From the Indiana Department of Natural Resources:
Youth hunters may apply for reserved turkey hunts during the special youth wild turkey hunting season on DNR properties from March 15th-26th.
The youth turkey season is April 17th-18th. Youth hunters who are under age 18 on the day of the hunt are eligible to apply. A limit will be placed on the number of youth hunters allowed to hunt a respective property on each hunting day in order to improve the quality of hunts for participants. Interested hunters or an adult representing them must register in person or by phone during the normal office hours for the property they wish to hunt. Hunters are limited to registering for one property.
To register a youth for one of the hunts, the following information is needed:
Hunter’s name
Type of license and license number
Date(s) for which applying
Mailing address
Phone number
Parent or guardian’s name, address, and phone number
Participating Fish & Wildlife Areas include Atterbury, Chinook, Crosley, Deer Creek, Fairbanks Landing, Glendale, Goose Pond, Hillenbrand, Hovey Lake, Jasper-Pulaski, Kingsbury, LaSalle, Pigeon River, J.E. Roush Lake, Sugar Ridge, Tri-County, Wabashiki, Willow Slough and Winamac. Two reservoir properties, Mississinewa Lake and Salamonie Lake, will also take part in the hunts.
Hunters interested in signing up for the Chinook FWA or Wabashiki FWA hunts may register at Deer Creek FWA. Those interested in signing up for Fairbanks Landing FWA or Hillenbrand FWA hunts may do so at Goose Pond FWA.
A drawing will be held on Wednesday, March 31st at properties where the number of registered hunters exceeds the spots available. A youth hunter may be drawn for either one or both hunt days, depending on the number of applicants. All applicants will be notified of drawing results by mail.
Turkey hunting hours for DNR properties are one-half hour before sunrise until noon CT or 1 p.m. ET. Youth hunters who are selected for a hunt may check in at any time each day until the end of legal hunting hours for that property. Properties will not have a daily “no-show” drawing. Hunters interested in possible unfilled quotas at a property should call that property for more information before arriving.
Applicants must possess a 2021 Youth Consolidated Hunting & Trapping License, a 2021 Non-Resident Youth Spring Turkey License with a gamebird habitat stamp privilege, or a Lifetime Comprehensive Hunting License. Apprentice hunting licenses of the types named above also may be used.
Youth hunters can take a bearded or male wild turkey. The youth must be accompanied by someone 18 or older. The youth hunter may use any legal shotgun, bow and arrow, or crossbow. The adult accompanying the youth hunter must not possess a firearm, bow and arrow, or crossbow while in the field. The accompanying adult must be licensed if they are assisting by calling or if the youth is using an apprentice license.
Find more information about reserved youth turkey hunts at wildlife.IN.gov/9713.htm. For property contact information, visit on.IN.gov/dfwproperties. To purchase a license, visit on.IN.gov/inhuntfish. For resources related to turkey hunting, including previous seasons’ harvest numbers, processing videos, safety tips, and more, visit wildlife.IN.gov/8695.htm.
Featured photo by ASHISH SHARMA from Pexels