To encourage Mainers to enjoy their outdoor resources and to support a happy, healthy Maine Governor Mills and Commissioner Camuso are enacting the following changes to Maine’s spring turkey hunting season.
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) youth days will be Saturday, April 25 and Monday, April 27. On these days, junior hunters who hold a valid junior hunting license may hunt wild turkeys. Participants may take up to two bearded wild turkeys with a shotgun, bow and arrow, or crossbow, but cannot exceed an individual WMD bag limit.
The start of the regular spring turkey hunting season will be moved up to Saturday, May 2 instead of May 4. This will give hunters an additional Saturday to be in the field. All other current bag limits, license, and permit requirements apply.
Tagging Requirements
Hunters participating in the 2020 spring wild turkey hunting season will not be required to tag their harvested turkey(s). Transportation tags will also not be required. This is specific to the spring 2020 season only. Hunters will receive a post-season survey and are asked to participate to help provide data used to monitor Maine’s wild turkey population. All other current bag limits, license, and permit requirements apply. Please review Maine’s current hunting laws.
COVID-19 safety reminders for turkey hunting season
Hunt a spot close to home and be sure to respect private landowners! Ask permission first. Be safe and prepared. Don’t share a ride, blind or equipment with non-household members. Follow CDC guidelines on physical distancing.
If you are exhibiting symptoms or have recently been exposed to COVID-19, stay home.
Visit mefishwildlife.com/covid19 for additional MDIFW updates related to COVID-19.
Please report banded wild turkeys
Temporarily waiving the requirement to register wild turkeys during the spring 2020 hunting season will come as a challenge to our harvest management. Fortunately, the MDIFW efforts to capture and band a subset of the turkey population will help to generate population estimates to inform future seasons and bag limits.
There are currently several hundred banded wild turkeys across the Wildlife Management Districts (WMDs). Reporting banded turkeys is a reliable method to estimate the harvest when total harvest cannot be accounted for. Our wildlife biologists have a record of the number of turkeys that were banded this past winter and will use the number of harvested banded birds shot that are reported to estimate our total spring harvest.
Information on how to report a banded wild turkey is printed on the band. There are two methods you can use:
Go to https://wildturkeyme.org/report-a-tag/ or call 1-844-234-9237
For more information visit https://www.maine.gov/ifw/hunting-trapping/hunting-laws/index.html
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