NEWS RELEASE: Bonus Harvest Authorizations For Spring Turkey Season Available Beginning March 20

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 15, 2023
Contact:?Alissa Kakatsch, Assistant Turkey and Pheasant Ecologist
[email protected] or 608-576-7559

Bonus Harvest Authorizations For Spring Turkey Season Available Beginning March 20

Bonus turkey harvest authorizations go on sale March 20, 2023. / Photo Credit: iStock/SteveOehlenschlager

MADISON, Wis.?? The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will begin selling 2023 bonus spring turkey harvest authorizations on Monday, March 20, with a designated sale date for each zone.

Previously known as leftover permits, bonus harvest authorizations are available for purchase through the DNR's online license portal at?GoWild.Wi.Gov?or at all?license agents. Sales begin at 10 a.m. and run through midnight each day.

Hunters who want additional harvest authorizations or who missed the spring turkey drawing deadline last December can purchase bonus authorizations beginning March 20.

Hunters are encouraged to check the?turkey zone map?and the?spring turkey bonus harvest authorization availability?to see if harvest authorizations are available for the period and turkey zone they wish to hunt.

Bonus harvest authorizations are $10 for residents and $15 for non-residents. Both residents and non-residents will have equal opportunities for purchase. Hunters can purchase bonus authorizations at a rate of one per day until the zone and time period are sold out or until the season closes. Bonus harvest authorization purchases will not affect preference point status for future spring drawings.

The scheduled sales dates for the 2023 spring turkey bonus harvest authorizations are:

Zone 1?- Monday, March 20
Zone 2?- Tuesday, March 21
Zone 3?- Wednesday, March 22
Zone 4?- Thursday, March 23
Zone 5?- Friday, March 24
Zone 6?- No bonus harvest authorizations available
Zone 7?- No bonus harvest authorizations available

The Go Wild system will use an online queue to assign random numbers to customers who enter the site between 9:45 a.m. and 10 a.m. There is no advantage to entering the site prior to 9:45 a.m. Customers who join after 10 a.m. will be added to the queue in order of arrival.

The DNR recommends that turkey hunters interested in purchasing a?Conservation Patron license?do so before March 20 to make the bonus harvest authorization process as quick and easy as possible.

After zone-specific sales conclude the week of March 20?24, all remaining bonus turkey harvest authorizations for all zones will be available for purchase Saturday, March 25, at 10 a.m.

In total, 101,924 bonus turkey harvest authorizations are available across turkey zones 1-5 for the 2023 spring season. No bonus harvest authorizations are available for zone 6 and 7 as all available permits were issued via the spring drawing.

All spring turkey hunters must possess a valid spring turkey license, a 2023 wild turkey stamp and a valid turkey harvest authorization. If they have not already done so, hunters will be required to purchase the spring turkey license and stamp authorization when purchasing a bonus harvest authorization.

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 2023. Spring Turkey season dates are as follows:

Youth Hunt:?April 15?16
Period A:?April 19?25
Period B:?April 26?May 2
Period C:?May 3?9
Period D:?May 10?16
Period E:?May 17?23
Period F:?May 24?30

Regulations for the 2023 spring turkey hunting season are listed in the?2022-2023 Combined Hunting Regulations.

For more information regarding turkey hunting in Wisconsin, visit the Turkey Hunting and Management webpage.