OHIO’S FALL WILD TURKEY HUNTING SEASON UNDERWAY
504 Birds Harvested During First Five Days of Season; Tops Last Year’s Number
COLUMBUS, OH - Hunters harvested 504 wild turkeys during the first five days of Ohio’s fall wild turkey hunting season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The season opened on October 13 and will run through October 28.
Last year, hunters killed a total of 479 birds in the same time period. The top 10 counties for wild turkeys killed to date are: Ashtabula-32, Coshocton-29, Guernsey-25, Columbiana-24, Jackson-23, Gallia-21, Trumbull and Tuscarawas-19, Clermont-17, Carroll-10 and Pike-15.
Wild turkeys can be hunted in 37 counties during the fall season. The archery-only portion of the fall turkey season, introduced in 2002, will begin October 29 and run through November 25. More than 19,000 hunters pursued wild turkeys in Ohio last fall.
Fall wild turkey hunting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to sunset. The bag limit is one turkey of either sex per hunter, per season. A fall turkey permit is required in addition to a current Ohio hunting license. All turkeys killed must be taken to an official turkey check station by 8 p.m. on the day of harvest.
The Division of Wildlife reminds hunters that turkey season will partially overlap the Early Muzzleloader Deer Hunting Season (October 22-27) on three state-owned areas: Wildcat Hollow in Perry and Morgan counties, Salt Fork Wildlife Area in GuernseyCounty, and ShawneeStateForest in SciotoCounty. Turkey hunting will not be allowed on these areas during the muzzleloader deer-hunting season.
EDITORS NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF WILD TURKEYS CHECKED AND TAGGED THROUGH WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18. THE NUMBER TAKEN DURING THE 2006 FALL TURKEY SEASON IS MARKED IN ( ): 2007 (2006). A FINAL TALLY WILL BE PROVIDED AT THE CLOSE OF THE SEASON.
Adams – 13 (17); Athens – 6 (13); Ashland – 16 (5); Ashtabula – 32 (41); Belmont – 7 (2); Brown – 14 (13); Carroll – 10 (8); Clermont – 17 (5); Columbiana – 24 (24); Coshocton – 29 (36); Gallia – 21 (24); Geauga – 7 (3); Guernsey – 25 (16); Harrison – 13 (17); Highland – 12 (12); Hocking – 11 (16); Holmes – 15 (8); Jackson – 23 (17); Jefferson – 12 (6); Knox – 12 (11); Lawrence – 8 (4); Licking – 6 (12); Meigs – 12 (13); Monroe – 10 (9); Morgan – 7 (18); Morrow- 12 (10); Muskingum – 13 (12); Noble – 9 (0); Perry – 12 (10); Pike – 15 (0); Richland –6 (10); Ross – 9 (9); Scioto – 9 (7); Trumbull – 19 (19); Tuscarawas –19 (17); Vinton – 8 (18); and Washington – 11 (17).
Preliminary Total – 504 (479)