The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced preliminary totals for the 2026 spring turkey season.
Wisconsin turkey hunters registered 47,725 birds this season, 8.6% above the 5-year average of 43,953.
This spring marks 50 years since wild turkeys were successfully reintroduced to Wisconsin. The first statewide hunt took place in the spring of 1983. Turkey numbers continue to remain stable, and birds are now found in all 72 counties of the state.
“The reintroduction of wild turkeys in this state has been a remarkable success,” said Taylor Finger, DNR game bird biologist. “With mild winters and average to above average nesting and brood rearing conditions the last several years, Wisconsin’s turkey population is very healthy, and we continue to see stable harvest trends that indicate stable to increasing numbers across most of the state.”
The 2026 spring turkey season started April 12 with the two-day youth hunt for hunters younger than 16 and concluded May 26.
The regular season is divided into six separate one-week periods, opening April 15 and closing May 25.
A total of 254,226 authorizations were available this spring, and hunters applied for or purchased 235,429 of them.
The 2026 statewide fall turkey hunting season will open Sept. 12 and run through Jan. 3, 2027.
The deadline to apply for next spring’s turkey season is Dec. 10. Hunters can apply for harvest authorizations online through the Go Wild license portal. Any harvest authorizations not awarded in the December drawing will be available for purchase in March as a bonus harvest authorization.
Learn more about turkey hunting in Wisconsin at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/turkey.
