2017 Spring Turkey Season Report Now Available

The Illinois landscape has changed significantly over the past 200 years, and one species that did not fare well with the loss of woodland habitats and overhunting was the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). After a 67-year closure on turkey hunting, and thanks to trapping and transplanting efforts that continued through 2003, a 3-day hunting season opened in April 1970, with 23 turkeys harvested in the three (3) counties open to hunting. Now that turkeys have regained a foothold, sighting a bird is a common occurrence throughout the state, and today hunting during the spring season takes place in all counties except Cook and DuPage, with thousands of birds harvested annually.

The 2017 turkey harvest was above average, and thanks to a stellar youth season the overall total was the highest observed in five years. The harvest total was 14,189 birds over the five consecutive individual seasons totaling 32 days in each the north and south zones in 2017, and the youth harvest brings the annual total to 15,720 turkeys. Of particular interest is the percentage of juveniles in the harvest as this is an indication of the previous summer’s hatch. The percentage of juveniles harvested in 2017 dropped to 18.2 percent, indicating relatively poor reproduction during the summer of 2016. Conversely, reproduction during the summer of 2015 was above average and juveniles made up 23.6 percent of the harvest in 2016.

Daily turkey harvest totals are closely tied to weather conditions, evident with the lower harvest figures in 2017 on days in late April and early May when torrential rains occurred throughout portions of the state.

One significant change made for the 2017 season was opening both Youth Season weekends to youth hunters, statewide. Previously only one weekend was open in the north zone and one in the south. The inclusion of two weekends resulted in a sharp increase in youth harvest and set a record for the number of youth permits sold. A change made in the 2016 season, and continued for the 2017 season, was replacing the previously existing random daily draw with a fourth lottery drawing open to any resident or nonresident with fewer than three permits.

Although the number of turkey permits sold has declined since 2013, the harvest of wild turkeys in Illinois remains stable, indicating a robust population exists within the Prairie State.

For additional information, including a variety of graphs, charts and tables, review the Summary of 2017 Illinois Spring Turkey Season report.

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Luke Garver has been the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Wild Turkey Project Manager since October 2016. Prior to this position, he was Program Coordinator for CREP in the Private Lands Division. He earned a BS in Animal Science from the University of Illinois and an MS in Wildlife Management from Texas A&M – Kingsville. Kathy Andrews Wright is retired from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources where she was editor of Outdoor Illinois magazine. She is currently the editor of Outdoor Illinois Wildlife Journal and Illinois Audubon magazine.