WILD TURKEY SEASONS AND BAG LIMITS

WILD TURKEY SEASONS AND BAG LIMITS. A. Spring Season: March 15 - May 1, unless March 15 falls on a Sunday and the season shall be March 14 – May 1. If May 1 falls on a Friday or Saturday, the season shall be extended through the Sunday immediately following. B. Non-Resident Draw Hunt 1. All non-residents must be drawn to hunt open public lands prior to April 1. 2. Open public lands include National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges, Corps of Engineers lands, etc., that have statewide seasons without special regulations. This includes MDWFP-operated Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) that are open with no special season or draw hunts during this time. 3. Drawn non-resident hunters may be accompanied by one licensed guest, aged 16 years or older. This guest is not allowed to harvest a turkey. 4. During the Non-Resident Draw Hunt, one youth aged 15 years old or younger may accompany or hunt with the permitted adult hunter. The adult and youth combined harvest shall not exceed the permit bag limit. C. Spring Season Bag Limit 1. Mississippi residents and lifetime license holders may harvest 1 adult gobbler or 1 gobbler with a 6 inch or longer beard per day, 3 per spring season. Nonresidents may harvest 1 adult gobbler or 1 gobbler with a 6 inch beard per day, 2 per spring season. Nonresidents may take only 1 gobbler prior to April 1. 2. EXCEPTION: HUNTERS 15 YEARS OF AGE AND YOUNGER, may harvest 1 gobbler of choice (any age) per day, 3 per spring season. Nonresident hunters aged 15 years of age and younger, may harvest 1 gobbler of choice (any age) per day, 2 per spring season, only 1 of which may be prior to April 1. 3. An adult gobbler is defined as a gobbler with at least one of the following characteristics: a. A tail fan that has an unbroken, rounded contour to the outer perimeter of the tail feathers; b. Spurs at least 1/2 inch long, c. A beard at least 6 inches long, or d. 9th and 10th primary wing feathers with white barring extending to the outer tips of the feathers. D. Youth Turkey Hunt 1. March 8 - 14, unless March 8 fall on a Sunday and the season shall be March 7 – 13, on private lands and authorized state and federal lands only in those areas open for turkey hunting. 2. BAG LIMIT: See Spring Season bag limit. 3. Authorized state and federal lands include Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U. S. Corps of Engineers managed lands which designate the youth turkey season in their regulations and open U. S. Forest Service National Forest lands. 4. Persons eligible to participate in this special hunt are: a. Those who are fifteen (15) years of age or younger. b. A child at least twelve (12) years of age and under sixteen (16) years of age must have a certificate of satisfactory completion of a hunter education course approved by the department before hunting alone in this state; otherwise they must be in the presence and under the direct supervision of a licensed or exempt hunter at least twenty-one (21) years of age when hunting. c. A child under the age of twelve (12) must be in the presence and under the direct supervision of a licensed or exempt hunter at least twenty-one (21) years of age when the child is hunting. d. A licensed hunter supervising a child as provided in this section must hold a valid Mississippi license for the species being hunted. e. A licensed non-resident must be drawn in the non-resident public lands draw in order to supervise a youth on open public lands or WMAs during the youth season.