WCBC

June 13th, 2021 by WCBC Radio

Month-long Season Started with Youth Hunt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maryland hunters harvested 3,910 wild turkeys during the spring 2021 regular and junior turkey seasons, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported. This year’s harvest was 9% below the record harvest of 4,303 set in 2020, but still 4% above the 10-year average.

“Turkey populations in much of the state have increased significantly in the past decade,” Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Paul Peditto said. “It is not unexpected to see a stabilization or slight decline in both numbers of turkeys and the spring harvest following a period of growth.”

The percentage of juvenile turkeys or “jakes” reported in the harvest declined to 16%. This supports other survey data showing that  summer 2020 was a below-average year for turkey production across most of the state.

Despite a decline in harvest in many counties, the top three counties all posted harvests above 300 birds. Garrett County reported 374 turkeys, followed by Charles County with 353, and Washington County with 345.

Youth hunters kicked off the spring turkey season statewide on April 17 with the Junior Turkey Hunt. An additional junior hunting opportunity occurred on April 18 in select counties. In total, junior hunters harvested 255 wild turkeys, accounting for about 6% of the total spring harvest.

Total harvests by county are below:

County	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Allegany	293	250	278	286	266
Anne Arundel	58	49	74	81	64
Baltimore	51	55	56	65	53
Calvert	59	76	68	82	58
Caroline	149	135	152	180	149
Carroll	103	103	73	93	104
Cecil	87	69	89	94	80
Charles	320	336	348	369	353
Dorchester	303	212	221	211	197
Frederick	332	313	304	348	281
Garrett	429	412	429	387	374
Harford	127	105	124	88	104
Howard	24	36	33	34	35
Kent	174	168	166	206	151
Montgomery	135	149	135	162	154
Prince George’s	91	76	105	109	99
Queen Anne’s	160	115	145	144	120
Somerset	163	145	129	171	180
St. Mary’s	202	191	188	226	187
Talbot	94	80	87	95	80
Washington	426	459	414	439	345
Wicomico	175	139	155	193	181
Worcester	220	188	229	240	295
Statewide	4,175	3,861	4,002	4,303	3,910