Every spring we obsess over gobbles, patterns, and pressure. But the real story of next year’s turkey season is being written in the heat of summer — and Illinois hunters have a chance to help shape it.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is asking hunters, landowners, and anyone who spends time outdoors to report wild turkey sightings during June, July, and August. Those simple reports help biologists track reproduction, survival, and long-term population trends for Illinois birds.
What Is a Wild Turkey “Brood Survey”?
A brood survey is just a fancy way of saying: “Count the hens and their poults you see all summer.” When you spot wild turkeys, IDNR wants to know:
- How many adult hens you saw
- How many poults (young turkeys) were with them
- How many adult gobblers were present
- The county and the date of the sighting
That’s it. No measuring beards or spurs, no capes or fan spreads — just simple field observations while you’re driving, working ground, checking trail cams, or hanging stands.
Turkey Numbers in Illinois Are Trending Up
The cool part? This citizen-science stuff is actually working.
Based on recent IDNR data, Illinois has seen:
- Reproductive success nearly double in the last few years — poults per hen (PPH) climbed from about 1.62 in 2019 to over 3.0 in 2023–2024.
- Better poult survival — poults per brood have increased, meaning more young birds are making it past those vulnerable first weeks of life.
- Higher nesting success — a much larger percentage of hens are being seen with broods compared to just a few years ago.
- A steady male-to-female ratio, which suggests toms are carrying over well through both hunting season and winter.
For hunters, that’s huge. More hens successfully raising poults now means more 2-year-old gobblers working the woods a season or two from now.
Why Turkey Hunters Should Care
If you chase longbeards in Illinois, this survey is basically a way to:
- Scout for future seasons – You’re literally mapping where broods are showing up all summer.
- Protect your hunting investment – Good data helps managers avoid over-harvest and set realistic limits.
- Support the resource you enjoy – A few seconds logging sightings helps keep populations healthy long-term.
Most of us are already out there glassing fields, cruising backroads, or checking cams. Taking an extra minute to log what you see is an easy win for conservation.
How to Report Your Wild Turkey Sightings
IDNR has made it pretty painless to participate:
- Use the online turkey survey – The electronic wild turkey brood survey can be filled out from your phone or computer in just a minute or two.
- Log every sighting in June, July, and August – Hens with poults, lone hens, flocks of gobblers — they’re all useful data.
- Include key details – Number of hens, poults, and gobblers, plus county and date.
- No internet? – You can request a mail-in postcard version of the survey directly from IDNR.
Check the official Illinois DNR turkey brood survey info page for links to the online form and contact details:
Illinois Wild Turkey Survey – Official Info
Turning Summer Sightings into Better Spring Hunts
If you’re using the Turkey Calls app, think of this kind of survey work as “off-season patterning.” Those hens and poults you see loafing in cut hay fields or slipping down creek bottoms in July tell you a lot about:
- Where birds feel safe
- What kind of cover they prefer at different stages
- Which areas hold consistent family groups year after year
Combine that knowledge with your calling, decoy strategy, and the Advisor tools in your app, and you’re not just chasing gobbles — you’re hunting with a real understanding of the flock dynamics behind them.
Get Involved This Summer
If you live in Illinois or hunt there, consider jumping in on the 2025 wild turkey brood survey. It’s one of the easiest ways to give back to the birds we spend so much time chasing each spring.
Next time you spot a hen trailing a string of poults across a gravel road, don’t just smile and drive on. Jot it down. Log it. You’re helping make sure those birds — and their gobbling sons — are still around for the next generation of turkey hunters.