Planting Wild Turkeys

April 26, 2012

Question: Who can I talk to about planting wild turkeys on private property? I am not sure if it is legal to plant turkeys. If it is legal, do I need a permit? And if so, how do I get one? (Steve H.)

Answer: Turkeys are not allowed to be transported or planted on private property. The law says: “No permission will be granted to any person to release to the wild state turkeys that have been domestically reared for propagation or hunting purposes, except as provided in subsection 600(i)(4) of these regulations. Only wild trapped turkeys trapped from the wild by the Department may be released into the wild” (CCR Title 14, section 671.6 (b)).

According to DFG Wild Turkey Biologist Scott Gardner, only DFG can release wild turkeys (no game farm birds) into the wild. However, we are not planting turkeys due to recent nuisance problems and other issues.

Does the property where you’d like to plant turkeys contain habitat that would be attractive to wild turkeys? Have you seen turkeys nearby? If either of these are true then you probably already have turkeys. It’s almost guaranteed that even if we were to plant birds on your property, they would likely not stay without the appropriate habitat.

Be careful about game farm birds that are being sold as wild turkeys, too. Besides the fact that they are specifically illegal to release into the wild, they aren’t wild turkeys, Gardner says, despite what they look like. A wild turkey must be raised in the wild by a hen right from hatching to learn to be a wild turkey. Otherwise they are maybe just a step up from livestock.