Turkey hunters set a new record with a total of 5,723 wild turkeys harvested during the spring season. This just surpasses the previous record that was set during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when a total of 5,718 turkeys were harvested. The 2022 harvest was also an increase compared with last spring when 5,399 turkeys were harvest.
The 2022 spring harvest was comprised of 22 (0.4%) bearded hens, 1,171 jakes (20.5%), and 4,530 toms (79.1%). This includes the youth turkey hunt which took place the weekend prior to the spring season. The youth weekend resulted in 428 turkeys harvested or 7.5% of the season total.
2022 marked the fourth consecutive year that hunters could harvest two birds during the spring season. A total of 4,606 hunters were successful at harvesting a turkey this spring, which is an increase from 4,442 hunters the previous year. Among those successful, 3,490 (75.8%) registered one bird and 1,116 hunters (24.2%) registered two birds. Of the hunters taking multiple birds this spring, 1,043 were adults and 73 were minors (under 16 years of age).
For the third consecutive year, nearly half of successful hunters opted to register their harvest online (48%) and slightly more than half (52%) visited one of the in-person registration stations across the state. This was similar to last year when 45% registered online and 55% registered in person.
The top 10 towns with the highest harvests included Weare (82), Gilmanton (77), Alton (74), Loudon (73), Plainfield (70), Claremont (69), Concord (67), Farmington (65), Cornish (64) and Epsom (59). These 10 towns listed were also in the top 10 last year. A total of 23 towns registered 50 or more male turkeys this spring.
Wild turkey management in New Hampshire is funded, in part, through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Restoration Program.