(Featured image courtesy of www.guidefitter.com)
Michigan’s House just passed legislation that would allow bow hunters to carry a pistol for self-defense without needing a CPL. Yes, you read that correctly. In 2025, Michigan still required a concealed carry license for bow hunters to have a sidearm in the woods — even if they carried it openly. Because apparently, the state legislature believed Bambi was the only thing lurking in Michigan’s forests.
House Bill 4855, introduced by Rep. Dave Prestin (R-108th) and backed by fellow Upper Peninsula representatives Karl Bohnak (R-109th) and Greg Markkanen (R-110th), passed Thursday with bipartisan support. The bill would allow bow hunters to open-carry a firearm for personal protection without jumping through the CPL hoops.
The Current Law Makes Zero Sense
Let’s break down Michigan’s current logic: You can legally carry a rifle or shotgun while bow hunting. You can carry a pistol openly… but only if you have a CPL. Even though it’s not concealed. Even though you’re already armed with a lethal weapon (the bow). Even though you’re miles from civilization in bear and cougar country.
It’s the kind of regulatory pretzel logic that only a state legislature could produce.
The UP lawmakers backing this bill cited a 2010 incident where a young bow hunter was attacked by a black bear with three cubs. The hunter managed to fend off the attack but needed 40 stitches in his leg. He was one of the lucky ones — he lived to tell the story.
Black bears generally avoid humans, but a sow with cubs is a different animal entirely. Add in the occasional aggressive bear, wolves making a comeback, and the rare but very real presence of cougars in the UP, and asking hunters to face Michigan’s predators with just a bow and a prayer seems less like policy and more like a wildlife snuff film waiting to happen.
What’s Next
The bill now heads to the Michigan Senate for consideration. Given bipartisan support in the House and the legislation’s common-sense nature, it should pass without issue. But this is Michigan, where firearms laws have historically made about as much sense as a screen door on a submarine, so we’ll see.
The real question is why it took until 2025 for someone to look at this law and say, “Wait, this is stupid.” But hey, better late than never when it comes to not requiring hunters to choose between legal compliance and not becoming bear food.
The Bottom Line
If you’re bow hunting in Michigan, you’re already in the middle of nowhere with dangerous wildlife. You’ve already demonstrated the responsibility and skill required to hunt with primitive weapons. The idea that you need government permission to carry a defensive sidearm in that situation is bureaucratic nonsense that serves no public safety purpose.
Hopefully, the Senate agrees, and this bill becomes law before next hunting season. Michigan’s bow hunters — and their families — deserve better than the status quo.
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