Turkey season just around the corner

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – Kentucky’s spring hunting seasons kick off with the youth-only turkey season April 5-6, followed by the general season for turkeys April 12-May 4, and according to the Kentucky Department for Fish and Wildlife Resources, (KDFWR) surveys are predicting a great turkey season ahead.

“During our winter netting and leg banding research, we caught an unusually high number of jakes, or younger birds,” said Zak Danks, KDFWR Wild Turkey Program coordinator. “This aligns with the productive poult hatch in 2024, so I expect hunters will see more jakes this spring.”

Danks suggests this should be an especially good season for youth and new hunters looking to bag a bird for the first time. Younger birds are easier for hunters to fool than older birds that have been hunted previously.

Hunters would do well to have a good turkey call and know how to use it. The online Learn to Hunt Turkey webpage on the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife website is a great place to start for tips and resources.

While most turkeys are harvested the opening weekend of the spring season, hunters should remember they still have three more weeks to take their bird. Weather plays an important role.

“In general, turkey hunting is more difficult on windy or rainy days, although I still hunt whenever I can,” Danks said.

No more than two legal turkeys may be taken per spring season. A legal turkey is defined as a wild turkey that is male or has a visible beard. Hunters may only harvest one bearded turkey per wildlife management area (WMA), and no more than one bird may be taken per day. Turkeys taken by youths during the youth-only season count toward their spring turkey bag limit.

For those without a place to hunt, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife manages dozens of WMAs across the state open to the public for hunting. Find these online at the department’s Wildlife Management Area & Public Lands Search webpage.

Danks recommends that public lands hunters focus on prescribed burn sites with the fresh regrowth favored by turkeys. Scouting via an interactive topographic and aerial photography map, like the one available on the department’s Hunting webpage, will provide a starting point for finding this type of land.