MADISON, Wis. — Youth hunters can experience Wisconsin turkey hunting with family before the regular season begins. The youth turkey hunt runs next weekend, before the statewide turkey opener for period A on April 21.

The youth turkey hunt gives hunters under the age of 16 the opportunity to gain experience. Youth hunters must either have completed hunter education or participate under the mentored hunting program to be eligible.

To participate, a qualified adult must accompany the youth and not accompany more than two youth hunters at one time. The adult mentor must hold any valid 2021 hunting license.

Hunters under the age of 12 and youth without a hunter education safety certificate can participate in the youth turkey hunt under the mentored hunting program. A qualified adult must accompany the youth and follow the youth turkey hunting and mentored hunting program rules.

All hunters must have a valid spring turkey license, turkey stamp and harvest authorizations. You can use a harvest authorization for any time period during the youth hunt weekend, April 17-18, but you must hunt within the turkey management zone indicated on the harvest authorization.

If you do not harvest a turkey during the youth hunt, you can use the harvest authorization during the time period specified on the document.

Turkey registration is mandatory and hunters must register their turkey by 5 p.m. the day after recovery using the DNR’s electronic game registration reporting system GameReg, or by phone at 1-844-426-3734.

Hunters will need their harvest authorization number to register their turkey, located on the paper or digital copy of their harvest authorization.

For additional information about turkey hunting in Wisconsin, go to https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/hunt/turkey.