Turkey harvest really up from last spring: Illinois hunting

Illinois Spring Wild Turkey Season Harvest Totals 14,999 Birds SPRINGFIELD, IL – Hunters in Illinois harvested a preliminary statewide total of 14,999 wild turkeys during the 2015 Spring Turkey Season, including the youth seasons. The 2015 total compares with the statewide turkey harvest of 13,514 in 2014. The statewide preliminary total includes Youth Turkey Season harvest of 896 birds, compared with youth season harvest of 781 turkeys in 2014. Spring turkey hunting was open in 100 of Illinois’ 102 counties. The 2015 seasons were April 6-May 7 in the South Zone and April 13-May 14 in the North Zone. The Youth Spring Turkey Season was March 28-29 in the South Zone and April 4-5 in the North Zone. Turkey hunters this spring took a preliminary total of 6,387 wild turkeys during all season segments in the South Zone, a slight increase over the harvest of 6,184 last year in the south. The North Zone preliminary harvest total of 8,612 wild turkeys was considerably higher than the 2014 total of 7,330 in the north. Turkey hunters in the North Zone, particularly in west-central Illinois, benefitted from improved turkey reproductive success during the spring of 2014, said IDNR Forest Wildlife Biologist Paul Shelton. This was evident from the improved harvest numbers in those areas and a higher proportion of jakes in the harvest than we’ve seen in many years. The top counties for spring wild turkey harvest in the South Zone in 2015 were Jefferson (433), Pope (366), Marion (333), Union (312), and Randolph (300). The top five North Zone counties for spring turkey harvest this year were Jo Daviess (601), Fulton (401), Adams (389), Pike (341), and Macoupin (328). The table below includes the preliminary 2015 county-by-county spring turkey harvest results with comparable totals for 2014. Preliminary Illinois Spring Turkey Harvest Table Zone County 2015 2014 N Adams 389 300 S Alexander 143 134 S Bond 159 143 N Boone 74 57 N Brown 319 201 N Bureau 171 135 N Calhoun 201 196 N Carroll 184 228 N Cass 257 187 N Champaign 26 15 N Christian 52 46 N Clark 170 125 S Clay 165 197 S Clinton 101 81 N Coles 26 29 S Crawford 135 132 N Cumberland 59 42 N DeKalb 13 16 N DeWitt 52 41 N Douglas 5 4 N Edgar 83 80 S Edwards 109 112 S Effingham 109 84 S Fayette 224 203 N Ford 12 13 S Franklin 187 169 N Fulton 401 364 S Gallatin 120 116 N Greene 165 149 N Grundy 49 36 S Hamilton 223 228 N Hancock 259 243 S Hardin 159 138 N Henderson 144 135 N Henry 93 75 N Iroquois 63 51 S Jackson 280 322 S Jasper 128 76 S Jefferson 433 399 N Jersey 184 142 N JoDaviess 601 594 S Johnson 260 243 N Kane 1 0 N Kankakee 36 33 N Kendall 18 16 N Knox 246 208 N Lake 3 0 N LaSalle 114 106 S Lawrence 110 109 N Lee 96 62 N Livingston 24 17 N Logan 40 27 N Macon 25 20 N Macoupin 328 259 S Madison 246 226 S Marion 333 298 N Marshall 69 53 N Mason 143 124 S Massac 99 81 N McDonough 139 91 N McHenry 68 65 N McLean 54 53 N Menard 114 66 N Mercer 178 188 S Monroe 162 151 N Montgomery 183 189 N Morgan 210 138 N Moultrie 21 21 N Ogle 191 150 N Peoria 142 128 S Perry 221 215 N Piatt 7 6 N Pike 341 298 S Pope 366 352 S Pulaski 81 121 N Putnam 46 35 S Randolph 300 326 S Richland 116 108 N Rock Island 186 173 S Saline 143 122 N Sangamon 106 85 N Schuyler 306 190 N Scott 65 59 N Shelby 95 81 S St. Clair 112 89 N Stark 5 2 N Stephenson 255 203 N Tazewell 70 66 S Union 312 301 N Vermilion 119 115 S Wabash 49 46 N Warren 66 70 S Washington 131 142 S Wayne 271 299 S White 120 135 N Whiteside 152 172 N Will 53 36 S Williamson 280 286 N Winnebago 164 143 N Woodford 81 78 Total 14999 13514 Follow the IDNR on Facebook and Twitter