A strong population and good weather led to a record harvest in the spring turkey hunting season in Kentucky.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife says 36,439 turkeys were harvested during the spring hunting season, well ahead of the 10-year average of 30,847 and breaking the state record set in 2010 by about 340 birds. This included 2,613 turkeys harvested during the youth-only season and 13,670 harvested during opening weekend of the spring season.
KFW says more than 99 percent of the turkeys harvested during the spring season were males. About 86 percent of the harvested birds were toms, or adult male birds, while the rest were younger jakes.
Graves County saw the highest turkey harvest with 778 birds, followed by Muhlenberg county at 746 and Breckinridge County at 662. Hardin and Grayson counties also made the top ten with 566 and 548 birds harvested, respectively. Nearly 36,000 of the harvested birds were taken by shotgun, with 258 by bow and 129 by crossbow.
KFW says officials attribute the high harvest to factors such as more turkeys on the landscape, more hunters in the woods, and good weather for hunting during the season. KFW says: “Poult surveys from a year ago suggest the 2027 spring season will also be good, but young turkeys face threats like disappearing habitat, early mowing, and predators.”
Find more information at fw.ky.gov.
