Bonus turkey harvest authorizations, previously known as leftover permits, will go on sale the week of March 18, with a designated sales date for each zone. Hunters who missed the spring turkey drawing deadline last December or who want additional harvest authorizations can purchase bonus authorizations beginning March 18.
The scheduled sales dates for the 2019 spring turkey season are:
Zone 1 – Monday, March 18;
Zone 2 – Tuesday, March 19;
Zone 3 – Wednesday, March 20;
Zone 4 – Thursday, March 21; and
Zones 5, 6 and 7 – Friday, March 22.
Bonus harvest authorizations can be purchased online through GoWild.Wi.Gov and at all license agents. Sales begin at 10 a.m. and run through midnight each day.
After zone-specific sales, all remaining turkey harvest authorizations for all zones will be made available for purchase Saturday, March 23 at 10 a.m.
Bonus harvest authorizations cost $10 for residents and $15 for non-residents. Both residents and non-residents will have equal opportunity for purchase. Bonus turkey harvest authorizations can be purchased at a rate of one per day until the zone and time period is sold out or the season closes. Bonus harvest authorization purchases will not affect preference point status for future spring drawings. In total, 109,771 bonus turkey harvest authorizations are available across all seven turkey zones for the 2019 spring season. Hunters are encouraged to check the turkey zone map [PDF] and the spring turkey bonus harvest authorization availability to see if harvest authorizations are available for the time period and turkey zone in which they wish to hunt. All spring turkey hunters are required to possess a valid spring turkey license, a 2019 wild turkey stamp and a valid turkey harvest authorization. If not already done, hunters will be required to purchase the spring turkey license and stamp authorization when they purchase a bonus harvest authorization.
Purchasing online
To purchase a bonus harvest authorization online through Go Wild, hunters will need to log on to their personalized dashboard at GoWild.Wi.Gov and click the “Buy License” button. From there, “Spring Turkey Bonus Harvest Authorization” will be at the top of the list. During the sale of spring bonus harvest authorizations through Go Wild, the system will use an online queue to assign random numbers to customers who enter the site between 9:45 and 10 a.m. It is important to note that there is no advantage to entering the site prior to 9:45 a.m. Customers who enter after 10 a.m. will be added to the queue in order of arrival. Department of Natural Resources customer service staff recommend that turkey hunters who are interested in purchasing a Conservation Patron license do so prior to March 18 to make the bonus harvest authorization process as quick and easy as possible.
Spring turkey season
The spring turkey season is comprised of six seven-day periods running Wednesday through the following Tuesday. A total of seven zones will be open for hunting in 2019 – spring Turkey season dates are as follows:
Youth Hunt: April 13-14;
Period A: April 17-23;
Period B: April 24-30;
Period C: May 1-7;
Period D: May 8-14;
Period E: May 15-21; and
Period F: May 22-18.
Spring turkey hunting regulations can be found within the 2018 Small Game Hunting Regulations, 2018 Fall Turkey Regulations and 2019 Spring Turkey Regulations [PDF].
Youth turkey hunt set for April 13-14
Youth hunters under the age of 16 may hunt during the youth turkey hunt April 13-14. Hunters under the age of 12 and youth hunters without hunter safety certification can participate in the youth turkey hunt through the Mentored Hunting Program. Youth hunters must be accompanied by a qualified adult and follow all youth turkey hunting and mentored hunting program rules. Spring turkey youth hunters must possess a valid spring turkey license, stamp and harvest authorization. A harvest authorization for any time period can be used during the youth hunt weekend, but youth hunters must hunt within the turkey management zone indicated on their harvest authorization.
For more information regarding turkey hunting in Wisconsin, visit dnr.wi.gov and search keyword “turkey.”