Illinois hunters harvested 13,701 wild turkeys during the spring seasons, up slightly from the 13,613 in 2021. That’s notable because the 2021 total harvest included a record youth harvest.
I will admit I was curious how the numbers would look, considering the late arrival of spring. I had drawn a fourth season permit and there was little understory and even less leafing out. Maybe that lack of vegetation helped with harvest.
Here’s the word from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources:
Illinois 2022 spring wild turkey preliminary harvest totals 13,701 birds
SPRINGFIELD – Turkey hunters harvested a preliminary statewide total of 13,701 wild turkeys during the 2022 Illinois Spring Turkey Season. This year’s preliminary harvest total compares with the 2021 statewide turkey harvest of 13,613.
A total of 81,903 permits were sold this year compared to 83,240 in 2021.
The statewide preliminary total includes the 2022 Youth Turkey Season harvest of 1,258 birds, which compares with the 2021 youth harvest of 1,304 turkeys (the record for youth season harvest). The statewide record total harvest for the spring turkey season was set in 2006 when 16,569 turkeys were harvested.
Spring turkey hunting was open in 100 of Illinois’ 102 counties. The 2022 season dates were April 4-May 5 in the South Zone and April 11-May 12 in the North Zone. The Youth Spring Turkey Season was March 26-27 and April 2-3 statewide.
The top five counties for spring wild turkey harvest in 2021 were Jefferson (422), Jo Daviess (416), Pike (368), Randolph (315), and Pope (312).
A table showing county preliminary harvest totals for the 2022 Illinois Spring Turkey Season and 2021 comparable harvest totals follows.
County 2022 2021
ADAMS 300 278
ALEXANDER 140 155
BOND 125 130
BOONE 87 73
BROWN 196 221
BUREAU 169 150
CALHOUN 216 185
CARROLL 159 131
CASS 212 211
CHAMPAIGN 22 20
CHRISTIAN 43 39
CLARK 200 213
CLAY 212 225
CLINTON 97 85
COLES 30 46
CRAWFORD 189 178
CUMBERLAND 55 64
DEKALB 15 10
DEWITT 36 50
DOUGLAS 10 7
EDGAR 95 80
EDWARDS 92 79
EFFINGHAM 113 129
FAYETTE 215 269
FORD 11 16
FRANKLIN 208 184
FULTON 247 245
GALLATIN/HARDIN 221 202
GREENE 124 140
GRUNDY 61 53
HAMILTON 212 241
HANCOCK 271 254
HENDERSON 137 133
HENRY 103 107
IROQUOIS 84 79
JACKSON 281 280
JASPER 130 136
JEFFERSON 422 428
JERSEY 173 146
JODAVIESS 416 354
JOHNSON 242 223
KANE 1 0
KANKAKEE 44 45
KENDALL 10 9
KNOX 202 225
LAKE 10 6
LASALLE 95 110
LAWRENCE 130 143
LEE 90 85
LIVINGSTON 30 32
LOGAN 33 28
MACON 21 26
MACOUPIN 261 225
MADISON 205 192
MARION 310 338
MARSHALL/PUTNAM 104 105
MASON 143 134
MASSAC 104 98
MCDONOUGH 118 124
MCHENRY 101 98
MCLEAN 60 63
MENARD 72 75
MERCER 183 187
MONROE 135 141
MONTGOMERY 145 152
MORGAN 100 127
MOULTRIE 30 21
OGLE 191 155
PEORIA 126 113
PERRY 219 231
PIATT 4 11
PIKE 368 356
POPE 312 276
PULASKI 101 113
RANDOLPH 315 295
RICHLAND 123 109
ROCK ISLAND 164 157
SALINE 117 113
SANGAMON 91 104
SCHUYLER 192 185
SCOTT 82 70
SHELBY 129 132
ST CLAIR 129 127
STARK 12 17
STEPHENSON 206 155
TAZEWELL 70 72
UNION 211 265
VERMILION 130 131
WABASH 40 41
WARREN 46 49
WASHINGTON 138 135
WAYNE 262 302
WHITE 143 182
WHITESIDE 130 107
WILL 62 74
WILLIAMSON 269 288
WINNEBAGO 151 144
WOODFORD 60 66
Total 13,701 13,613
