What are the 2026 wild turkey hunting regulations in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin wild turkey regulations, 2026

Last updated 2026-09-24 · from WDNR data · 2026 season year

Wisconsin's 2026 wild turkey season runs September 12, 2026 to January 3, 2027 — 114 days afield. No single bag limit is shown for it here — read the notes below and check the current WDNR regulations before you go. Hunter orange is required. Stamps: Wild turkey stamp. Wisconsin also runs a spring season, April 21, 2027 to June 1, 2027, split into 6 segments with their own dates. Read against the 2026 season year, from WDNR.

Season and limits

Season: Wild turkey (fall) — September 12, 2026 to January 3, 2027
Bag limit: not shown No single bag limit is shown for it here. Where WDNR publishes one that changes by zone or partway through the season, the figures are in the notes below and this page will not pick one of them; where it publishes none at all, this page leaves it empty rather than guess — a wrong limit is worse than a missing one, because it looks researched. Check the Wisconsin Small Game Hunting Regulations.
Hunter orange: required At least 50% of clothing above the waist, and any head covering, must be blaze orange or fluorescent pink any time a firearm deer season is in progress. This applies to small game and archery hunters, not only to deer hunters. Waterfowl hunters are exempt.
Stamps: Wild turkey stamp

Wisconsin requires blaze orange or fluorescent pink only while a firearm deer season is in progress — but then it applies to small game hunters too. This app flags orange as required for the whole season because missing it during gun deer season is the dangerous error. Check the gun deer dates.
Some states let a turkey hunter out of blaze orange. Wisconsin does not: the exemption here is for waterfowl hunters, so a fall turkey hunter afield while a firearm deer season is open wears it like everybody else.
The limit is one turkey per harvest authorization, not a number of birds a day. A hunter holding more than one authorization may take more than one bird, so no daily figure is shown above — the authorizations in your pocket are the limit.
One turkey of any age or sex per harvest authorization — either sex, unlike spring, which is bearded or male birds only.
Three things, and all three: a turkey hunting licence for the season you are hunting, a wild turkey stamp, and an unfilled harvest authorization valid for the season, period and zone you are in.
One fall harvest authorization comes with the fall turkey licence at no extra cost, and you choose the zone when you buy it. Where a zone has quota left, bonus authorizations go on sale in August at ten dollars for residents and fifteen for non-residents, one per hunter per day.
Wisconsin runs seven turkey management zones, and they do not change the dates — every zone opens and shuts on the same day. What a zone decides is which authorization you may hold and how many WDNR issues there, so pick the zone you will actually hunt when you apply or buy.
Dogs are legal for fall turkey. They are not legal in spring.
Baiting turkeys is illegal. Hunting over agricultural crops and over wildlife food plots that were planted and left standing is not baiting.
Fall turkey runs on WDNR's deer, bear, elk and small game shooting-hours table. Spring turkey runs on the migratory bird table, which starts earlier in the morning — they are not the same hours.
Wisconsin's other turkey season is spring, and it is the bigger hunt: six one-week periods from 21 April to 1 June 2027, with a youth hunt on 17 and 18 April. Authorizations are drawn by zone and by period, and the application closes on 10 December.

Licences

Small game licence
Everyone hunting small game — Bought through Go Wild, WDNR's licence system.
Hunter education certificate
Anyone born on or after 1 January 1973 — Or a mentored hunting licence, which requires a qualified mentor within arm's reach.
Federal HIP registration
Woodcock and every other migratory bird — Free registration with the federal harvest survey.
Pheasant stamp
Pheasant hunters on WDNR-stocked land — Required in addition to the small game licence to hunt land the state stocks.

The other questions

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Open the hunting map →Public land and bird cover, drawn for the bird you are after.