By Louie Stout

A few weeks ago, we told you about the increase in fishing license sales, likely due to people being off work because of the Covid-19 shutdown.

Well, the shutdown apparently also sent more turkey hunters into the field last spring and they were remarkably successful.

The DNR estimates 74,500 hunters stalked turkeys last spring – a 25 percent increase over 2019.

Statistics released by the Indiana DNR this week also revealed a record harvest during the spring hunt. Hoosier hunters took 14,492 birds in 90 of the 92 counties – a 21 percent increase over the 2019 season.

The 2020 harvest replaced the former record high set in 2010 of 13,742 birds.

Spring harvest increased in 76 counties, including most of those in northern Indiana. For example, St. Joseph County hunters shot 209 turkeys compared to 167 last year. Other counties’ harvest, with 2019 in parenthesis, were Elkhart, 244 (221), Marshall 296 (270), LaPorte 239 (184), and Kosciusko 354 (289).