North Carolina’s wild turkey population has recovered from a dangerously low population in 1970 of only 2,000 turkeys to more than 130,000 wild turkeys today, largely due to a wild turkey restoration effort conducted by the North Carolina Wildlife Commission over the past 15 years.

Nearly $1 million was spent buying 1,744 wild turkeys from other states to be released here. The state even brokered a wildlife trade with West Virginia: 100 river otters in exchange for 150 turkeys.

Turkeys were shuffled around North Carolina in hopes of populating areas devoid of turkeys. Wild turkeys now exist in all 100 counties.

A total of 4,031 wild turkeys were either purchased and released or trapped and relocated at 358 different places across the state since 1990.

Wild turkey hunting season began April 9 and ends May 7. An increase in turkey hunting has paralleled the turkey population increase. In 2004, turkey hunters in North Carolina shot about 9,000 birds compared to only 144 turkeys in 1977, according to N.C. Wildlife Commission statistics.

The National Wild Turkey Federation coordinated the turkey purchases through its Turkey Super Fund Program. The state spent $608,000 and $309,477 was privately funded by the state chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.