Illinois turkey hunters harvested a preliminary statewide total of 15,800 wild turkeys during the 2020 spring turkey season. The number is up slightly from 2019 statewide turkey harvest of 15,190 birds.
The total includes the youth turkey season harvest of 1,744 birds, a record total, compared to the 2019 youth harvest of 1,392 turkeys. The statewide record total was set in 2006 when 16,569 turkeys were harvested.
Spring turkey hunting was open in 100 of Illinois’ 102 counties April 6 to May 7 in the South Zone and April 13 to May 14 in the North Zone. The youth season was March 28-29 and April 4-5 statewide.
Spring turkey hunting was suspended at Department of Natural Resources sites during the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Turkey hunters this spring took a preliminary total of 6,285 wild turkeys during all regular season segments in the South Zone, compared with 5,959 last year. The preliminary harvest total for all regular season segments in the North Zone this year was 7,771 wild turkeys, compared with 7,832 in 2019.
The top five counties for spring wild turkey harvest in 2020 were Jefferson (508), Jo Daviess (464), Marion (444), Pike (404), and Randolph (379).