Hey guys, why are you whipping on me? Just trying to help keeps folks who go out of state from getting in hot water but as the old saying goes, "No good deed goes unpunished".
Art, I have no idea why an officer would need to see your card when hunting in a state that already requires you to produce it when you buy the license but I don't make the rules. If you read what it says in the Colorado regs, as example, you will see they require most hunters need to do both.
Petronius, I do not have the inclination to check the Michigan law as it pertains to Hunter Education since it does not apply to me so I will assume you are 100% correct. That said, I know for a fact that one must carry the certificate in the field in at least some of the other states that require hunter safety. Colorado, as mentioned above, and Wyoming for another. In fact, a check of the Wyoming website quickly revealed the following as one of the ten most common wildlife violations:
Failure to produce a hunter safety card.
No person born on or after January 1, 1966 may take any wildlife by the use of firearms on land other than that of his/her own family unless they possess and can exhibit a hunter safety card. All hunters in Grand Teton National Park are required to possess a hunter safety certificate regardless of age. There are some exemptions to this requirement, check the regulations for further information.