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The second biggest thrill I experienced last April was calling in and tagging a Botetourt County longbeard on opening day. But the most exciting event was hearing turkeys respond to my 10-year-old grandson Eli’s calling as he tried to entice a Craig County gobbler for his 12-year-old brother Sam. No shots were fired that day, but the atmosphere was electric and the boys’ enthusiasm was a joy to experience.
Mike Dye, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) Upland Game Biologist, offers an overview for what’s in store for this season. Of course, one of the more important statistics is always the PPH (poults per hen) index from two springs ago, as 2-year-old gobblers are typically the most vocal males and most likely to come in to calling. While the PPH is not a perfect representation of recruitment, it does provide some indication of what hunters might expect to see in the spring woods.
“The 2024 hatch was 2.1 PPH, which was pretty good,” Dye said. “Maybe not as high as in the past, but average for what we have seen in recent years. As far as 3-year-old gobblers, the 2023 PPH was 1.8, which is somewhat low. However, the 2025 PPH dropped significantly to a statewide average of 1.3, which is concerning. While there are many factors that influence turkey recruitment, poor weather during nesting and when the poults are young can reduce success substantially. In much of the state during early June 2025 when poults were hatching, we had rain and cold weather, which is not ideal. Though, of course, we’ve received scattered reports of good hatches, but, overall, summer recruitment was pretty minimal.
“So, I am expecting hunting to be more difficult this spring,” Dye said. “I would expect a slight decline in the harvest this spring as a result of that lower productivity in the past few seasons.
But on a historical level, turkey populations are still in fairly good shape in most of the state. Since 2020, the statewide harvest has been historically high, and the harvest seems to be moving back toward pre-COVID levels.”
Dye added that what the Old Dominion’s turkey flock really needs in 2026 is a relatively warm, dry June, especially the first fortnight of that month when many poults hatch across the Commonwealth.
“One thing in favor of our hens is that the last two autumns have seen good acorn production statewide,” Dye continued. “So, the hens should be entering this spring in good physical shape. Another plus is that in the Southwest Virginia Coalfields region, there was a tremendous periodic cicada hatch the spring of 2025. Every creature from turkeys to bears to coyotes to songbirds benefits from abundant cicadas in that they are an easy, high protein food for wildlife to eat…and this is especially true for poults.”
The biologist also reports that a major regulation change concerning turkeys is on the proverbial horizon. For the 2026-27 hunting season, the annual bag limit will change, allowing hunters to continue taking three turkeys annually. However, only one turkey may be beardless (fall only). This means they also may harvest three fall birds, providing two of them are bearded birds. As has been true in the past, hunters may also reserve their three bearded bird tags for the spring.
“With this regulation, we are simply trying to protect a few more hens,” Dye said. “Of course, weather and habitat are the main factors affecting turkey numbers, but DWR hopes this regulation will help some, too.”
Youth and Apprentice Weekend is April 4 and 5, the regular season begins April 11 and runs to May 16. All day hunting begins on April 27.
