Leighton Cox practices calling wild turkeys before the 2024 spring season. /Submitted photo: Mike Cox

All Turkey Hunters – Residents and Non-Residents Out to Bag Their First
State Gobbler This Year – Are Reminded of DNREC’s New Registration Process

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced today that the 2025 lottery for State Wildlife Area Spring Turkey Season hunting permits held last month had drawn the largest applicant pool since the State’s first wild turkey lottery was held in 1991, with 544 permits – another record high number – available to hunters for the upcoming season.

The DNREC Wildlife Section ran the annual State Wildlife Area Spring Turkey Season hunting permit lottery, drawing from 834 valid applications submitted. Turkey hunting permits were available for all of the state’s 19 state wildlife areas and for Delaware’s two National Wildlife Refuges, Bombay Hook and Prime Hook. Permits issued for these areas cover one of four week-long season segments, with the 2025 turkey hunting season beginning on April 12 and ending on May 10.

Of the record number of applications, 744 were submitted by Delaware residents. The 90 non-residents who applied represented 20 states – testimony to the First State’s growing reputation as a hunting destination for taking a wild turkey. Of the permits awarded via the lottery, 488 permits (89.7%) went to resident hunters, with 56 permits (10.3%) going to non-resident hunters representing 15 states.

For this season’s lottery, Blackiston Wildlife Area near Clayton was the most popular turkey hunting venue selected by permit applicants, followed by Norman G. Wilder Wildlife Area near Petersburg in Kent County; Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area near Townsend; and the Tappahanna Wildlife Area near Hartly. This year’s lottery also marked the first time that the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife offered permits for Bombay Hook and Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuges in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. All 40 of the available permits for those locations were issued.

Also new in conjunction with the 2025 lottery, applicants may now view the results of the lottery online to learn if they were selected – by going to de.gov/turkeyhunting and checking their hunting license number against the lottery results. All awarded applicants also will be issued a permit letter by mail by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife over the next several weeks.

All Delaware turkey hunters are also reminded that DNREC has implemented new turkey harvest reporting procedures for 2025. Hunters must complete their turkey harvest report card prior to moving their bird from where it was harvested. All first-time turkey hunters in Delaware ages 13 or older are required to successfully complete a DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife-approved turkey education course. Hunters who have completed the course receive a Turkey Harvest Report Card when they purchase their license or obtain their License Exempt Number (LEN). Any hunter who completed this course but failed to receive a Turkey Harvest Report Card should contact the Hunter Education Program at 302-735-3601 ext. 1. Hunters who have successfully harvested a turkey this year must register it within 24 hours via the Digital DNREC portal or by calling 1-855-DEL-HUNT (1-855-335-4868). Registration requires successful hunters to report beard and spur length for their bird and to voluntarily provide the turkey’s weight if available.

For more information about hunting on State Wildlife Areas, wild turkey hunting in Delaware or the annual turkey hunting permit lottery, visit de.gov/hunting.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on more than 68,000 acres of public land. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) or LinkedIn.

Media Contact: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov; 

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After extensive interagency review and discussion, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA) have determined that trail cameras for recreational use are no longer to be permitted on state wildlife areas, state parks, or state forests. The ban on trail cameras on state lands is effective immediately.

In announcing it today, DNREC and DDA emphasized that the ban on recreational trail cameras – which are most often used in Delaware by hunters during the state’s extended deer season – is for state lands only and does not apply to use of trail cameras on private properties.

Delaware’s ban on recreational trail cameras is only the latest such action to be taken curtailing their deployment on public land. Both Prime Hook and Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuges have previously prohibited the recreational use of trail cameras. At least five states besides Delaware have now banned recreational-use trail cameras on public land, while several other states are currently considering the ban.

