Michigan hunters killed 153 elk in 2025. See results from annual hunt

Michigan elk hunters claimed greater than 150 animals through the 2025 searching season, together with one from an 87-year-old Hastings man who had been unsuccessfully getting into license drawings since 1964.

Amid difficult climate and ice storm-ravaged terrain, Michigan elk hunters may have harvested 153 elk in 2025, based on a report from the MDNR.

A record number of applicants – 47,493 – utilized for one in every of 260 elk permits issued by the state’s annual drawing. Elk searching occurred within the northern Decrease Peninsula throughout two durations: one spanning late August and September and one in December.

One of many profitable hunters was Bruce Nelson of Hastings, who had utilized for an elk allow yearly Michigan carried out a draw since 1964. After 1965, the state paused the drawings as a result of low elk numbers earlier than resuming the lotteries within the Eighties.

Nelson, 87, lastly pulled a tag in 2025 and was in a position to shoot a cow elk on December 13, 2025.

“Have you ever ever identified somebody who waited 61 years to get a moose?” Nelson joked. “It was an absolute privilege and thrill to get my moose in any case this time.”

One other long-time applicant additionally managed to acquire a allow and subsequently seize an elk.

Brent Henige, of New Lothrop, shot a 500-pound elk on state-managed public land simply off County Highway 622 in Montmorency County on the morning of Dec. 13, 2025. He had utilized for a license for 19 consecutive years earlier than lastly pulling the tag.

“I did not have time to shake. It occurred so quick,” Henige mentioned in a single Michigan Department of Natural Resources press launch.

The wind chill on the time was 10 levels beneath zero, however Henige was in a position to find and harvest the elk inside a couple of hours.

Henige took the bull to the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Elk Pole, the place he hung with others, and celebrated the harvest along with his spouse, two youngsters and different members of the family.

Michigan elk searching season outcomes

The variety of elk harvested in 2025 had decreased in comparison with latest years. Hunters killed 180 elk in northern Michigan in 2024, in comparison with 168 in 2023, the DNR reported.

Michigan elk hunters may have harvested 153 elk in 2025 amid difficult climate and storm-ravaged terrain, based on a report from the MDNR.

Extra: DNR acquires 8,800 acres so as to add to Pigeon River Nation State Forest

The DNR has issued 100 elk permits for the preliminary searching season (30 permits for all elk and 70 for antlerless solely). The interval was break up into three periods: August 26-29, September 12-15 and September 26-29.

Throughout this searching season, hunters harvested 50 elk (26 bulls and 24 antlerless elk) regardless of heat temperatures that diminished elk motion.

Through the second elk searching season, December 13-21, the DNR issued 160 elk permits (50 for all elk and 110 for antlerless elk solely).

Hunters harvested 103 elk (40 bulls and 63 antlerless elk).

“With greater than 47,000 candidates among the many 260 out there elk searching permits, elk searching in Michigan is a extremely valued alternative,” mentioned Brent Rudolph, deer, elk and moose administration specialist for the Michigan Division of Pure Sources.

Extra: Officers will use path cameras and elk tooth to watch Michigan’s elk herd. What you’ll want to know

Elk searching occurred in areas of the northern Decrease Peninsula, primarily within the heart of the area Pigeon River Country Forestry Commissionprimarily in Cheboygan, Montmorency and Otsego counties.

The DNR says there are an estimated 1,150 elk in Michigan and the state makes use of searching as the first technique to sustainably handle the inhabitants.

Extra: Some Michigan lawmakers need the ban on feeding deer and elk lifted

Jalen Williams is a trending reporter on the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jawilliams1@freepress.com.