DNREC Launches New Registration Process for Hunters Harvesting Wild Turkeys During Upcoming Spring Season

Kimberly Pokoiski bagged a Delaware gobbler during a previous turkey season – this year’s season runs from April 12-May 10 /Photo by Paul Skibicki

Hunters Who Bag a Gobbler Will now Record Data Online or by Phone Rather Than at Check Stations as in Past Years

When Delaware’s 2025 spring wild turkey season opens with a special two-day hunt Saturday and Sunday, April 5 and 6 for youth and non-ambulatory hunters, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will be launching a new registration system for hunters who harvest gobblers in the First State. Additionally, turkey hunting will be allowed on Sundays for the first time since the season was opened in 1991.

Sunday turkey hunting is allowed on private lands with landowner permission and on State Wildlife Areas. Hunting on Sunday is not permitted on State Forests or Delaware’s National Wildlife Refuge complex, Bombay Hook NWR and Prime Hook NWR. Turkey hunters should note that the annual Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide indicates the special hunt for youth and non-ambulatory adult hunters is only open on Saturday, April 5 but as the special hunt covers two days, it will also be open Sunday, April 6 on private lands, with landowner permission, and on State Wildlife Areas open to turkey hunting.

Youth participating in the two-day hunt must be 10 to 15 years old and accompanied by an adult 21 years of age or older who has completed a Delaware-approved turkey hunter safety class and who possesses a Delaware hunting license or License Exempt Number (LEN). Accompanying adults may not hunt during the special youth-day hunt. Regular-season turkey hunters under the age of 13 must be accompanied by an adult of 21 years of age or older who has completed a Delaware-approved turkey hunter safety class and who possesses a Delaware hunting license or LEN. Non-ambulatory hunters who participate in the special two-day hunt must use a wheelchair for mobility.

The regular turkey season runs from April 12 through May 10, and over the course of it, hunters for the first time will register their turkeys online through the Digital DNREC app, or by calling 855-DEL-HUNT (855-335-4868), rather than taking their harvest to traditional check stations throughout the state. “We want to express our gratitude to all of the shops and private businesses that helped us with the registration process over the years since Delaware’s first turkey hunting season in 1991, and got us to the point where we were able to modernize the check-in process,” said DNREC Wildlife Section Administrator Joe Rogerson.

The new process, also to be deployed for the special youth and non-ambulatory hunter day, is identical to that for hunters registering white-tailed deer in Delaware, Rogerson said: “Online registration has proven to be more efficient with deer and will enable faster data recording with turkeys, too, giving hunters more time to tell their friends and family of how they achieved the most challenging of outdoor recreation successes in Delaware – bagging a big gobbler.”

Hunters can register their turkey after logging into their Digital DNREC account – or may expedite recording their information by clicking the Quick Hunting Registration link at the Digital DNREC app.

Additionally, Delaware turkey hunters are reminded that the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife has implemented new turkey harvest reporting procedures for the 2025 season. Hunters are now required to complete their turkey harvest report card prior to moving their bird from the location where it was harvested. Further change requires all first-time turkey hunters in Delaware age 13 or older to successfully complete a DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife-approved turkey education course. Hunters who have completed the course receive the turkey harvest report card when purchasing their license or obtaining their License Exempt Number (LEN). Any hunters who took the turkey education course but did not receive a turkey harvest report card when obtaining a license or LEN are asked to contact the DNREC Hunter Education Office at 302-735-3600 ext. 1. For more information about turkey hunting and the registration procedures, hunters should refer to the Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide.

Record numbers of turkey hunters are expected to pursue Delaware gobblers this year after an all-time high of 834 valid turkey hunting applications were submitted for the 2025 spring turkey hunting permit lottery – with another high of 544 permits available to hunters for the upcoming season. For more information about hunting on State Wildlife Areas, wild turkey hunting in Delaware or the annual turkey hunting permit lottery, visit de.gov/hunting.