Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

10/27/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/28/2025 14:19

Fall firearm hunters harvest 255 wild turkeys in Illinois

Fall firearm hunters harvest 255 wild turkeys in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - Turkey hunters in Illinois harvested 255 wild turkeys during the 2025 fall firearm season Oct. 18-26, compared to 294 harvested last year.

The record harvest was set in 2005 when 1,218 birds were harvested.

This year 1,763 regular fall firearm season permits were sold compared to 1,756 last year. The largest number of permits sold was in 2007 when hunters purchased 4,968 permits.

Fall firearm turkey hunting was open in 56 of Illinois' 102 counties. The top counties for harvest this year were Jefferson (16), Jo Daviess (16), Jasper (11), Union (11), and Wayne (11). Approximately 57% of the harvest were female birds and 43% were male.

The table below includes the preliminary 2025 county-by-county fall firearm turkey harvest results with comparable totals for 2024.

County

2024

2025

Adams

0

0

Alexander

4

4

Brown

1

2

Calhoun

6

0

Carroll

4

0

Cass

12

5

Clark

3

1

Clay

4

5

Crawford

5

4

Edwards

2

4

Franklin

6

9

Fulton

5

2

Gallatin

3

2

Greene

1

5

Hamilton

4

3

Hancock

2

1

Hardin

3

3

Henderson

4

0

Jackson

10

6

Jasper

17

11

Jefferson

17

16

Jersey

3

6

Jo Daviess

13

16

Johnson

6

7

Knox

7

2

Lawrence

2

2

Macoupin

6

2

Madison

9

4

Marion

16

9

Mason

6

8

Massac

5

4

McDonough

3

5

Menard

1

0

Mercer

1

1

Monroe

1

3

Morgan

1

1

Perry

4

6

Pike

6

8

Pope

7

8

Pulaski

2

1

Randolph

5

9

Richland

6

5

Rock Island

1

1

Saline

6

3

Schuyler

5

3

Scott

5

7

Stephenson

10

3

Union

10

11

Wabash

1

2

Warren

2

0

Washington

1

4

Wayne

10

11

White

2

4

Whiteside

5

3

Williamson

5

7

Winnebago

8

6

Totals

294

255


About IDNR

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is celebrating 100 years of conservation and service to the people of Illinois throughout 2025. The department was established July 1, 1925, as the Illinois Department of Conservation, bringing under one umbrella oversight of fish and game, forestry, public works, and lakes.


Today, IDNR's work encompasses management of about 400 sites across Illinois, including state parks and historic sites; wildlife, fisheries, forestry, and natural heritage; Lake Michigan water allocation and coastal management; conservation police; mines and minerals; oil and gas; issuance of licenses, permits, and numerous grants; the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta; and the Illinois State Museum. Visit https://dnr.illinois.gov for more information.
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency published this content on October 27, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 28, 2025 at 20:19 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]