Rio Grande turkeys are native to the Highland Lakes. Adobe Stock image
Ample rain across Central Texas in 2023 and 2024 should create a bounty of wild turkeys during the 2025 spring hunting season, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. While dry conditions this year might delay nesting and mating activity, hunters should still find plenty of birds.
“Most of Texas experienced a bump in production and recruitment in 2023 and 2024, meaning hunters can expect a temporary spillover of birds into landscapes they are not always found,” reads a March 4 turkey report from the TPWD. “Gobblers are expected to spread out in search of hens, hens in search of nesting cover and young birds moving across the landscape looking for new areas to occupy.”
Burnet and Llano counties lie within the North Zone, which has the following spring 2025 hunting dates:
- Youth only: March 22-23 and May 17-18
- General spring season: March 29-May 11
The annual bag limit is four birds for the spring and fall seasons combined. It is almost guaranteed you will run into Rio Grange turkeys while in the Highland Lakes, but if you venture farther east in Texas, just know that only one out of the four turkeys allowed can be an Eastern.
Make sure you have an up-to-date Texas hunting license with an upland game bird endorsement before you get out in the field. Buy one online here or at your local outdoor store.
“For spring turkey hunters, two-year-old gobblers are probably the most fun birds to hunt,” said Jason Hardin, TPWD wild turkey program leader. “They gobble readily and are not jaded by past turkey hunter efforts and near misses from previous seasons. The middle and later portions of the season usually have fewer hunters in the woods, and you never know when you will strike a tom in the mood to strut and gobble. Go early and go often.”
