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Maryland Spring Turkey Hunters Harvest 4,959 Birds

State reports second-highest seasonal harvest on record

Photo of wild turkey in a field of buttercups

Photo by Erik Yetter, submitted to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo contest.

Maryland hunters harvested 4,959 wild turkeys during the 2024 spring regular and junior turkey seasons. This year’s harvest was 7% lower than the record amount set last spring, but surpassed the harvest totals from previous seasons.

“Hunters took advantage of favorable weather and abundant turkey populations with another high harvest,” Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Karina Stonesifer said. “A slight decrease was not unexpected after the record-breaking harvest in the spring of 2023.”

DNR surveys documented average to excellent reproductive success in many regions during the summers of 2021 and 2022, resulting in a good number of 2-3 year-old gobblers available this spring. Adult gobblers comprised 87% of the total harvest.

Garrett County reported the highest harvest with 546 turkeys, followed by Charles County (472) and Washington County (442). Four counties produced record harvests: Charles, Queen Anne’s, Wicomico, and Worcester.

Youth hunters started the spring turkey season statewide on April 13-14 with the Junior Turkey Hunt. Despite poor weather, junior hunters harvested 333 wild turkeys during that weekend, accounting for about 6% of the total. A total of 603 birds were taken on Sundays, comprising 12% of the total take.

Harvests by county are below:

County

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Allegany

286

266

282

483

345

Anne Arundel

81

64

85

136

106

Baltimore

65

53

82

101

89

Calvert

82

58

72

99

107

Caroline

180

149

168

174

151

Carroll

93

104

94

132

125

Cecil

94

80

67

95

86

Charles

369

353

334

445

472

Dorchester

211

197

170

180

211

Frederick

348

281

343

391

322

Garrett

387

374

436

579

546

Harford

88

104

91

128

105

Howard

34

35

51

61

40

Kent

206

151

160

184

130

Montgomery

162

154

164

206

150

Prince George’s

109

99

115

164

135

Queen Anne’s

144

120

144

170

191

Somerset

171

180

176

199

202

St. Mary’s

226

187

204

253

226

Talbot

95

80

84

96

95

Washington

439

345

400

515

445

Wicomico

193

181

193

215

238

Worcester

240

295

293

350

442

    Total

4,303

3,910

4,208

5,356

4,959


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