The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds hunters and outdoor enthusiasts to be aware and stay safe during the 2026 spring turkey season, April 15 – May 26.
Hunters and public land users may be sharing fields and forests during the season and need to be aware and alert of others in their area. They should follow safety rules, and non-hunters enjoying public lands should consider wearing blaze orange or other high-visibility clothing.
Hunters should avoid overdoing camouflage outerwear. Although camouflage may reduce the chance of a turkey spotting you, it also reduces the chance of a fellow hunter spotting you. Public land users should consider wearing blaze orange outerwear when heading out this spring season.
“The spring turkey season brings opportunities to fill harvest tags and spend time outdoors enjoying the warmer weather with friends and family,” said Lt. Renee Thok, DNR Hunter Education Administrative Warden. “Spring is a great time to be outside for a wide variety of activities, not just hunting. It’s important that turkey hunters remember that lands being hunted, public or private, may have other outdoor recreators.”
Hunters are reminded of the four rules of basic firearm safety — TAB-K:
- T = Treat every firearm as if it is loaded. Never assume a firearm is unloaded, and never treat it that way, even if you watch as it is unloaded. Make it a habit to treat firearms as if they are always loaded.
- A = Always point the muzzle in a safe direction. About one-third of all hunting incidents are self-inflicted injuries. That means the muzzle was pointed at some part of the hunter’s body. A safe approach is pointing your muzzle where the bullet will travel and harm no one in the event of an unwanted discharge. There are no accidental discharges with firearms, only unwanted discharges.
- B = Be sure of your target, what’s before and beyond it. Positive target identification is a must. To shoot at something you only think is a legal target is gambling. In the case of human injury, that means gambling on human life. You must be specific and correct in judgment before deciding to shoot. In addition to identifying the target, a hunter must know that a safe backstop for their bullet is present in every shooting situation. We don’t always hit our target; in some cases, the bullet passes through the target and continues to travel. A safe backstop guarantees that no one will get hurt.
- K = Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot. If a hunter stumbles with a firearm in one hand and nothing in the other, whatever that person does with their free hand will automatically happen with the hand holding the firearm. If a finger is inside the trigger guard, that finger will likely close around the firearms trigger, causing an unwanted discharge.
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