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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2024-03-14

Contact: Alissa Kakatsch, DNR Assistant Turkey and Pheasant Ecologist
Alissa.Kakatsch@wisconsin.gov or 608-576-7559

Bonus Harvest Authorizations For Spring Turkey Season Available Beginning March 18

Three male turkeys standing in a field with a female turkey walking in the foreground. Bonus turkey harvest authorizations go on sale March 18, 2024. Photo credit: iStock/jcrader

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will begin selling bonus harvest authorizations for the 2024 spring turkey season on Monday, March 18, with a designated sale date for each zone. 

Previously known as leftover permits, bonus harvest authorizations will be available online through the Go Wild license portal and at all license sales agents. Sales begin at 10 a.m. and run through midnight each day. Both hunters who missed the spring turkey drawing deadline last December and those seeking additional harvest authorizations may purchase bonus authorizations at this time. 

Bonus harvest authorizations are $10 for residents and $15 for non-residents. Both residents and non-residents have equal opportunities to purchase authorizations. Each zone will have a designated sale date. 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.

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

Additionally, the DNR recommends turkey hunters interested in purchasing a Conservation Patron license for the 2024 – 2025 season do so before March 18 to make the bonus harvest authorization process as quick and easy as possible.

The scheduled sale dates for the 2024 spring turkey bonus harvest authorizations are:

  • Zone 1: Monday, March 18
  • Zone 2: Tuesday, March 19
  • Zone 3: Wednesday, March 20
  • Zone 4: Thursday, March 21
  • Zone 5: Friday, March 22
  • Zone 6: No bonus harvest authorizations available
  • Zone 7: Friday, March 22

Any remaining bonus authorizations will go on sale on Saturday, March 23, at 10 a.m.

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

All spring turkey hunters must have a valid spring turkey license, a 2024 wild turkey stamp and a valid turkey harvest authorization. If they have not already done so, hunters must purchase their spring turkey license and stamp authorization when purchasing a bonus harvest authorization.


2024 Spring Turkey Season

The spring turkey season is comprised of six distinct periods, each seven days long and running Wednesday through the following Tuesday. A total of seven zones will be open for turkey hunting in 2024. The 2024 spring turkey season dates are as follows:

  • Youth Hunt: April 13 – 14
  • Period A: April 17 – 23
  • Period B: April 24 – 30
  • Period C: May 1 – 7
  • Period D: May 8 – 14
  • Period E: May 15 – 21
  • Period F: May 22 – 28

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