Five Counties Report Record Harvests
Photo by Erik Yetter
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced today that hunters reported harvesting 3,861 wild turkeys during the 2018 regular spring and junior hunt turkey seasons. This year’s harvest was 8 percent lower than the record 2017 harvest, but well above the 10-year average of 3,406.
“Turkey populations continue to grow in a few areas of the state, but several years of below-average reproduction has reduced numbers in most regions,” Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Paul Peditto said.
Washington County reported the highest harvest this year with 459 turkeys, followed by Garrett County with 412. Rounding out the top five were Charles County with 336, Frederick County with 313, and Allegany County with 250. Record harvests were reported in Baltimore, Charles, Howard, Montgomery and Washington counties this year.
Hunters in 10 counties were able to hunt on Sundays this year, which lead to a harvest of 327 turkeys.
Youth hunters kicked-off the spring turkey season with the Junior Turkey Hunt April 14 statewide and April 15 in select counties, reporting 239 wild turkeys harvested.
Reported Spring Turkey Harvest, 2013-2018 County 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Allegany 269 258 298 256 293 250 Anne Arundel 82 54 62 45 58 49 Baltimore 37 32 35 52 51 55 Calvert 57 59 69 73 59 76 Caroline 142 141 159 172 149 135 Carroll 33 45 62 76 103 103 Cecil 55 57 67 69 87 69 Charles 270 254 253 265 320 336 Dorchester 245 239 252 274 303 212 Frederick 215 193 256 299 332 313 Garrett 386 383 421 387 429 412 Harford 110 97 102 110 127 105 Howard 16 10 16 34 24 36 Kent 118 150 164 181 174 168 Montgomery 82 68 97 94 135 149 Prince George’s 78 79 87 87 91 76 Queen Anne’s 159 165 183 190 160 115 Somerset 124 120 169 150 163 145 St. Mary’s 127 173 193 188 202 191 Talbot 103 83 68 88 94 80 Washington 309 343 392 355 426 459 Wicomico 124 146 138 206 175 139 Worcester 203 176 224 223 220 188 Total 3,344 3,325 3,767 3,874 4,175 3,861
The turkey season ended May 23.