Turkey Hunter Success About One In Four

Tennessee’s flourishing wild turkey population has produced a rise in the number of wild turkey hunters and an increasing annual harvest, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA).

In the past decade, the number of turkey hunters has risen from under 40,000 to over 80,000, while the annual spring wild turkey harvest has grown from 14,000 to over 30,000.

The spring bag limit for wild turkey has stood at four bearded birds for several years now.  Originally, part of that 4-bird bag limit would have had to come from a wildlife management area.  The past couple of years, hunters have been allowed to harvest the 4-bird bag limit from private land.

This change has not had much effect on the total harvest or the number of hunters harvesting multiple birds.

From the harvest figures reported for the 2007 spring turkey season, about one in four wild turkey hunters were successful in harvesting a bird.  Last year, there were 21,133 successful turkey hunters out of the more than 80,000 hunters in the field.

These 21,133 hunters harvested 31,058 birds with an average of 1.47 birds per successful hunter.  Successful hunters by the number harvested are: 14,203 harvested one turkey, 4,581 harvested two turkeys, 1,703 harvested three turkeys, and 646 harvested 4 turkeys. On average, a successful hunter harvested 1.47 wild turkeys.

For more information about hunting wild turkeys, refer to the Tennessee Hunting and Trapping Guide.