Michigan’s annual bear hunting season begins this week! Here’s what you need to know before heading into the field.

Season dates

Upper Peninsula

Season dates for Amasa, Baraga, Bergland, Carney, Gwinn and Newberry bear management units:

• Hunt period 1: Sept. 10 – Oct. 21.
• Hunt period 2: Sept. 15 – Oct. 26.
• Hunt period 3: Sept. 25 – Oct. 26.

Drummond Island has one hunting period: Sept. 10 - Oct. 21.

Lower Peninsula

Season dates for all three bear management units in the northern Lower Peninsula – Baldwin, Gladwin and Red Oak – are Sept. 13-23 and Oct. 3-9.

Bear registration

Within 72 hours of harvesting a bear, hunters must take the unfrozen, undivided bear head and hide, or the entire animal, to a bear registration station to be registered and sealed.

Bear registration locations

Bear hunting regulations

Find the 2025 Bear Hunting Regulations Summary online at Michigan.gov/Bear or view it in the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app. The app is available:

• On the App Store for Apple devices.
• On the Google Play store for Android devices.

After downloading the app to your Apple or Android device, select the "Regulations and Info” button to view and download all the current regulations summaries.

If you have any questions about the app, call the DNR licensing customer service staff at 517-284-6057 during normal business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Bear management cooperator patch

Michigan’s bear management cooperator patch program is coordinated by the Michigan Bear Hunters Association, in partnership with the DNR. Anyone may purchase a patch for $7. Young hunters, 17 years old and younger, who have a valid bear hunting license may receive a free patch.

Order a patch online or send your name and complete address and a check or money order payable to the Michigan Bear Hunters Association, or a legible copy of a youth’s valid bear hunting license, to MBHA, Bear Patch Program, 10510 Fairgrieve Road, Johannesburg, MI 49751.

Bear meat: Preventing trichinosis

Trichinellosis, also called trichinosis, is a disease that people can get by eating raw or undercooked meat from animals infected with the microscopic parasite trichinella. In the lower 48 states, cases have been detected in black bears. Animals infected with trichinella usually don’t appear to be sick, and the parasite is microscopic so it cannot be seen in infected meat with the naked eye.

You can prevent trichinosis by properly handling and cooking meat. Whole cuts and ground meat from wild game animals should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. A meat thermometer should be used because color is not a good indicator of doneness for game meat. After handling meat, wash hands thoroughly with warm, soapy water and disinfect all equipment and work surfaces. Learn more about trichinosis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.