{"id":47533,"date":"2026-06-01T16:41:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T20:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=47533"},"modified":"2026-06-01T16:41:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T20:41:33","slug":"maryland-spring-turkey-hunters-report-harvest-of-5094-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2026\/06\/01\/maryland-spring-turkey-hunters-report-harvest-of-5094-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Spring Turkey Hunters Report Harvest of 5,094 Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Wild

Photo by Tessa Farley, submitted to the 2021 Maryland DNR Photo Contest<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Maryland hunters harvested a total of 5,094 wild turkeys during the 2026 spring season. This year\u2019s harvest was 5% higher than last year but remained below the record harvest of 5,356 set in 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFavorable weather helped contribute to another productive spring season for Maryland turkey hunters,\u201d Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR)\u00a0<\/span>Wildlife and Heritage Service<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Director Karina Stonesifer said. \u201cWhile populations can fluctuate across regions and from year to year, turkey hunters continue to enjoy quality hunting opportunities across Maryland.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Garrett County reported the highest harvest with 542 turkeys, followed by Charles County with 452 and Worcester County with 430 turkeys. Allegany and Washington counties also reported over 300 birds each.<\/span><\/p>\n

Youth hunters started the spring turkey season with the\u00a0<\/span>Junior Turkey Hunt<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0April 11-12. A total of 441 wild turkeys were taken during that weekend, representing 8% of the total. Sunday hunting accounted for 14% of the statewide harvest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunting licenses for the 2026-27 season will be available starting July 1 on the\u00a0<\/span>Maryland DNR website<\/span><\/a>. The major fall hunting seasons begin Sept. 1 with mourning dove season, and deer hunting begins with archery season on Sept. 11.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Harvests by county for the past five seasons are below:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

County<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2022<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2023<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2024<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2025<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Allegany<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

282<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

483<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

345<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

314<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

372<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Anne Arundel<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

85<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

136<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

106<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

118<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

101<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Baltimore<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

82<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

101<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

89<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

71<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

85<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Calvert<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

72<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

99<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

107<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

101<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

100<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Caroline<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

168<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

174<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

151<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

162<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

192<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Carroll<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

94<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

132<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

125<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

118<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

130<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Cecil<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

67<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

95<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

86<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

112<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

130<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Charles<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

334<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

445<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

472<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

445<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

452<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Dorchester<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

170<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

180<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

211<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

226<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

216<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Frederick<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

343<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

391<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

322<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

281<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

294<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Garrett<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

436<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

579<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

546<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

506<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

542<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Harford<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

91<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

128<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

105<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

98<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

108<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Howard<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

51<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

61<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

40<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

43<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

46<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Kent<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

160<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

184<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

130<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

184<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

193<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Montgomery<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

164<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

206<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

150<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

121<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

137<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Prince George’s<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

115<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

164<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

135<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

129<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

123<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Queen Anne’s<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

144<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

170<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

191<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

186<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

240<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Somerset<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

176<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

199<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

202<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

175<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

184<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

St. Mary’s<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

204<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

253<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

226<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

282<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

293<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Talbot<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

84<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

96<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

95<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

119<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

102<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Washington<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

400<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

515<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

445<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

406<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

382<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Wicomico<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

193<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

215<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

238<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

254<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

242<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Worcester<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

293<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

350<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

442<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

400<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

430<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Total<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

4,208<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

5,356<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

4,959<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

4,851<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

5,094<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maryland hunters harvested a total of 5,094 wild turkeys during the 2026 spring season. This year\u2019s harvest was 5% higher than last year but remained below the record harvest of 5,356 set in 2023.\u00a0<\/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":[957,3172],"tags":[4960,4641,5269,3122,5148],"class_list":["post-47533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-hunting","tag-hunting","tag-karina-stonesifer","tag-spring","tag-turkey","tag-turkey-harvest"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47533","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=47533"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47538,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47533\/revisions\/47538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}