The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced that hunters reported taking 67 wild turkeys during the 2022 winter turkey season, which was open statewide Jan. 20-22. This year’s harvest was 24% lower than the 2021 winter total of 89 turkeys.

St. Mary’s, Baltimore, and Caroline counties reported the highest harvests respectively, although turkeys were reported from most counties across the state. Adult males, or “toms,” comprised 30% of the harvest with the remainder being females and juveniles. Eighty-one percent were taken with a shotgun, but some hunters harvested their bird with a crossbow or vertical bow.

Photo by Tony Wheatley, submitted to the 2018 Maryland DNR Photo Contest. Credit: Tony Wheatley

The winter turkey season was established in 2015 to provide hunters with an additional hunting opportunity while minimizing conflicts with other hunting seasons. Turkey’s populations at one time were limited in Maryland. In the 1980s and 1990s, an extensive program to trap and relocate wild flocks successfully established populations in every county.

Maryland’s spring turkey season, which provides the largest annual harvest, begins in April.

Winter Wild Turkey Season Harvest, 2017-2022
County201720182019202020212022
Allegany964244
Anne Arundel242204
Baltimore711137
Calvert011200
Caroline221545
Carroll232513
Cecil223342
Charles1043180
Dorchester1486361
Frederick6673123
Garrett987974
Harford221053
Howard111104
Kent343620
Montgomery321132
Prince George’s302571
Queen Anne’s556431
Somerset324634
St. Mary’s71061369
Talbot120430
Washington1187353
Wicomico633134
Worcester132203
  Total1098773828967

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