Spring Hunters Harvest 4,002 Wild Turkeys in Maryland

June 6, 2019

Maryland hunters reported harvesting 4,002 wild turkeys during the 2019 regular spring and junior hunt turkey seasons, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced. This year’s harvest was the second-highest on record, and reflects a 4% increase compared to the 2018 harvest of 3,861 birds.

“A combination of abundant wild turkeys throughout most of the state and good weather during the season contributed to the increase in harvest,” Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Paul Peditto said.

Garrett County reported the highest harvest numbers this year with 429 turkeys, followed by Washington County with 414. Rounding out the top five were Charles County with 348, Frederick County with 304, and Allegany County with 278. Baltimore, Cecil, Charles, and Prince George’s counties each reported record harvests for their locations.

Hunters in 10 counties were able to hunt on Sundays again this year, leading to a harvest of 314 turkeys.

Youth hunters kicked off the spring turkey season statewide on April 13 with the Junior Turkey Hunt, with additional junior hunting on April 14 in select counties. In total, junior hunters harvested 232 wild turkeys.


Total harvests by county are below:

County 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Allegany 298 256 293 250 278
Anne Arundel 62 45 58 49 74
Baltimore 35 52 51 55 56
Calvert 69 73 59 76 68
Caroline 159 172 149 135 152
Carroll 62 76 103 103 73
Cecil 67 69 87 69 89
Charles 253 265 320 336 348
Dorchester 252 274 303 212 221
Frederick 256 299 332 313 304
Garrett 421 387 429 412 429
Harford 102 110 127 105 124
Howard 16 34 24 36 33
Kent 164 181 174 168 166
Montgomery 97 94 135 149 135
Prince George’s 87 87 91 76 105
Queen Anne’s 183 190 160 115 145
Somerset 169 150 163 145 129
St. Mary’s 193 188 202 191 188
Talbot 68 88 94 80 87
Washington 392 355 426 459 414
Wicomico 138 206 175 139 155
Worcester 224 223 220 188 229
Statewide 3,767 3,874 4,175 3,861 4,002