The 2027 spring wild turkey hunting season will run from April 10 through May 9, 2027. A special two-day hunt for youth and non-ambulatory hunters is set for April 3 and 5, 2027.

Resident and non-resident hunters aged 13 and older must have a valid Delaware Hunting License and pass a turkey hunting course approved by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife before they can legally hunt turkeys in Delaware.

Hunting on Sunday is now permitted for turkeys. The bag limit is one turkey per year. Bearded turkeys only.

Turkey hunting hours are one half-hour before sunrise until 1 p.m. All successful turkey hunters must register their turkey within 24 hours of harvest.

Successful turkey hunters can register their turkey by visiting de.gov/DigitalDNREC or by calling the toll-free number 1-855-DEL-HUNT (1-855-335-4868).

Delaware Game Harvest Information

The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife has created a dashboard to visualize reported deer and wild turkey harvests across Delaware. Users can filter by season and wildlife management zone to explore spatial patterns and trends.

The dashboard uses data from mandatory hunter harvest reports. This data is also used by the Division to support science-based deer and turkey management.

The 2026 Wild Turkey Hunting Season

A total of 816 wild turkeys were harvested during the 2026 season, ranking as the highest harvested in Delaware since the season opened in 1991. The previous high was in 2025 when 801 turkeys were harvested.

The 2026 season ran from April 11 to May 10, with a special two-day hunt for youth and non-ambulatory hunters on April 4 and 5.

Learn more in the 2026 Spring Wild Turkey Harvest Report.

Harvest by Turkey Management Region

Delaware is divided into four wild turkey management regions, made up of 18 wildlife management zones.

The Interior Region accounted for 41.2% of harvested wild turkey in 2026 (336 birds). This region includes zones 2, 4, 6-8 and 10.

There were 300 birds (36.7%) harvested from the Southern Region (zones 11 through 17).

There were 154 birds (18.9%) harvested from the Bayshore Region (zones 3, 5 and 9).

And 26 birds (3.2%) were harvested from the Northern Region.

Public Land vs. Private Land

Those hunting on private land were allowed to hunt on every day of the season. Those hunting on public land were selected through a preseason lottery to hunt during one of four week-long season segments.

Most wild turkeys harvested in 2026 were taken from private lands (638 birds; 78.2%), though a record number, 178 birds (21.8%), were harvested on public lands.

With the addition of Sunday hunting for some wildlife areas, and the addition of access at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge as well as Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge (no Sunday hunting), public land hunters were given more opportunities.

The top three public lands for harvesting wild turkey in 2026 were Redden State Forest, Midlands Wildlife Area, and Norman G. Wilder Wildlife Area.

2026 Youth and Non-ambulatory Person Hunt

With the addition of Sunday hunting in 2025, the youth and non-ambulatory hunt ran on both Saturday April 4 and Sunday April 5.

During this two-day hunt, 68 birds were harvested, 50 from Saturday, April 4 and 18 from Sunday, April 5.

Related Topics:  dfw, fish and wildlife, hunting, outdoors and recreation, turkey, turkey hunting, wild turkey, wildlife