Wisconsin's spring turkey tag drawing for hunters under review

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A recent finding could change the way tags are awarded to spring turkey hunters in Wisconsin.

For many years the Department of Natural Resources has held a drawing in winter to allocate about 60% of the available tags, or authorizations, for the spring wild turkey hunting season. Applicants must pay $3 or be conservation patron license holders to enter the lottery.

The "leftovers" are offered for sale in March.

It's all part of a system designed to distribute hunting pressure across six time periods and seven geographical zones and has historically resulted in high hunter satisfaction due to low crowding and sustained a robust turkey population.

However, turkey hunters in Wisconsin are likely to see a modification – most likely to the drawing process – in coming years.

The reason? About one in four hunters chosen for a tag through the annual drawing have not been purchasing their awards, according to DNR data.

The issue was brought to light at the April 2 meeting of the DNR Turkey Advisory Committee by committee member and Dane County conservation warden Jake Donar.

Donar said he had been hearing from some turkey hunters, especially in northern zones, who were having low success drawing their first or second choices in the annual process.

When he requested an analysis by DNR staff of 2022 to 2024 license data, it showed an average of 26% of hunters who drew turkey tags failed to purchase their awards.

"I was pretty shocked when I saw the numbers," Donar said.

That reaction was consistent throughout the committee.

It's not unusual for a portion of hunters or anglers drawn for a tag to not purchase it. For example at Fort McCoy in western Wisconsin, where officials run a free lottery to allocate turkey tags, the rate has averaged from 10 to 12%.

But the rate associated with the DNR's annual spring turkey drawing was eye-opening, said Taylor Finger, DNR game bird specialist.

The issue is likely exacerbated by two factors: the spring turkey drawing option is included in each purchase of a conservation patron license, many of which are bought a year before the next turkey hunting season; and the application deadline for other hunters is Dec. 10.

Successful applicants in the annual turkey tag drawing are typically notified in late December or January by the DNR.

But whether a conservation patron license holder or a normal applicant, months pass between the time successful applicants are notified they drew a tag and when their turkey season starts. This year the first Wisconsin turkey hunting time period begins April 16.

Dave Zielke, a Wisconsin Conservation Congress delegate on the DNR's Turkey Advisory Committee, said he is a long-time conservation patron license holder in large part because of its convenience. For $165, the patron package includes annual fishing, bow and gun deer hunting, fall and spring turkey hunting, state park admission and more.

But while he was aware some people might not buy a tag awarded through the drawing, "when you see these numbers it blows my mind."

Several potential reasons for the 26% rate of unpurchased awards were discussed by members of the DNR Turkey Advisory Committee, including successful applicants forgetting they were awarded a tag, having work or other issues preventing them from hunting and having a habit of applying because its included in the conservation patron package even if they aren't keen turkey hunters.

"I don't think it's people just applying to try to deny others an opportunity," Donar said. "But the number is significant and we all agree it certainly deserves a look."

In 2024 hunters in Wisconsin registered 50,435 turkeys, fourth highest since the state initiated a spring turkey hunting season in 1983. The success rate last year was 22.5%, according to the DNR.

A total of 246,068 harvest authorizations were available; 139,931 were issued in the drawing and 84,185 bonus harvest authorizations were sold over the counter.

After the 2024 season a survey was sent at random to 10,000 Wisconsin spring turkey license buyers; 3,322 responded. Out of those surveyed, 13% reported they did not hunt. The mean satisfaction rating was 7.3 on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best).

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The highest rates of those who did not hunt were from the northern-most zones: 22% in Zone 6 and 26% in Zone 7.

This year the agency made the same number of authorizations available; 150,098 were awarded to hunters in the drawing. The remaining were offered for sale beginning March 17.

As of April 4, 40,432 tags were available, all in the final two time periods, including 20,803 in Zone 1, 468 in Zone 2, 17,030 in Zone 3 and 2,131 in Zone 4. None was left in Zones 5 through 7.

Finger said the unpurchased tags issue was being analyzed by the DNR.

A potential change could include requiring awardees to purchase their turkey authorization by a certain date. If it isn't purchased, it would be put in the pool of leftover tags. Another option would be to remove the turkey application from the conservation patron license bundle.

Or the DNR could simply increase the number of authorizations it offers each year.

To help spread opportunity to more hunters, it's also been suggested that those who draw a tag be prohibited from purchasing leftover authorizations for a period of time to allow others "first crack."

Whatever is proposed, Finger said it would come only after careful consideration and be certain not to damage the parts of Wisconsin wild turkey management that have been working well.

"Wisconsin is widely considered to be the gold standard for turkey hunting," Finger said. "So it will be a matter of looking at the best way to get the right number of tags out there to hunters who want to use them, providing a good amount of opportunity and fairness in the system while maintaining a high level of hunter satisfaction and protecting our turkey population."

Among the factors the DNR will consider is whether a modification to the tag system can be accomplished by a DNR rule change or require legislative approval.

Finger said he hoped any change could be included in updates in the 2026-36 Wisconsin Wild Turkey Management Plan.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's spring turkey tag drawing for hunters under review

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