Turkey Season Harvest Trends

New Hampshire offers excellent opportunities for hunting wild turkey. This is possible today only because turkeys have made an amazing comeback in New Hampshire. By 1854, the birds had completely disappeared in the state because of habitat loss and market and subsistence hunting - and the fact that no Fish and Game Department existed to regulate these activities. Restoration efforts began in 1975, when Fish and Game released 25 wild turkeys in New Hampshire; careful management based on good science has allowed that initial introduction to grow to more than 40,000 birds today. This population is a true wildlife restoration success story in the Granite State -- thanks to the Federal Aid in Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program!

As the wild turkey population continued to grow and expand, so have hunting opportunities:

• 1980: first regulated turkey hunt occurred in NH by lottery
• 1985: Fall archery season began
• 2004: Youth weekend hunt was implemented
• 2006: Fall shotgun season began (in designated Wildlife Management Units)
• 2019: Spring harvest was liberalized to allow the take of two birds in designated Wildlife Management Units.

Today, wild turkeys, and opportunities to hunt them, occur statewide.