2025 Spring Turkey Season Opens May 1 in New Hampshire

CONTACT:
Dan Ellingwood: 603-352-9669
Andy Timmins: 603-271-2461
April 11, 2025

Concord, NH – The Granite State’s spring turkey season opens on May 1 and runs through May 31. The annual youth turkey hunt takes place the preceding weekend, Saturday, April 26, and Sunday, April 27. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department urges hunters to take advantage of the state’s weather, woodlands, and natural resources this year with hunting safety in mind.

During the 2024 youth weekend, young hunters took 422 turkeys, or 9.3% of the total spring harvest. To participate in the youth weekend, hunters must be age 15 or younger and be accompanied by a properly licensed adult age 18 or older. The mentoring adult may not carry a firearm or bow. Youth hunters do not need a hunting license, but they must have a valid turkey permit, which is $16 for residents and $31 for nonresidents. Accompanying adults must hold either a current New Hampshire hunting or archery license and a turkey permit.

“We have seen record turkey harvests occur over the past five spring seasons,” said Dan Ellingwood, Fish and Game’s Turkey Project Leader. “It’s great to see so many hunters enjoying this conservation success story by participating in spring turkey hunting. Hunters are strongly encouraged to maximize pre-season scouting and be prepared with back-up locations if their desired spots are occupied by other hunters or outdoor enthusiasts.”

During the spring of 2024, hunters harvested 4,562 turkeys statewide. This was a decrease from the record-setting harvest of 5,725 gobblers in 2022.

“The spring of 2023 was a tough nesting season for turkeys in New Hampshire,” Ellingwood said. “Frost during the month of May followed by consistent rain throughout the spring and summer led to many hens re-nesting, and reduced overall poult survival. The average hatch date was nearly a month later than normal, and the poults-per-hen ratio was below average. This decreased productivity was most notably reflected in the reduced harvest of jakes last spring. While we saw recruitment rebound in 2024, we expect to see the carryover effects from poor 2023 recruitment reflected this spring in the reduced abundance of 2-year old turkeys on the landscape.”

Hunters should be aware of and continue to take precaution to safeguard against the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) detected in avian species in New Hampshire and across the country. HPAI is a virus that occurs mainly in wild birds, but typically does not cause high mortality. The main risk of the virus is to domestic poultry such as chickens, turkeys, quail, and ducks. In New Hampshire, the HPAI virus has previously been detected in a number of waterfowl species, as well as a few bald eagles and other types of birds. No wild turkeys in New Hampshire have yet to test positive for the virus. Hunters, however, are encouraged to take extra precautions including:

• Do not harvest or handle birds that are obviously sick or found dead.
• Dress and dispose of game birds in an area away from domestic birds.
• Wear rubber gloves when field dressing your bird.
• Wash hands with soap and water or alcohol-based sanitizer after handling wild birds.
• Use dedicated tools for processing wild birds, or clean and disinfect tools that may also be used around domestic birds.
• Disinfect tools using a freshly mixed chlorine solution consisting of 1/3 cup of household bleach per 1 gallon of water.
• Avoid cross-contamination. Keep uncooked game in a separate container away from cooked or ready-to-eat foods.
• Cook game meat thoroughly. Poultry should reach an internal temperature of 165°F to kill disease organisms and parasites.

To learn more about HPAI, visit Avian Influenza | Wildlife | New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Turkey hunters will continue to have the option to register their harvested birds online or in person at a local registration station. Regardless of registration method, all harvested birds must be affixed with the tag that is issued with the hunter’s turkey license immediately after take, and all birds must be registered within 24 hours. Hunters choosing to harvest two birds in the spring (where permitted) must register their first bird prior to taking a second bird. To learn more about registering your harvest visit www.wildlife.state.nh.us/hunting/turkey-reg.html.

Spring turkey hunters interested in harvesting two male or bearded birds may take one bird statewide and the other may only be taken in Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) H1, H2, I1, J2, K, L, or M.

Turkey hunters who harvest a second bird during the spring season forfeit their chance to take a bird during the statewide fall archery and shotgun seasons. The fall shotgun season is restricted to designated WMUs. Read about all regulations in the NH Hunting Digest by visiting wildlife.nh.gov/hunting-nh.

People who would like to try hunting turkeys this spring and were unable to complete Hunter Education should consider the Apprentice Hunting License. This license allows those age 16 and older interested in trying hunting to do so under the guidance of an experienced hunter without first taking Hunter Education. Learn more at www.huntnh.com/hunting/apprentice.html or call (603) 271-3422 for more information.