The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has released turkey hunting figures from this past season. Grundy County hunters harvested 5 turkeys in 2024-25 and two in 2025-26. A preliminary statewide total of 882 wild turkeys were killed during the 2025-2026 fall archery turkey season. The total compares with last year’s record harvest of 1,045 birds and the five-year average of 824 birds harvested.
This season 26,787 permits were sold, excluding landowner permits, compared with 27,422 permits sold during the 2024-2025 season. The fall archery turkey season dates were Oct. 1, 2025, through Jan. 18, 2026, and all 102 counties in Illinois were open for hunting. Harvest reports were 60% male birds and 40% female birds, compared with 51% males and 49% females reported during the previous season.
A total of 67% of hunters used crossbows, 33% used compound bows, and less than 1% used traditional bows. The top five counties for fall archery wild turkey harvest this season were Fayette, 33; Jefferson, 32; Marion, 24; Macoupin, 22; and Jackson, 20.