OHIO SPRING TURKEY HUNTING SEASON OPENS MONDAY, APRIL 24 Special youth-only hunt set for April 22 & 23 COLUMBUS, OH - Spring wild turkey hunting season opens in all 88 Ohio counties on Monday, April 24 and continues through Sunday, May 21, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. “It should be a good year for turkey hunters and I estimate between 20,000 and 25,000 gobblers will be harvested this season,” said ODNR forest wildlife biologist Dave Swanson. The wild turkey is Ohio's largest game bird. It stands 3 to 4 feet tall and may weigh up to 27 pounds. Hunters harvested 18,833 wild turkeys during last year’s spring season. Swanson added that Ohio’s current wild turkey population is around 180,000. He anticipates as many as 90,000 people, not counting private landowners hunting on their own property, will enjoy Ohio’s increasingly popular spring wild turkey season. A special youth-only turkey hunt for those age 17 and younger will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 22-23. Young hunters must have their hunting licenses and spring wild turkey permits to participate and must be accompanied by a non-hunting adult, 18 years of age or older. The young hunter's turkey season is open statewide on public and private lands with the exception of Lake LaSuAn State Wildlife Area in Williams County. Legal hunting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to sunset each day during the two-day youth season. Legal hunting hours for the spring season are one-half hour before sunrise until noon. Hunters are required to have a hunting license and a spring turkey hunting permit and can take one wild turkey per day. A second spring turkey permit can be purchased, allowing hunters to take a limit of two bearded wild turkeys. Shotguns using shot, longbows and crossbows may be used to hunt wild turkeys. It is unlawful to hunt turkeys over bait, to use a live decoy or electronic calling device, or to shoot a wild turkey while it is in a tree. A wild turkey must be properly tagged and taken to an official check station by 2 p.m. on the day it is harvested. The Division of Wildlife advises turkey hunters to wear hunter orange clothing when entering, leaving, or moving through hunting areas in order to remain visible to others in the area. Additional turkey hunting information is available on the Internet at ohiodnr.com/wildlife.
Source: ODNR |