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Where to hunt wild turkey near Asheville, North Carolina

Last updated 2026-09-24 · seasons from NCWRC · 2026–27 season year

There are 8 public units within 40 miles of Asheville, North Carolina that hold ground where wild turkey is recorded — 354,977 acres of it. The most of it is in Pisgah National Forest, 5 miles out, with 295,871 recorded acres. The season runs April 10, 2027 to May 15, 2027 — on dates that depend on the zone, read against the 2026–27 season year from NCWRC. Public-land boundaries here are PAD-US, which records who manages a parcel rather than where the line runs or whether a unit carries a local closure — check with NCWRC before you park.

Public land within 40 miles of Asheville

Distance is measured to the nearest edge of a unit rather than to its middle, in a straight line — this app carries no road network and will not print a drive time it cannot compute. A unit whose ground reaches inside the circle is listed for the acreage that is inside it, never for its statewide total.

Ordered by recorded acres — how much of each unit lies inside subbasins where wild turkey is recorded at regular strength or better — rather than by how big the unit is. The biggest block in a state is often not in the half of it the bird is in. PAD-US splits a forest into many parcels, so acreage is summed over the unit's name, and the share is measured against the unit's drawn boundary rather than a centroid: a national forest can be two polygons across half a peninsula.

This season's zones are date variants rather than places, so no unit is excluded for being outside one. The dates still differ between them.
Season geography here is read off a dates table rather than the rule itself, and a dates table carries no boundary.

UnitClassMilesRecorded acresAcres in rangeWhere the records are
Pisgah National Forest part of the unit National forest 5 295,871 366,125 12% stronghold, 68% regular, 19% occasional
Nantahala National Forest part of the unit National forest 28.3 49,638 49,997 99% stronghold, 1% occasional
Cold Mountain Game Land State game land 21.1 3,384 3,384 100% regular
Sandy Mush Game Land State game land 10.7 2,796 2,796 100% regular
William H Silver Game Land State game land 31.3 2,027 2,027 100% regular
Pisgah Game Land part of the unit State game land 33.6 894 1,897 47% stronghold, 53% occasional
Nantahala Game Land State game land 34 300 300 100% stronghold
Cherokee National Forest part of the unit National forest 26.4 67 67 23% stronghold, 77% regular

A unit marked part of the unit has ground outside the circle as well, and the acreage here is only what is inside it. PAD-US records who manages a parcel, not where its line runs on the ground and not whether it carries a local closure: context, not permission. Check the unit with NCWRC before you park.

Season and limits

NCWRC's dates for the 2026–27 season year, read from NCWRC. North Carolina lists this season as Wild turkey (spring). It is zoned, and a circle drawn round a town is not a zone — check which zone a unit falls in before you go.

ZoneOpensClosesDays
Statewide general seasonApril 17, 2027May 15, 202729
Statewide youth seasonApril 10, 2027April 11, 20272
Open today
Shut — next opening April 10, 2027
Bag limit
not shown No single bag limit is shown for this species here — read the notes below and check the current NCWRC regulations before you go.
Hunter orange
not required for this speciesAnyone hunting bear, feral swine, rabbit, squirrel, grouse, pheasant or quail with a firearm must wear a cap or hat of hunter orange, or an outer garment of hunter orange visible from all sides.
Shooting hours
not carried
Sundays
North Carolina allows Sunday hunting on private land with some limits, and restricts it on many public game lands. The per-game-land rule is not carried in this app — check the game land before you go.

What to walk when you get there

Mature hardwoods that carry mast — oak ridges and beech — against open ground: pasture, food plot, log landing or field edge where birds strut and feed. Roost trees are usually the biggest timber near water.

Locate first and call second. Fall hunting is often a matter of finding a flock, scattering it and calling it back together; spring hunting is working a gobbler off the roost from a set-up he can walk to without crossing anything.

Written for this app rather than read off an agency page — the cover a bird uses does not change at a state line. Everything above that is a date, a limit or an acreage names the source it came from.

Read next

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