Hunters in Illinois wrapped up the Wild Turkey Hunting Season for the year with lower totals than the year before.
According to data released by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources late last week, hunters in the state harvested 13,383 wild turkeys during the 2021 season. That’s down from last year’s total of 15,831.
The statewide preliminary numbers for the 2021 Youth Turkey Season saw 1,283 birds harvested, which too is down from the year before with 1,733 birds harvested. The 2020 season was a record for youth season harvest.
Spring turkey hunting was open to most of Illinois’ 102 counties, excluding only DuPage and Cook counties. Dates for the hunting in Illinois’ North Zone, which includes Knox and the surrounding counties, was April 12-May 13. The South Zone was April 5-May 6. The youth season was March 27-28 and April 3-4 around the state.
Knox County hunters bagged 221 turkeys during the season. That’s down 49 from 2020. Numbers were down throughout the region.
Henry County had 106, McDonough County had 124, Mercer County had 185, Peoria County had 112, Stark County had 17, and Warren County had 47.