News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Spring turkey hunting season will open across the state Saturday.
TWRA Regional Big Game Biologist Ben Layton said poor weather may affect opening weekend harvest numbers.
“We are expecting a good season this year. Unfortunately, in some parts of the state, it looks like the weather for this opening weekend may not be good for everyone,” Layton said. “They are calling for rain on Saturday.”
Layton said about 16 to 20 percent of all harvest comes in on the opening weekend, but complications with the electronic check system may have affected the reported numbers last year.
“Typically in the past several years, we have been statewide hunting harvest around 30,000 turkeys,” Layton said. “Last year, it dropped a little bit down to about 26,000 for the statewide harvest.”
Layton said he expects the harvest amount to reach 30,000 this year.
“Overall turkey populations in the state will probably hopefully be reaching what we consider carrying capacity in a lot of areas,” Layton said. “Once we get that population up to a certain level, we can expect the harvest numbers to kind of fluctuate.”
Layton said the hunting regulations have not changed.
“Hunters can harvest one a day, but for the entire season, they can harvest four,” Layton said. “The regulation is set for bearded birds to be legal because we did have situations where a few of our hens can have beards.”
Hunters must check their game either online at the Go Outdoors Tennessee website or on the TWRA On the Go app. The season begins on March 30 and ends May 13.