Before imposing the ban on recreational-use trail cameras on state lands, DNREC and DDA gave consideration to a number of factors, including:

•  Acknowledgement that trail cameras are a technological advancement in hunting and are used successfully by many Delaware hunters for harvesting deer.
• A proliferation of the cameras deployed on public lands. Based on a 2021/2022 survey of Delaware hunters, the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife estimates that approximately 11.1% of the hunters on state wildlife areas use trail cameras and deploy on average 2.3 cameras per hunter.
• An increasing number of complaints from hunters about trail camera use on public lands. Many of these complaints are associated with the “ownership/exclusive use” of a particular portion of state land once cameras are established there, thus excluding other hunters from using that area. Other complaints are about the constant disturbance of an area by hunters frequently checking and moving their trail cameras.
• Illegal activities that include the cutting and removal of vegetation from state land, when installing a trail camera. Trail cameras also interfere with habitat management and maintenance, during which time they either must be avoided or may be inadvertently destroyed.
• Privacy concerns due to documented use of trail cameras for monitoring human behavior at public parking areas and on popular hiking trails.
• Ethical issues associated with using cellular trail cameras for “trophy hunting” to the extent that the Boone & Crocket Club, keeper of “big game” records, does not recognize animals taken by hunters helped in their harvest by cellular trail cameras.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land owned or managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram,  Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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Hunters are reminded to remove their portable deer stands from state wildlife areas by Monday, Feb. 15 now that Delaware’s 2020/2021 deer hunting seasons have closed. Any deer stands found on state wildlife areas after that date will become the property of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

Hunters can temporarily set up portable deer stands on state wildlife areas each year starting Aug. 1 and must remove the stands when all deer seasons have closed. Placement of a temporary deer stand on a state wildlife area does not provide exclusive rights for a hunter to hunt from that stand. Under state wildlife area rules, portable deer stands cannot be nailed or bolted to a tree and hunters are prohibited from cutting any vegetation or branches to hang a stand or clear shooting paths.

For more information, please contact the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Wildlife Section at 302-739-9912.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities, and educates Delawareans about the environment. The Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 65,000 acres of public land. For more information, visit the website and connect with DNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Joanna Wilson, joanna.wilson@delaware.gov; Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov

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DOVER – Hunters and other wildlife area users are reminded that state wildlife area maps with updated regulations and access information for each wildlife area are available for the 2019/2020 hunting season, DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife announced today. The maps depict area boundaries, parking areas, deer stand and waterfowl blind locations, trails, wildlife-viewing facilities, and other helpful information.

Several new wildlife area properties are open for public access, particularly on the Eagles Nest, Cedar Swamp, and Tappahanna wildlife areas.

The maps and area-specific regulations are available online at Delaware Wildlife Area Maps. Paper copies of the maps are available at DNREC’s Dover licensing desk in the Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901. Licensing desk customers may take up to five printed maps of individual wildlife areas free of charge. A complete set of statewide maps costs $5 to purchase at the licensing desk, or $6 by mail.

Registered motor vehicles used to access designated wildlife areas owned or managed by the Division of Fish & Wildlife are required to display a Conservation Access Pass (CAP). Hunters can opt to receive one free annual CAP with the purchase of any Delaware hunting license. To obtain a CAP, hunters will need the registration card for the vehicle to which the pass will be assigned. Additional information is available at Conservation Access Pass.

Information on 2019/2020 hunting and trapping seasons, bag limits, and other helpful information is available at 2019-2020 Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide. Hard copy guides are available from DNREC’s licensing desk and from license agents throughout the state.

For more information, please call the DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Wildlife Section at 302-739-9912.

Follow DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife on Facebook, www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.

Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 49, No. 227

DOVER – Delaware’s Advisory Council on Wildlife and Freshwater Fish will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28, in the DNREC Auditorium, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901. The council will discuss wildlife management activities on the Midlands Wildlife Area located in Sussex County, as well as upcoming statewide September hunting seasons and hunting opportunities on select state wildlife areas.

For more information, including the meeting agenda, visit the Delaware Public Meeting Calendar at https://publicmeetings.delaware.gov/Meeting/56965.

For more information on Delaware wildlife, please call the DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Wildlife Section at 302-739-9912. For more information on Delaware fisheries, please call DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914.

Follow the Division of Fish & Wildlife on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.

Media contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 48, No. 230

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