For the City Times
MADISON – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will begin selling 2022 bonus turkey harvest authorizations on Monday, March 21, with a designated sale date for each zone.

Previously known as leftover permits, bonus harvest authorizations are available for purchase through the DNR’s online license portal at GoWild.Wi.Gov or at all license agents. Sales begin at 10 a.m. and run through midnight each day.

Hunters who want additional harvest authorizations or who missed the spring turkey drawing deadline last December can purchase bonus authorizations beginning March 21.

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

Bonus harvest authorizations are $10 for residents and $15 for non-residents. Both residents and non-residents will have equal opportunities for purchase. 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.

The scheduled sales dates for the 2022 spring turkey bonus harvest authorizations are:

-Zone 1 – Monday, March 21

-Zone 2 – Tuesday, March 22

-Zone 3 – Wednesday, March 23

-Zone 4 – Thursday, March 24

-Zone 5 – Friday, March 25

-Zone 6 – No bonus harvest authorizations available

-Zone 7 – Friday, March 25

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

The DNR recommends that turkey hunters interested in purchasing a Conservation Patron license do so before March 21 to make the bonus harvest authorization process as quick and easy as possible.

After zone-specific sales conclude the week of March 21 – 25, all remaining bonus turkey harvest authorizations for all zones will be available for purchase Saturday, March 26 at 10 a.m.

In total, 101,671 bonus turkey harvest authorizations are available across turkey zones 1-5 and 7 for the 2022 spring season. No bonus harvest authorizations are available for zone 6 as all available permits were issued via the spring drawing.

All spring turkey hunters must possess a valid spring turkey license, a 2022 wild turkey stamp and a valid turkey harvest authorization. If they have not already done so, hunters will be required to purchase the spring turkey license and stamp authorization when purchasing a bonus harvest authorization.
Spring Turkey Season

The spring turkey season is comprised of six seven-day periods running Wednesday through the following Tuesday. A total of seven zones will be open for hunting in 2022.

Spring Turkey season dates are as follows:

-Youth Hunt: April 16-17

-Period A: April 20-26

-Period B: April 27 – May 3

-Period C: May 4-10

-Period D: May 11-17

-Period E: May 18-24

-Period F: May 25-31

Regulations for the 2022 spring turkey hunting season are listed in the 2021 Combined Hunting Regulations.
Youth Turkey Hunt Set For April 16-17

Youth hunters under the age of 16 may hunt during the youth turkey hunt April 16-17. Hunters under the age of 12 and youth hunters without hunter safety certification can participate in the youth turkey hunt through the Mentored Hunting Program. Youth hunters must be accompanied by a qualified adult and follow all youth turkey hunting and mentored hunting program rules.

Spring turkey youth hunters must possess a valid spring turkey license, stamp and harvest authorization. A harvest authorization for any time period can be used during the youth hunt weekend, but youth hunters must hunt within the turkey management zone indicated on their harvest authorization.