{"id":47039,"date":"2026-03-30T15:28:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=47039"},"modified":"2026-03-30T15:28:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:28:53","slug":"spring-turkey-season-2026-opens-with-junior-hunt-april-11-12-regular-season-beginning-april-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2026\/03\/30\/spring-turkey-season-2026-opens-with-junior-hunt-april-11-12-regular-season-beginning-april-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Turkey Season 2026 Opens with Junior Hunt April 11-12, Regular Season Beginning April 18"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 418px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52078311208_67eef69537.jpg\" alt=\"Large bird in a clearing in the woods\" width=\"408\" height=\"306\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Turkey, photo by Leonardo Pecora, submitted to the 2021 Maryland DNR Photo Contest<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maryland\u2019s statewide spring wild turkey season opens this month, beginning with the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eregulations.com\/maryland\/hunting\/turkey-seasons-limits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Junior Turkey Hunt<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0on April 11. The regular spring turkey season opens for all hunters on April 18 and runs through May 23.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Maryland DNR\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/wildlife\/Documents\/wt_observe_survey.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Summer Wild Turkey Observation Survey<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0documented above-average reproductive success during the summer of 2024 in most regions. As a result, hunters may encounter more two-year-old-birds, which often translates into more gobbling and higher hunter success. Encounters with one-year-old gobblers, known as jakes, may be less common due to poor reproduction last summer. Local populations can vary, however, and scouting is always recommended.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWild turkey numbers continue to be healthy throughout much of Maryland,\u201d\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/Wildlife\/Pages\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wildlife and Heritage Service<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Director Karina Stonesifer said. \u201cSpring turkey season is a great time to be outdoors. The weather is often pleasant, and the sound of gobbling birds can make for an unforgettable hunt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Junior Turkey Hunt is open to licensed hunters aged 16 years and younger, provided they are accompanied by an unarmed adult (age 21 or older) with a valid Maryland hunting license. The Junior Turkey Hunt takes place April 11 statewide and continues on Sunday, April 12\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eregulations.com\/maryland\/hunting\/turkey-seasons-limits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">in select counties<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">During the first part of the regular hunting season, April 18 through May 9, hunting is permitted from one half-hour before sunrise until noon. Throughout the remainder of the season, May 10 through May 23, and during the Junior Turkey Hunt, hunting hours are one half-hour before sunrise until sunset.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The daily bag limit for the spring season is one bearded turkey, with a season bag limit of two bearded turkeys. Hunting is permitted on Sundays in certain counties. Complete regulations, including Sunday hunting dates, hunting license information, and check-in procedures can be found on the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eregulations.com\/maryland\/hunting\/turkey-seasons-limits\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maryland DNR website<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">DNR also reminds hunters to always prioritize safety when turkey hunting. Guidelines to follow are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Keep decoys out of sight until reaching a safe location with good visibility from all directions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Never hide directly behind a decoy or use one to stalk birds.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Always remain aware of your surroundings and assume other hunters may be nearby, even on private property.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">More\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/wildlife\/Pages\/hunt_trap\/WildTurkeyHuntingSafety.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">turkey hunting safety tips<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0can be found on the department\u2019s website.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maryland\u2019s statewide spring wild turkey season opens this month, beginning with the\u00a0Junior Turkey Hunt\u00a0on April 11. The regular spring turkey season opens for all hunters on April 18 and runs through May 23.\u00a0 The Maryland DNR\u00a0Summer Wild Turkey Observation Survey\u00a0documented above-average reproductive success during the summer of 2024 in most regions. As a result, hunters<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2026\/03\/30\/spring-turkey-season-2026-opens-with-junior-hunt-april-11-12-regular-season-beginning-april-18\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,4998],"tags":[4498,5269,3122],"class_list":["post-47039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-hiking","tag-hunting-seasons","tag-spring","tag-turkey"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47039"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47041,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47039\/revisions\/47041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}