Ohio hunters checked 16,556 wild turkeys during the combined 2014 wild turkey hunting season and youth wild turkey hunting season, April 19-May 18.
The top 10 counties for the wild turkey harvest were Ashtabula (615), Tuscarawas (493), Coshocton (484), Guernsey (466), Muskingum (453), Belmont (444), Monroe (424), Trumbull (417), Knox (415) and Meigs (397).
Wild turkey hunters checked 18,391 birds in 2013.
Hunters checked 8,074 birds during the first full week of the 2014 wild turkey season. Young hunters checked 1,480 birds during the 2014 youth season.
Ohio’s 2014 spring wild turkey season was open April 21 through May 18. Youth season was April 19-20. Find more information about wild turkey hunting at wildohio.gov.
Wild turkeys were extirpated in Ohio by 1904 and were reintroduced in the 1950s by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Ohio’s first modern day wild turkey season opened in 1966 in nine counties, and hunters checked 12 birds. The wild turkey harvest topped 1,000 for the first time in 1984. Spring turkey hunting opened statewide in 2000, and Ohio hunters checked more than 20,000 wild turkeys for the first time that year.
ODNR ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR website at ohiodnr.gov.
