South Carolina’s turkey season opens this week

One of the two most anticipated hunting seasons in South Carolina will open later this week with thousands of hunters heading to the woods in hopes of bagging an Eastern wild turkey.

A little over 40,000 hunters participated in turkey hunting season in 2025, an 11 percent decrease from 2024. The season opens statewide on April 3 and continues through May 3 on private lands and through May 2 on Wildlife Management Area lands where Sunday hunting is prohibited.

Visit dnr.sc.gov for complete rules and regulations. The bag limit is two birds per hunter for residents and nonresidents, no more than one per day, and no more than one prior to April 10.

In addition to the required hunting license and Big Game Permit, all turkey hunters, including youth, are required to have turkey tags in possession while hunting except on the designated youth days.

The fee for a SC resident is $25 per set of two (2) tags and for a nonresident $125 per set of two (2) tags. Youth hunters and 3-year Disability Licensees receive tags for free but must request them annually.

Lifetime/Senior/Gratis/Disability Licensees receive tags for free annually after requesting them one time. Fees associated with turkey tags are dedicated to turkey research, management and enforcement.

Prior to the fee on tags, there was no dedicated source of funding for SCDNR’s Wild Turkey Program. There is now a prohibition on the harvest of Jakes, or juvenile turkeys. A “Jake” is defined as a male wild turkey with a beard less than six inches and a tail fan that is not fully developed with the central tail feathers being longer than the rest.

On private lands statewide it is unlawful to stalk a wild turkey while behind a decoy or tail fan. Tail fans include those made of real or synthetic feathers or an image or likeness of a tail fan applied to any material.

Commonly referred to as fanning or reaping. Hunters in South Carolina are required to electronically report all turkey harvested no later than midnight the day of their harvest. Use the Go Outdoors SC app; visit dnr.sc.gov/scgamecheck; or text or call 1-833-472-4263.