Spring turkey hunting season opens on April 18 for most regions across Michigan, and this year there are some changes.
For the first time, hunters must tag and report every turkey harvest to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources within 72 hours of harvesting or transferring possession of the bird.
In a press release, the DNR laid out guidelines for how to report a turkey harvest — it involves entering the number on a unique kill tag, which is a paper or electronic tag assigned to a bird that identifies it.
38-year old Tyler Greenfield is an avid hunter who splits his time hunting between Missouri and Michigan. He's a turkey season regular these days, and said he thinks the new system is a good change.
“Just because I bought a tag, didn’t necessarily mean that I harvested a bird with that tag. So nowadays, the DNR is going to be able to keep track of the numbers a little bit more precise," Greenfield said.
New tagging options for turkey season
It’s also the first year that Michigan has electronic kill tags available for turkey season. In February, the DNR announced the expansion of its eHarvest system to include deer, turkey, bear, bobcat, otter and marten.
Greenfield said electronic tags have been around in other states for a while — in Missouri, electronic tagging options for turkey and deer have been available since 2005. He thinks it’s good that Michigan is catching up.
“Being able to just bust out your phone, click on an app and click harvest. I think that’s a little bit quicker, more efficient, and it’s actually going to relay more real-time numbers," Greenfield said.
Turkey hunting expands with new permit options
Previously, the state was split up into 14 "turkey management units" that had their own permits and requirements for the season. This year there are only three TMUs: M, which covers the Upper Peninsula, NN, which covers the Northern Lower Peninsula, and ZZ, which covers the Southern Lower Peninsula.
Turkey hunting season runs from April 18 to May 31 in most regions, but each region has its own dates, permit requirements and license quotas.
The DNR also introduced a new statewide spring turkey hunting season this year under permit 0234, which runs from April 18 - May 31. The new permit covers the entire state, has unlimited license quotas and doesn't require an application to purchase.
Greenfield owns property in Benzie county, which is part of the NN region where turkey season runs only from April 18 - May 1. He said he’s usually in Missouri until early May and can’t hunt turkey on his property when he gets back – but this year he can with the new statewide season.
“That’s something that I kind of want to check off my bucket list is harvesting a bird on my own property," Greenfield said.
In another first for this year, youth hunters aged 10-16 can also purchase a youth hunting permit for spring turkey season until the end of the season on May 31.
