Illinois turkey harvest a record, down slightly in Lawrence County

Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at 1:33 PM

By Staff report

Illinois turkey hunters harvested a preliminary record total of 18,189 wild turkeys during the 2025 spring turkey season.

This year's total compares with the previous record total of 17,208 turkeys harvested in 2024.

The top five counties for harvest in 2025 were Jo Daviess, 628; Jefferson, 518; Pike, 468; Marion, 428; and Pope, 425.

In Lawrence County, numbers were down just slightly from 182 in 2024 to 175 this season.

Crawford County was up two turkeys in 2025 to 242. Richland increased by 14 to 158 while Wabash County had 58 turkeys harvested, seven more than 2024.

The 2025 total includes the record youth spring turkey season harvest of 2,099 birds, which compares with the previous record of 2,010 birds set in 2024.

This year 89,687 permits were sold compared to 86,083 last year.

Spring turkey hunting was open in 100 of Illinois' 102 counties. The 2025 regular season dates were April 7 through May 8 in the south zone and April 14 through May 15 in the north zone. The 2025 youth spring turkey season was March 29-30 and April 5-6 statewide.