Pennsylvania turkey population stabilizes, heading into 2025 spring gobbler season

After declining from its peaks earlier this century, Pennsylvania’s wild turkey population appears to have stabilized — offering hunters some solid opportunities when they head afield in May for spring gobbler season.

According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, there were approximately 170,400 spring turkey hunters in 2024 and they harvested 39,268 birds. That’s up slightly over the previous three-year average of approximately 37,900 birds per year.

This year, the season kicks off with the annual youth day Saturday, April 26, followed by the regular, statewide season running May 3-31. Hunting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to noon May 3-17, and one-half hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset May 19-31.

“The Game Commission these days monitors turkey populations not strictly based on the harvest total, but by trends in the harvest per 100 days of turkey hunting effort,” said Pennsylvania Game Commission Wild Turkey Biologist Mary Jo Casalena. “That better accounts for changes in (hunter) participation. For example, if the harvest declines from one year to the next, that may not necessarily mean there are fewer birds. It could be that there are fewer hunters taking and reporting them.

“When looked at that way, turkey populations are stable statewide except for three Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) — WMUs 3D, 4C and 5B — and even in those the turkey population has recently showed slight improvements.”

All this said, there are definitely areas of the state that are more productive than others. If you look at hunter success rates, the highest harvest rates almost all come from the western part of the commonwealth. A couple notable exceptions are WMU 3C in the northeastern corner, which is a top bird producer year after year, and southeastern Pennsylvania’s WMU 5D, where there is little in the way of public hunting access.

“Last spring, three WMUs tied for the best hunter success rate at 28% — 2A, 2C and 2E,” Casalena said. “Right behind were 1A at 27%, 1B at 26% and 2D and 3C, at 25% each. WMUs 5A and 5D also showed success rates of 26% and 27%, respectively, but hunter density and hunting access may be more challenging there.”

In terms of the number of turkeys harvested per 100 days of hunting effort — the most recent Game Commission statistics include the 2023-24 fall and spring seasons combined — WMU 2A in the extreme southwestern corner of the state was tops in the state at 9.1 birds per 100 days hunting. The rest of the top five, in order, were 5D (7.5), 1A (7.2), 3C (7.2) and 2D (7.1).

Lehigh Valley’s turkey population

Locally, the turkey population in WMU 5C, which includes most of the Lehigh Valley, remains low but stable based on harvest and harvest success rates. It’s hard to compare this region to other areas of Pennsylvania when it comes to turkeys and turkey hunting because of the large human population and the fact that the habitat is so fragmented. That said, hunters do find success in some areas.

Casalena said hunters took 500 gobblers in WMU 5C during the 2024 spring season, matching the previous three-year average.

“The 2024 hunter success rate, meanwhile, was 15%, compared to 14% over the previous three-year average,” she said.

One of the other ways the Game Commission monitors the state’s turkey population is through an annual summer turkey sighting survey that asks the public to report any birds they observe. That allows the agency to estimate the number of turkey poults seen per hen throughout the state during July and August.

“It is an index of reproductive success over time that informs the agency’s turkey population model, helps assess trends in populations and factors into the fall turkey season recommendation process,” Casalena said. “Statewide, on average, people reported seeing 3.2 poults per all hens seen (in 2024). That exceeded the previous five-year average of 2.9.

“More notably, for the first time since 2019, reports indicated more than 2.0 poults per hen in every Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) across Pennsylvania. That’s significant, as it indicates reproduction is sufficient to offset adult mortality across all WMUs. In other words, at that point, there are more birds being added to the population than being lost. That’s the latest part of what is now a longer-term trend — namely, a general increase in the statewide reproductive success over the past four years.”

N.J. cancels fall 2025 turkey hunt

While things are trending upward in the Keystone State, the turkey population in the Garden State is apparently still on the decline.

The New Jersey Fish and Game Council in March voted to close the fall either-sex wild turkey season statewide starting this fall. The state Division of Fish & Wildlife said turkey harvest trends have continuously declined since the early 2000s and are similar to biologists’ population estimates. Closing the fall season is designed to protect hens from harvest, hopefully helping to boost the population overall.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Hajna said there are several factors leading to the decline in bird numbers, including habitat loss, predation, weather and disease.

“The most significant declines in harvest are in the Northern Turkey Hunting Areas (THAs),” Hajna said. “The most stable populations are located in our Southern Turkey Hunting Areas, but even these are showing slight declines in harvest.”

Tips for spring gobbler success

As anyone who has hunted turkeys knows, having a bird gobble on the roost at first light — even in close proximity to you — or coming in to your call like it’s on a rope doesn’t always guarantee you’ll be slinging that tom over your shoulder as you walk out of the woods.

The first step in helping to ensure success this season is to scout in advance of the opener, and if you don’t find birds in your traditional hot spots — even during the season — don’t be afraid to check out new locations.

Then, of course, you need to stick with it, even if you don’t drop a bird on the first one or two outings of the season. In fact, sometimes the action can get better as the season progresses as fewer hunters are in the woods, more hens are on the nest and gobblers are more responsive to calling.

“A comparative abundance of turkeys on the landscape might mean lots of gobbles, but it doesn’t necessarily equate to easy hunting,” Casalena said. “Two-year-old gobblers are in some ways the ‘perfect’ bird. While not as young and naïve as jakes, they’re not as hard to pin down as 3-year-olds either. Hunters, though, are unlikely to find quite as many of them out there this year as last. Instead, there are more tough 3-year-olds.

“The good news is that with more turkeys overall comes more rivalry for hens. That can make all gobblers more vocal than they might be otherwise. The trick will be to not just get one talking — maybe a cautious older one — but to then seal the deal.”

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