Spring turkey season dates

Spring turkey season is arriving in waves across the eastern and upper Midwestern United States, and the calendar now stretches from mid-April openers in places like Tennessee to May starts in northern New England. State wildlife agencies in Tennessee, Vermont, and New Hampshire have now posted their 2026 spring dates, while Kentucky and Wisconsin are already running youth-focused hunts and Arkansas is reporting stronger turkey numbers heading into the season. (wbbjtv.com) Tennessee is first among the states highlighted here. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency says the statewide 2026 spring turkey season opens on Saturday, April 11, and continues through Sunday, May 24, with all 95 counties open. The state’s Young Sportsman Hunt was held the previous weekend, April 4 and 5, giving younger hunters an early shot before the full opener. (wbbjtv.com) That makes Tennessee one of the earlier broad statewide spring openers in this group. For hunters, that earlier start usually means chasing gobblers while breeding activity is still building and before the more northern states begin their regular seasons. This timing difference is one reason spring turkey travel often moves south to north over several weeks. (wbbjtv.com) Vermont’s schedule starts later and is built around a teaching weekend. The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department says the youth and novice turkey hunting weekend will be April 25 and 26, followed by the regular spring season from May 1 through May 31. Vermont’s hunting materials also say the youth weekend is held on the Saturday and Sunday before opening day, which ties the mentorship event directly to the regular season. (mountaintimes.info) Vermont is also entering the season with a large established turkey population. State hunting guidance says wild turkeys now occur in nearly every town and the population is estimated at more than 45,000 birds, a sharp contrast with the mid-1800s, when turkeys had disappeared from the state. The agency says recent years have produced annual harvests of more than 6,000 birds. (eregulations.com) New Hampshire follows a similar northern pattern. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department says the 2026 spring turkey season runs from May 1 through May 31, and the youth turkey hunt is scheduled for Saturday, April 25, and Sunday, April 26. The state’s season pages also show that a turkey license is required for all ages, with additional hunting-license requirements for hunters age 16 and older. (nhfishgame.com) New Hampshire’s rules also show how spring opportunity can vary inside one state. Official season listings say one spring turkey is available statewide, while a second bird is allowed only in certain Wildlife Management Units, including H1, H2, J2, K, L, or M. That means the same May 1 opener can lead to different strategies depending on where a hunter plans to go. (eregulations.com) Kentucky is already in motion, and the state is pairing its dates with a more upbeat population message than some hunters may expect. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife says the youth-only turkey season ran April 4 and 5, and the general spring season opens April 18 and runs through May 10. The agency also says hunters may take no more than two birds during the spring season, with a limit of one per day. (fw.ky.gov) Kentucky officials are also pointing to better brood survey results. The department says higher-than-usual brood surveys, meaning summertime counts of young poults, suggest healthy numbers of gobblers for the 2026 season. In a separate state-backed report, turkey-grouse program coordinator Zak Danks said evidence suggests turkey numbers have improved over the past five years. (fw.ky.gov) Wisconsin is taking the same youth-first approach before its regular spring hunt gets underway. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says the 2026 statewide youth turkey hunt runs April 11 and 12, giving hunters under age 16 a chance to hunt before the main season. The agency says youth hunters need a spring turkey license, a wild turkey stamp, and a valid harvest authorization. (dnr.wisconsin.gov) Arkansas is not part of the date roundup at the center of this story, but it may be the clearest sign that conditions are improving in at least some places. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission says hunters checked 11,332 turkeys during the 2025 spring season, a 22 percent increase over 2024 and the first time the harvest topped 10,000 since 2017. Agency reporting says that rebound was helped by strong reproduction in 2021 through 2023 and left hunters heading into 2026 with renewed optimism. (agfc.com) Put together, the 2026 picture looks less like one national season and more like a staggered regional rollout. Tennessee opens April 11, Kentucky’s general season starts April 18, Vermont and New Hampshire both launch youth weekends on April 25 and 26, and the two New England regular seasons begin May 1. Across those states, wildlife agencies are not just posting dates; they are also signaling that youth participation, mentorship, and at least modestly favorable turkey numbers are central parts of this spring’s outlook. (radionwtn.com)