LANSING — Michigan hunters harvested 153 elk in 2025 as a record 47,493 people applied for one of 260 elk licenses issued through the state’s annual drawing, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
According to a Jan. 20 news release, the hunt took place in the northern Lower Peninsula over two periods, one spanning late August and September and one in December.
Brent Rudolph, the deer, elk and moose management specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said Michigan elk hunting is a “highly prized opportunity” given the number of applicants.
Rudolph said hunters faced high temperatures during the early hunt period, blustery cold and freezing rain during the late hunt period and continued complications from the historic March 2025 ice storm that left downed trees and debris in the woods of northern Michigan.
The DNR uses hunting as the primary method to sustainably manage Michigan’s elk population, which the agency estimated at 1,150 animals. The herd is centered in the Pigeon River Country State Forest, primarily in Cheboygan, Montmorency and Otsego counties.
The DNR Wildlife Division has proposed lengthening the elk hunting season for the 2026-2027 hunting cycle. Under the proposal, the two hunting periods would provide 45 total days of harvest time, more than double the current 21 days of harvest time.
Public feedback has been coming in since November, and final comments can be emailed to DNR-Elk-Hunt@Michigan.gov by Jan. 23.
The proposal will be presented for decision this spring by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, which has the exclusive authority to regulate the taking of game in Michigan.
In 2025, the DNR issued 100 elk licenses for the first hunt period, including 30 licenses for any elk and 70 for antlerless only. The period was split into three sessions: Aug. 26-29, Sept. 12-15 and Sept. 26-29.
Hunters harvested 50 elk during that period, including 26 bulls and 24 antlerless elk, despite warm temperatures that reduced elk movement.
Some hunters chose not to hunt when temperatures reached the mid-70s due to the challenge of retrieving and processing the elk before the meat spoiled.
The DNR said many trees and limbs were still down following the 2025 ice storm, making it difficult to traverse some areas in the woods. Elk also were reported as not occupying some reliable past locations, which the DNR said could be another impact of the ice storm.
During the second hunt period, Dec. 13-21, the DNR issued 160 elk licenses, including 50 for any elk and 110 for antlerless only. Hunters harvested 103 elk, including 40 bulls and 63 antlerless elk.
The DNR said opening weekend brought subzero wind chills, then warming temperatures and rain removed snow cover and made it difficult to track elk.
On the morning of Dec. 13, Brent Henige of New Lothrop shot a 559-pound elk on state-managed public land just off County Road 622 in Montmorency County. The wind chill was 10 below zero, and Henige said he was able to locate and harvest the elk within a couple hours.
“I didn’t have time to shake,” he said. “It happened so quickly.”
Henige hung the bull on the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Elk Pole and celebrated the harvest with his wife, two children and other family members. The DNR said he had applied for an elk license for 19 consecutive years before drawing the tag in 2025.
Bruce Nelson of Hastings said he had applied for an elk license every year Michigan has held a drawing. The state held its first elk hunts in 1964 and 1965, then paused the drawing due to low elk numbers before resuming it in the 1980s, according to the DNR.
Nelson, 87, said he drew a tag in 2025 and shot a cow elk on Dec. 13.
“Have you ever known anyone who’s waited 61 years to get an elk?” Nelson said with a laugh. “It was an absolute privilege and a thrill to get my elk after all this time.”
For more information on elk in Michigan, the DNR said to visit its elk webpage.
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