What changed in Michigan wildlife rules for 2026

Updated June 2026. This is the lightest what-changed page on the site — wildlife law moves slowly, but its seasons don’t.

The watch list

• The feeding-ban bill. The Lower Peninsula deer and elk feeding ban shares its legal fate with the baiting bill (HB 4445). That bill passed the House in February 2026 and sits in the Senate, with the DNR opposed. Until something is signed, both bans are fully in effect. It’s one hedge, shared with the hunting what-changed page.
• Avian influenza posture is seasonal. The durable advice doesn’t change: don’t handle dead birds bare-handed, and report groups via Eyes in the Field. Case-specific guidance does change — the DNR and MDARD pages are the live word.
• Protected-species lists update periodically. Two bat species joined Michigan’s threatened list after white-nose syndrome, and herp protections are reviewed in cycles. Our keeping-and-collecting page is date-stamped accordingly.
• The 13-species landowner list — the big 2023 change — is stable and now well-settled. Most older internet advice still predates it.

The real calendar

This hub runs on seasons, not statutes. Every May is fawn season — re-read the baby-animal page before the well-meaning rescues begin. Every April, feeders come down in bear country (and go back up around Thanksgiving). Late summer brings EHD watchfulness near water. Fall brings the bird-feeder-versus-deer question back to every Lower Peninsula backyard.

The signpost

The DNR’s wildlife pages carry the current rules; Eyes in the Field takes the reports. Start with the wildlife rules pillar — and see the season’s other changes at hunting, fishing, ORV, camping, and boating.