog closure and the 1 April to 14 September state park closure both sit squarely over pup rearing, which is not a coincidence.

For a hunter, February is the month: breeding season, prime fur, night hunting open, and the regular season still running until 1 March.

When are coyotes most active in Michigan?

First and last light year-round, with heavy night movement. Michigan’s winter nights are long and snow makes tracking and reading sign straightforward, which is the main reason the 15 October to 1 March window is the productive one despite being the shorter of the two seasons.

For the full breakdown of season, weather and moon phase, see when to hunt coyotes.

How do I tell a coyote from a wolf in Michigan?

This is the one mistake in Michigan that can end in a federal charge, and it is a real risk in the Upper Peninsula.

Gray wolves in Michigan are federally protected. A February 2022 court order reinstated Endangered Species Act protection for gray wolves across the lower 48 outside the Northern Rocky Mountains, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service implemented that reinstatement by rule — wolves are endangered in Michigan, with designated critical habitat in the state.²¹ There is no open season, and no state license authorizes taking one.

Where the risk is. Michigan’s wolves are effectively confined to the Upper Peninsula. In the Lower Peninsula a wild canid is a coyote or a dog.

What separates them in the field:

• Size. A UP wolf runs 60–100 lb against a Michigan coyote’s 25–40. At distance, in snow, on a thermal, size is unreliable — there is no scale in the scope.
• Ears and muzzle. Coyotes have proportionally large, pointed ears and a narrow, delicate muzzle. Wolves have small, rounded ears set on a broad, blocky head.
• Legs and feet. Wolf legs are long and the feet are conspicuously large; a wolf track is far bigger than a coyote’s. The DNR asks dog handlers specifically to “become familiar with coyote and dog tracks so they can be correctly distinguished from wolf tracks.”²⁰
• Carriage. A wolf carries its tail straighter and runs with a heavier, more purposeful gait.

The practical rule for a UP night hunter: if you are calling at night on thermal and the animal looks big, do not shoot. A thermal image gives you a heat silhouette without the size cues, and this is the one state on this site where that mistake is a federal offence rather than a fine.

If you run dogs in the UP, the DNR advises scouting for wolf sign before releasing, avoiding areas of recent wolf activity and rendezvous sites, and adding bells or beepers to collars. Report suspected wolf–dog conflicts to the DNR immediately.²⁰

These answers get re-checked before they go stale. The verification date at the top of the page is the record of when that last happened, not decoration.

Anything else worth noting about coyote hunting in Michigan

Michigan is a good coyote state that became a more complicated one in January 2026. The dates are easy; the conditions attached to them are not.

Six things to get right:

There is no single season. Regular season 15 Oct – 1 Mar, management season 2 Mar – 14 Oct, damage any day. They differ on land, license, dogs, traps and carcasses.

Night hunting belongs to the regular season. The management season table does not carry the nighttime note. Confirm before planning a summer night hunt.

At night you must be afoot and using a call, bait or dogs. Sitting a stand with no call and no bait does not satisfy the rule.

Your centerfire is capped at .269 at night, and is barred outright in state parks and recreation areas after dark.

The quiet period is 10–14 November — a fur harvester license becomes mandatory even for hunting, and your gun options shrink.

Shining is tightly controlled. No lights to locate animals during November at all, none between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. the rest of the year, and never with a weapon in your possession outside the night-hunting permission.

Is it legal to own a coyote as a pet in Michigan?

No. Michigan regulates the possession of wild animals and a coyote is not an animal a private individual may keep as a pet; permits exist for rehabilitation, exhibition and scientific purposes rather than for pets.

If you have found an orphaned pup, contact the Michigan DNR at 517-284-9453 or a licensed wildlife rehabilitator rather than keeping it.

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