COLUMBUS, OH -- A record 26,156 bearded wild turkeys were taken by hunters during this spring's three-week statewide turkey hunting season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.
The final harvest total represents an increase of 29 percent over the 20,276 turkeys checked in by hunters in 2000.
The figure is adjusted from the preliminary harvest total of 26,217 that was reported in May following the close of the hunting season. Preliminary records are gathered at the end of the hunting season and usually differ little from the final numbers, which are a full accounting of harvest records from each county.
"This year's turkey harvest was up in 74 counties. Juvenile birds (jakes) accounted for 19.1 percent of the harvest compared to 53.6 percent of the 2000 harvest," said Dave Swanson, supervisor of the wildlife division's Waterloo Wildlife Research Station in New Marshfield. "It was the best year ever for hunters to take adult gobblers. The 1999 turkey hatch was excellent and those birds were fully mature this spring."
This is the second year that turkey hunting has been open in every Ohio county. Only 57 of the state's 88 counties were open to spring turkey hunting in 1999.
A special youth season, which was open the weekend prior to this year's regular turkey season, produced 521 turkeys, 174.2 percent more than the 2000 youth season.
"I've had so much positive feedback about the young hunter's season," said Swanson. "The weather was perfect, the birds were cooperative and the kids had a great time."
Once all but extinct in Ohio, the ODNR Division of Wildlife began in the mid-1950s to reintroduce wild turkeys to Ohio. The first spring turkey hunting season was opened in 1966. Ohio now has more than 200,000 wild turkeys and they are present in all 88 counties.
Adams - 526 (426); Allen - 1 (0); Ashland - 376 (298); Ashtabula - 1,263 (1,135); Athens - 791 (508); Auglaize - 5 (0); Belmont - 855 (592); Brown - 475 (365); Butler - 30 (21); Carroll - 632 (663); Champaign - 83 (25); Clark - 8 (0); Clermont - 364 (241); Clinton - 25 (17); Columbiana - 400 (360); Coshocton - 1,003 (857); Crawford - 54 (29); Cuyahoga - 0 (0); Darke - 0 (0); Defiance - 101 (121); Delaware - 24 (11); Erie - 11 (11); Fairfield - 180 (139); Fayette - 1 (0); Franklin - 3 (2); Fulton - 18 (17); Gallia - 681 (494); Geauga - 352 (289); Greene - 17 (6); Guernsey - 1105 (936); Hamilton - 52 (21); Hancock - 10 (8); Hardin - 39 (22); Harrison - 889 (757); Henry - 20 (26); Highland - 215 (120); Hocking - 902 (650); Holmes - 557 (423); Huron - 143 (132); Jackson - 751 (518); Jefferson - 690 (644); Knox - 634 (560); Lake - 87 (78); Lawrence - 269 (208); Licking - 489 (362); Logan - 100 (72); Lorain - 65 (41); Lucas - 6 (1); Madison - 4 (2); Mahoning - 82 (64); Marion - 13 (12); Medina - 57 (52); Meigs - 762 (544); Mercer - 0 (0); Miami - 3 (0); Monroe - 941 (678); Montgomery - 3 (0); Morgan - 725 (499); Morrow - 169 (161); Muskingum - 1,200 (867); Noble - 802 (484); Ottawa - 0 (0); Paulding - 1 (35); Perry - 715 (483); Pickaway - 7 (2); Pike - 358 (254); Portage - 112 (108); Preble - 58 (31); Putnam - 5 (3); Richland - 490 (399); Ross - 556 (385); Sandusky - 2 (0); Scioto - 279 (203); Seneca - 54 (93); Shelby - 34 (24); Stark - 129 (80); Summit - 13 (14); Trumbull - 520 (515); Tuscarawas - 872 (729); Union - 4 (9); Van Wert - 0 (0); Vinton - 775 (558); Warren - 55 (38); Washington - 723 (436); Wayne - 126 (117); Williams - 154 (157); Wood - 9 (0); Wyandot - 42 (34) Totals: 26,156 (20,276).