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Michigan, 2027 shed season

Michigan Shed Antler Season 2027

Michigan's Wildlife Conservation Order covers owning, buying and selling antlers naturally shed by deer, elk and moose.

“(10) A person may possess antlers that have been shed by a cervid. "Shed" means to cast off as part of a natural process.” Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Sale and possession
Rule type
from Michigan Department of Natural Resources
3
Rules quoted
each linked to the agency page
None named
Course or permit
in the agency rules quoted below
September 21, 2026
Rules read
from the agency page
The rule

Shed antler rules in Michigan

Sale and possession

Section 4.3 of the Order lets deer, elk and moose sheds be bought and sold, and a business trading in animal parts carries its own requirements under the same section. The DNR sets no shed season or closure, so the possession rule applies in every month.

Statewide

A person may possess antlers that a cervid has naturally cast off.

(10) A person may possess antlers that have been shed by a cervid. "Shed" means to cast off as part of a natural process.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 21, 2026. Read it at the source

Statewide

Shed antlers of deer, elk and moose may be bought and sold.

(3) The antlers of deer, elk, and moose lawfully taken by a hunter or shed by the animal may be bought or sold.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 21, 2026. Read it at the source
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Courses, sale and state land

More Michigan shed rules

Buying and selling sheds

Section 4.3 of the Wildlife Conservation Order allows buying and selling the antlers of deer, elk and moose that were lawfully taken or naturally shed; a business buying or selling animal parts may need a fur dealer's license.

(3) The antlers of deer, elk, and moose lawfully taken by a hunter or shed by the animal may be bought or sold.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, read September 21, 2026. Read it at the source
When antlers drop

When deer shed antlers in Michigan

For white-tailed deer, Iowa Department of Natural Resources puts the drop at mid January to mid March.

Whitetail deer have about a two-month shedding period in Iowa, beginning mid-Jan. and ending mid-March.
Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Read it at the source
A large elk antler lying in green grass with snow covered mountains in the distance
An elk shed on the National Elk Refuge, Wyoming, with the Tetons behind. Elk winter range in the West is where most dated shed closures fall, because the closures exist for the animals wintering there. “Shed Antler on the National Elk Refuge (53662858076)”, USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain

Michigan shed antler questions

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Shed antler rules in other states

Michigan deer seasonArchery and firearms dates for Michigan, read from Michigan Department of Natural Resources.Michigan deer rutWhen bucks breed in the fall, months before those antlers drop.Michigan elk rutWhen bulls bugle in September and October, on the same animals that shed in spring.Shed antler rules by stateEvery state's shed rule, the dated western closures and when each species drops.
A young bull elk carrying a single antler standing among elk bedded in snow
A young bull that has already dropped one antler, among elk bedded in snow. Colorado Parks and Wildlife says elk may start shedding in February and run through April. “Bull Elk and Herd (6258537907)”, USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain

Compiled September 21, 2026. Every rule above is republished from The Wildlife Conservation Order, Michigan DNR and the other Michigan Department of Natural Resources pages linked beside each quote, read on September 21, 2026. Rules change between winters, so the agency page is the one to check before a trip. Every state is in the national shed antler guide.