For Immediate Release – October 28, 2025
Fall firearm hunters harvest 255 wild turkeys in Illinois
Fall firearm hunters harvest 255 wild turkeys in Illinois
SPRINGFIELD – Turkey hunters in Illinois harvested 255 wild turkeys during the 2025 fall firearm season Oct. 18-26, compared to 294 harvested last year.
The record harvest was set in 2005 when 1,218 birds were harvested.
This year 1,763 regular fall firearm season permits were sold compared to 1,756 last year. The largest number of permits sold was in 2007 when hunters purchased 4,968 permits.
Fall firearm turkey hunting was open in 56 of Illinois’ 102 counties. The top counties for harvest this year were Jefferson (16), Jo Daviess (16), Jasper (11), Union (11), and Wayne (11). Approximately 57% of the harvest were female birds and 43% were male.
The table below includes the preliminary 2025 county-by-county fall firearm turkey harvest results with comparable totals for 2024.
| County | 2024 | 2025 |
| Adams | 0 | 0 |
| Alexander | 4 | 4 |
| Brown | 1 | 2 |
| Calhoun | 6 | 0 |
| Carroll | 4 | 0 |
| Cass | 12 | 5 |
| Clark | 3 | 1 |
| Clay | 4 | 5 |
| Crawford | 5 | 4 |
| Edwards | 2 | 4 |
| Franklin | 6 | 9 |
| Fulton | 5 | 2 |
| Gallatin | 3 | 2 |
| Greene | 1 | 5 |
| Hamilton | 4 | 3 |
| Hancock | 2 | 1 |
| Hardin | 3 | 3 |
| Henderson | 4 | 0 |
| Jackson | 10 | 6 |
| Jasper | 17 | 11 |
| Jefferson | 17 | 16 |
| Jersey | 3 | 6 |
| Jo Daviess | 13 | 16 |
| Johnson | 6 | 7 |
| Knox | 7 | 2 |
| Lawrence | 2 | 2 |
| Macoupin | 6 | 2 |
| Madison | 9 | 4 |
| Marion | 16 | 9 |
| Mason | 6 | 8 |
| Massac | 5 | 4 |
| McDonough | 3 | 5 |
| Menard | 1 | 0 |
| Mercer | 1 | 1 |
| Monroe | 1 | 3 |
| Morgan | 1 | 1 |
| Perry | 4 | 6 |
| Pike | 6 | 8 |
| Pope | 7 | 8 |
| Pulaski | 2 | 1 |
| Randolph | 5 | 9 |
| Richland | 6 | 5 |
| Rock Island | 1 | 1 |
| Saline | 6 | 3 |
| Schuyler | 5 | 3 |
| Scott | 5 | 7 |
| Stephenson | 10 | 3 |
| Union | 10 | 11 |
| Wabash | 1 | 2 |
| Warren | 2 | 0 |
| Washington | 1 | 4 |
| Wayne | 10 | 11 |
| White | 2 | 4 |
| Whiteside | 5 | 3 |
| Williamson | 5 | 7 |
| Winnebago | 8 | 6 |
| Totals | 294 | 255 |
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