This year, pheasants will be released during the Oct. 20-Nov. 14 regular pheasant season on nine state game areas throughout southern Michigan:
Cornish (Cass County).
Crow Island (Bay and Saginaw counties).
Erie (Monroe County).
Lapeer (Lapeer County).
Leidy Lake (St. Joseph County).
Pinconning Township (Bay County).
Pointe Mouillee (Monroe and Wayne counties).
Rose Lake (Clinton and Shiawassee counties).
St Johns Marsh (St. Clair County).
Important:
A base license and a public-land pheasant license are required to hunt these areas, and all regular hunting regulations apply.
The bag limit is two male pheasants daily, with four in possession. These restrictions apply at release locations.
Pheasant release funding
These pheasant releases are funded through the public-land pheasant license created by Public Act 262 of 2020.
License fees from the pheasant license go into an account that can be used only for the costs associated with releasing pheasants for hunting on public lands. These funds are not immediately available for Department of Natural Resources use but must be appropriated by the Legislature.
To date, the pheasant license has generated just over $260,000, with $100,000 of those funds available for the 2022 and 2023 pheasant release hunts. 2022 is the first year the pheasant release program has been funded with pheasant license dollars.
Managing the pheasant release program
The pheasant release program will be managed to provide released pheasant hunting opportunities and give new and existing hunters a chance to connect with pheasant hunting and small game hunting. The program will be developed to match revenue generated by the license.
The state budget process will be used to request revenue existing in the pheasant account that was deposited the previous year. This process will ensure future fall releases will be funded well in advance, allowing for birds to be raised and details on the releases to be made available earlier in the year.
