In order to provide more opportunity for both youth and adult turkey hunters and abide by current executive orders, Commissioner Judy Camuso with the support of Governor Janet Mills, will open the Mane turkey season early, providing hunters with additional days to hunt this spring season, and will also suspend the requirement to register your harvested turkey.

“The extra days will provide hunters with more opportunities to enjoy one of Maine’s most popular hunts, and the temporary suspension of the registration requirement ensures that all involved in Maine’s turkey hunt will do their part to keep Maine safe during this unprecedented time,” said Judy Camuso, commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Under the revised season framework, youth hunters will now get two youth hunting days, Saturday April 25 and Monday, April 27 instead of only May 2. The regular season for all turkey hunters will now start on Saturday, May 2, instead of Monday, May 4. This will give youth hunters and adult hunters each an extra day to hunt, and will start the season earlier. The season will conclude as scheduled on June 6, 2020.

In order to comply with the governor’s executive order requiring social distancing, the requirement to register your harvested turkey will also be suspended for the spring season only. While biologists gather vital information about harvest numbers and turkey population health through the registration, this temporary, one-time suspension of the tagging requirement is not expected to have any long term impacts on the turkey population health. All other current bag limits, license and permit requirements apply.

“Temporarily removing the requirement to register turkeys during the spring season will be a challenge when it comes to determining the harvest,” said Nate Webb, Wildlife Division Director for MDIFW, “Fortunately we have captured and banded a large number of turkeys for the department’s wild turkey study and that will help us generate population estimates in the short term to help manage the turkey population.”

In order to try and gather the biological data lost through the suspension of the registration requirement, the department may send all turkey permit holders a post-hunt survey to gather information about how many birds they harvested, their location and other pertinent information.

Hunters are asked to fill out the survey, and also report a banded turkey if they harvest one. Information on how to report the turkey is on the band, including visiting https://wildturkeyme.org/report-a-tag/  or calling 1-844-234-9237.

“Turkey hunting continues to grow in popularity, and I hope these extra days of hunting will provide a welcome break during this unique time,” said Camuso.

Hunting tips

COVID-19 safety reminders for turkey hunting season:

• Hunt a spot close to home and be sure to respect private landowners! 

• Ask permission first. 

• Be safe and prepared. 

• Don’t share a ride, blind or equipment with non-household members.

• Follow CDC guidelines on physical distancing. • If you are exhibiting symptoms or have recently been exposed to COVID-19, stay home!

Please report banded wild turkeys

Temporarily waiving the requirement to register wild turkeys during the spring 2020 hunting season will come as a challenge to our harvest management. Fortunately, the department’s efforts to capture and band a subset of the turkey population will help to generate population estimates to inform future seasons and bag limits. There are currently several hundred banded wild turkeys across our Wildlife Management Districts (WMDs). Reporting banded turkeys is a reliable method to estimate the harvest when total harvest cannot be accounted for. Wildlife biologists have a record of the number of turkeys that were banded this past winter and will use the number of harvested banded birds shot that are reported to estimate the total spring harvest.

Information on how to report a banded wild turkey is printed on the band.  There are two methods you can use: Go to https://wildturkeyme.org/report-a-tag/  or call 1-844-234-9237.