New Jersey Turkey Season 2026-27: Spring & Fall Dates

Q: Does New Jersey have a fall turkey season in 2026?

No. The official 2026-27 digest states the fall either sex wild turkey hunting season is closed statewide, citing turkey population concerns and hen survival. New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife is the source.

Q: Where are the bag limits, legal methods and license rules?

At New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, whose regulations page is linked on this page. Those rules are legally binding and change annually. This page carries the season window itself, with the source and read date attached.

Q: Can these dates change?

Yes. Agencies amend proclamations, split zones, and occasionally correct their own published tables. This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 2, 2026, says so in the copy, and links the exact agency page it read. Treat the agency page as the final word on the morning you hunt.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 2, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.

April 26, 2027 to May 28, 2027

Spring 2027

published

No fall turkey season

Fall 2026

no season

5 zones

Zone structure

as the agency draws it

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

Source

read 2026-09-01

The flagship

Spring 2027 turkey season in New Jersey

Spring 2027 season

published

Spring 2027 season opens in 193 days, on April 26, 2027 (Period A, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri)).

New Jersey spring 2027 season, as published by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Period A, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri)	April 26, 2027	April 30, 2027
Period B, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri)	May 3, 2027	May 7, 2027
Period C, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri)	May 10, 2027	May 14, 2027
Period D, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri)	May 17, 2027	May 21, 2027	first segment
Period D, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri)	May 24, 2027	May 28, 2027	second segment
Period E (Saturdays only)	May 1, 2027	May 22, 2027	Open only on Saturdays May 1, 8, 15 and 22, 2027

Dates read from 2026-27 New Jersey Hunting and Trapping Digest, August 2026 (Turkey Hunting Season 2027, p. 46), accessed 2026-09-01.

Permits are specific to a hunting period and Turkey Hunting Area and awarded by lottery. A youth turkey hunting day and a youth Period Y also exist in late April and May 2027. No Sunday turkey hunting.

The Fall Either Sex Wild Turkey Hunting Season is closed statewide.

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. Read it at the source

Close view of a strutting male wild turkey with fanned tail in California grassland — A western tom in strut. Merriam’s and Rio Grande birds carry the western seasons. “Male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) strutting” by Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0

The other half

Fall 2026 turkey season in New Jersey

Fall 2026 season

no season

New Jersey holds no fall 2026 turkey season in the 2026-27 season year. The official 2026-27 digest states the fall either sex wild turkey hunting season is closed statewide, citing turkey population concerns and hen survival. Source: New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Trail camera photo of a wild turkey flock feeding through green woods — A fall flock on a trail camera at Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge. Fall seasons, where held, hunt birds grouped like this. “Wild turkey flock” — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters — Public domain

Why the window sits where it does

Spring seasons are built around the breeding season

Spring turkey seasons exist because of a biological coincidence that favors the hunter and protects the flock at the same time: gobblers are at their most vocal and callable in the weeks when hens are being bred and beginning to nest. Agencies set their windows so that most hens are already on nests while gobblers are still responsive, which is why the opener sweeps north with spring itself, from the Gulf states in March to the northern tier in May.

The dates are an annual regulatory decision, not a fixed calendar, which is why this page reads them from New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife each season year and states the year it covers.

Wild turkey hen crossing a path with three well grown poults — A hen with poults. Spring season structures exist to protect nesting hens while gobblers are still callable. “Wild turkeys (hen with poults)” — ShenandoahNPS / Luca Pfeiffer — Public domain

Rules

New Jersey turkey hunting regulations

Season windows are carried here with their source and read date attached. Everything else a hunter is bound by is set by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current New Jersey regulations

Bag limits, legal methods, shooting hours, license and permit requirements, and youth or special season rules for New Jersey are set by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife: current regulations

New Jersey turkey season questions

When is spring turkey season in New Jersey in 2027?

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has published spring 2027 dates: April 26, 2027 to May 28, 2027, varying by zone (Period A, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri), Period B, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri), Period C, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri), Period D, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri), Period E (Saturdays only)). The full zone table on this page was read from the agency's own page and links it; confirm there before you hunt.

Does New Jersey have a fall turkey season in 2026?

Which turkey zone am I in?

New Jersey sets different dates by zone (Period A, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri), Period B, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri), Period C, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri), Period D, all Turkey Hunting Areas (Mon to Fri), Period E (Saturdays only)), and the zone boundaries are the agency's, drawn along roads, rivers and county lines. Your zone is determined from the agency's own map: New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife publishes the official zone map and boundary descriptions, linked from this page.

Where are the bag limits, legal methods and license rules?

Can these dates change?

Why do spring seasons open when they do?

Spring seasons across the country are set around the breeding season: gobblers are vocal and callable, and season frameworks are structured to run while hens are nesting. That is why spring dates cluster from late March in the South to May in the northern tier. The exact window is each agency's annual decision, which is why this page quotes New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife rather than a rule of thumb.

Three wild turkey toms displaying side by side in late winter brush — Toms displaying in late winter. By the time most spring seasons open, flocks like this have broken up. “Leader Of The Pack” by Paul VanDerWerf, CC BY 2.0

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 2, 2026. Every season window is republished from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife page linked beside it, read on the date shown; windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. Bag limits, legal methods, shooting hours and license rules are set by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national turkey season guide.