COLUMBUS – Hunters harvested 2,145 wild turkeys during Ohio’s seventh annual fall turkey gun hunting season that was open in 35 counties Oct. 12-27, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife.
The preliminary figure is a 36 percent decrease from last year’s final total of 3,331. Hunters checked in 1,250 birds during the inaugural fall season in 1996.
Fall turkey season was open for the first time in Ashland, Richland and Scioto counties. A new archery-only season for wild turkey opened Oct. 28 and will run through Dec. 1.
The ODNR Division of Wildlife says Ohio has 250,000 wild turkeys statewide. Wild turkeys, absent in the state a half-century ago, now inhabit each of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Hunters were allowed to take a wild turkey of either sex while hunting from a half hour before sunrise to sunset.
A fall turkey permit was required in addition to a hunting license to participate in the fall season.
(Editor’s note: The following is a list of wild turkeys checked and tagged during the fall gun turkey hunting season. The number taken during the 2001 fall turkey season is marked in parentheses.)
The following are the number of wild turkeys checked and tagged in 2002 and 2001:
Adams – 52 (88); Ashland – 30 (closed); Ashtabula – 134 (214); Athens – 48 (84); Belmont – 54 (96); Brown – 52 (85); Carroll – 51 (92); Clermont – 43 (38); Columbiana – 81 (51); Coshocton – 123 (173); Gallia – 59 (98); Geauga – 63 (119); Guernsey – 121 (173); Harrison – 81 (136); Hocking – 57 (94); Holmes – 56 (102).
Jackson – 94 (120); Jefferson – 60 (64); Knox – 40 (112); Lawrence –
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