Fall turkey-hunting season begins Oct. 16

CONCORD — New Hampshire's seven-day fall turkey shotgun season begins on Oct. 16 and runs through Oct. 22.

Hunters are urged to take note of the correct dates for this season because there was an error in the printed edition of the New Hampshire Hunting Digest, which has been corrected in the online version.

Purchase of a turkey permit (and a New Hampshire hunting license for those ages 16-67) allows the taking of one male or hen turkey during the fall. Hunters may take only a single turkey, and the bird must be tagged with the "fall" tag.

Shooting hours for the fall season begin one-half hour before sunrise and end one-half hour after sunset. The fully feathered, intact turkey must be registered and sealed within 24 hours of the time of taking. See a list of checkstations at: www.huntnh.com/hunting/deer-check-stations.html.

Of the 18 Wildlife Management Units in the state, 12 are open to the fall shotgun season (see map at www.wildnh.com/hunting/turkey-season.html). Last year's fall shotgun season resulted in 789 turkeys being taken. This total consisted of 272 adult males, 301 adult hens, and 216 immature birds. Of the adult males taken, 17 weighed 20 pounds or more and 27 had beards 10 or more inches in length.

The fall shotgun season was extended from five to seven days in 2016 to include two weekend days to provide increased hunting opportunity. New Hampshire also offers a fall archery season for turkey from Sept. 15 to Dec. 15.

To learn more about turkey hunting in New Hampshire, visit www.huntnh.com/hunting/turkey.html.