The 15 States Bustling With the Most Wild Turkeys

AZ Animals ^ | 7/28/25 | Hannah Crawford

[DallasBiff]

The 15 States Bustling With the Most Wild Turkeys

Wild turkeys were almost wiped out over 120 years ago. But, thanks to unregulated hunting and habitat loss, they’ve made a huge comeback across the U.S.

There are even some states absolutely bursting with flocks of turkeys. Thanks to conservation and smart habitat management, wild turkeys have returned to forests and farmyards. Let’s break down the 15 states where you’ll absolutely see turkeys in.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: adblocker; turkey

[CFW]

About 25 or 30 years ago, the state (GA) stocked our area with wild turkeys. They actually put a flock out a couple of miles from my folks house. It took a few years but then we started seeing and hearing them quite often. Now a lot of guys in our county enjoy turkey hunting every spring.

[piasa]

Bad editing or AIor both.

[OrangeHoof]

Washington DC is full of turkeys. /s

...and donkeys and rhinos and hyenas and cheetahs...

[HartleyMBaldwin]

I see some in Arizona, though I haven’t hunted them. I still remember when I was in central Oregon in 1979, out in the forest, and saw a turkey. Until then I had no idea they were being reintroduced there. I haven’t been in Oregon for a long time, so I don’t know what the turkey population is.

[noiseman]

Depends….Are we talking birds or bottles?

[kvanbrunt2]

I used to hunt at the game lands above hamburg, PA. There were lots of birds and it was fun tracking them. and trying to call them in.

[Sawdring]

I hit one near Brainerd, MN two years ago. It broke some plastic off the front bumper but I got a few feathers in trade.

[Flycatcher]

We went to Ramsey Canyon/Sierra Vista 2 years ago and the place was crawling with them. They’d nest up in the trees at night

Yes, I’ve seen Wild Turkeys roost at night high up in trees too. But this was at Great Basin National Park in Nevada.

[Hyman Roth]

I love Wild turkey 101. The kickin chickin.

[dfwgator]

When you’re driving down the highway at night
And you’re feelin’ that wild turkey’s bite
Don’t give Johnny Walker a ride
‘Cause Jack Black is right by your side
You might get taken to the jailhouse and find
You’ve been arrested for driving while blind

[GenXPolymath]

“We have a lot in Texas but there are all in the western half of the state. Every time they try to re-introduce them to East Texas, the rednecks shoot them.”

West and East Texas Turkey season’s are tightly regulated there are a number of one Turkey counties(east of Austin West of college station north of Victoria). I will be near Marshall Texas on a former roommates’s who has been a game warden since 2005 in April season starts 22nd. Last 3 years in a row we both got birds with 12 gauge and TSS shot it puts the smack down from 80+ yards there is nothing like 18 grams per cubic centimeter density it makes lead look like steel shot. It’s denser then depleted uranium and $11 per shell but worth every penny when you can put a 100% pattern at 80 yards and still have clean kills to 100 if you can see the bird it’s a dead bird.

North Central, Central Texas and South Texas are loaded with wild Turkey. I have taken one this year already in CenTex with a crossbow it’s getting smoked Thursday morning along with a feral hog, my in-laws have never had wild hog tamales so the South Texas colonial is coming out this year on Turkey day. My land near Dilly Texas has Turkey for days, same for feral goats and hogs all three get shot every year. My buddies near Blanco and near Johnson City where the family compound is also have Turkey for days. I will fill my freezers for sure.

All of the Eastern zone is one gobbler per year in the whole zone no hens. In North and South zones are four birds per county per season per county except for single bird county. If you have land in two or more counties you could take 4 in fall and four more in spring in each county so 16 with two locations. No need for 16 birds a year but if you had a large fam I could see it. The wife, BIL and I have 15 deer tags between us we good on venison two bucks are already hanging in the ageing cooler from this weekend’s rifle hunt really a harvest they just walkout at the sound of the feeders it’s harvesting not hunting low fence so these are free range critters not caged in at all. Still meat is meat.

[FLNittany]

I would have guessed PA, but TX is a lot bigger.

[caver]

I live in southern Indiana, we have plenty of turkeys.

I was watching a HGTV show based in Oahu, Hawaii. They were panning a camera shot down a street and there was a wild turkey out front of a house. I wonder who introduced turkeys to Hawaii?

[crusty old prospector]

I have owned land for twenty years in eastern Anderson County. TPWD let turkeys loose in the Neches River bottoms for years five miles to the east of me. I have never seen one or heard one. Maybe a track or two. Too much brush. We did have a bear come through from Louisiana this summer. He didn’t find a woman so he went back to cross the Sabine.

[crusty old prospector]

I thought the same.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I never saw a wild turkey till a few years back I noticed several around in my field. I could hear the males gobble at night to bring in the others to roost. Then, with the coyotes and bobcats around here they disappeared.
Now my neighbor up the hill has some chickens and 3 tame turkeys running around. They are great fun to watch and often come down on my property.

[Repeal The 17th]

“...But, thanks to unregulated hunting and habitat loss,
they’ve made a huge comeback...”
-
This makes no sense.

[GenXPolymath]

Correction I just asked my game warden former roommate.

31 Tex. Admin. Code § 65.64 - Turkey

Even more strict now.

[(a) The annual bag limit for turkey (all subspecies), in the aggregate, is four, only one of which may be from a county listed in subsection (b)(3)(D) of this section.]

The part (b) is the East Texas Turkey season’s counties so only one bird per year and it counts against your now four total anywhere in the state it used to be by the county not state wide.

[GenXPolymath]

Texas recently made it illegal to hunt in public river bottoms which is state land not private land up to the halfway point of the bank, East Texas rivers have vast public flood plains in their bottoms. No rifles,no bows only shotguns and no slugs. Given that you cannot shoot across water it makes hunting anything very hard now in the river bottoms. You could still set up a blind and call birds in to shoot over the flood plain but don’t get caught putting shot over water is exactly what he said.

Interestingly the law doesn’t prohibit PCP Airguns the word is firearm except for shotguns with shot or buckshot specifically. That which is not illegal is permitted we live in freedom not commieland. You can get a 45 caliber PCP that will push 225gr at 700+ fps that’s more than my subsonic 300 blackout does energy wise it should be a hammer. I don’t do river bottoms to many trigger happy yahoos much better to just use your own land or make friends and business deals...hey you want an SWD on your land sure I can design,drill and get the UIC to accept my PG stamp for the permit...how about we talk about during deer season it’s nice outside and we can survey the land at the same time I’ll bring a rifle and some RTK GPS ;) I am busy this time of year with “survey’s”

[Hot Tabasco]

thanks to unregulated hunting and habitat loss, they’ve made a huge comeback across the U.S.

Huh? That don't make any sense.....