Kentucky’s 2023 spring turkey hunting kicks off with the youth-only season held the weekend of April 1-2 followed by the general hunting season opening April 15 and continuing through May 7.
Kentucky’s spring hunting season is structured to give turkeys ample time to breed before introducing hunting pressure while giving hunters the opportunity to hear plenty of gobbling.
Zak Danks, wild turkey program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, forecasts a good year for gobbling by 2-year-old birds based on the above-average turkey brood survival rate recorded in 2021. Brood surveys, which are conducted in July and August, help the department make season predictions.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife maintains a “Learn to Hunt Turkey” page on its website designed to help newcomers to turkey hunting.
Kentucky’s statewide spring harvest limit is two legal turkeys. A legal turkey is defined as a wild turkey that is male or has a visible beard. Hunters should note a recent regulation change specifying that a hunter shall not take more than one legal turkey per Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in spring.
Basic turkey hunting essentials include:
A turkey call
Full camouflage including face mask and gloves, preferably
Annual resident or nonresident hunting license
Spring or Youth Turkey Permit
Harvest log and pen or pencil
Unless license exempt, hunters in the field must carry a spring turkey hunting permit and an annual hunting license. Youth hunters ages 12-15 may hunt turkeys using a youth turkey permit and youth hunting license. A sportsman’s license includes the permit and license.
Hunters can purchase or view licenses and permits through the department’s MyProfile online portal.
Hunters who harvest a turkey must report the harvest using the department’s “Telecheck” big game check-in system, which can be done online (also through MyProfile) or via telephone at 800-245-4263 (800-CHK-GAME). Telecheck helps ensure lawful harvests and records important biological data for monitoring harvest trends.
Hunters who harvest a turkey wearing a metal leg-band also should report the information as directed on the band to the department. These reports assist Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s research.
As a reminder, calls that imitate turkeys cannot be used from March 1 until the opening of the youth-only season and from the close of that season until the opening of the general season. However, hunters may use calls that imitate owls or crows while scouting in the pre-season.
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