Maryland Spring Turkey Hunters Harvest 4,959 Birds

June 5, 2024

Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo

Maryland hunters harvested 4,959 wild turkeys during the 2024 spring regular and junior turkey seasons. This year’s harvest was 7% lower than the record amount set last spring, but surpassed the harvest totals from previous seasons.

“Hunters took advantage of favorable weather and abundant turkey populations with another high harvest,” Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Karina Stonesifer said. “A slight decrease was not unexpected after the record-breaking harvest in the spring of 2023.”

DNR surveys documented average to excellent reproductive success in many regions during the summers of 2021 and 2022, resulting in a good number of 2-3 year-old gobblers available this spring. Adult gobblers comprised 87% of the total harvest.

Garrett County reported the highest harvest with 546 turkeys, followed by Charles County (472) and Washington County (442). Four counties produced record harvests: Charles, Queen Anne’s, Wicomico, and Worcester.

Youth hunters started the spring turkey season statewide on April 13-14 with the Junior Turkey Hunt. Despite poor weather, junior hunters harvested 333 wild turkeys during that weekend, accounting for about 6% of the total. A total of 603 birds were taken on Sundays, comprising 12% of the total take.


Harvests by county are below:

County 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Allegany 286 266 282 483 345
Anne Arundel 81 64 85 136 106
Baltimore 65 53 82 101 89
Calvert 82 58 72 99 107
Caroline 180 149 168 174 151
Carroll 93 104 94 132 125
Cecil 94 80 67 95 86
Charles 369 353 334 445 472
Dorchester 211 197 170 180 211
Frederick 348 281 343 391 322
Garrett 387 374 436 579 546
Harford 88 104 91 128 105
Howard 34 35 51 61 40
Kent 206 151 160 184 130
Montgomery 162 154 164 206 150
Prince George’s 109 99 115 164 135
Queen Anne’s 144 120 144 170 191
Somerset 171 180 176 199 202
St. Mary’s 226 187 204 253 226
Talbot 95 80 84 96 95
Washington 439 345 400 515 445
Wicomico 193 181 193 215 238
Worcester 240 295 293 350 442
    Total 4,303 3,910 4,208 5,356 4,959