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News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    PRELIMINARY 2006
    TURKEY HARVEST TOTALS
    COUNTY 2006 2005
    Adams 399 391
    Allen 13 5
    Ashland 321 344
    Ashtabula 782 559
    Athens 566 545
    Auglaize 32 24
    Belmont 381 486
    Brown 404 424
    Butler 54 63
    Carroll 311 311
    Champaign 94 83
    Clark 43 31
    Clermont 472 493
    Clinton 37 38
    Columbiana 424 340
    Coshocton 551 599
    Crawford 68 30
    Cuyahoga 7 7
    Darke 25 24
    Defiance 147 123
    Delaware 54 51
    Erie 24 15
    Fairfield 153 160
    Fayette 21 28
    Franklin 18 13
    Fulton 34 34
    Gallia 284 361
    Geauga 358 273
    Greene 27 19
    Guernsey 661 533
    Hamilton 144 111
    Hancock 10 10
    Hardin 41 34
    Harrison 625 606
    Henry 15 15
    Highland 328 342
    Hocking 291 315
    Holmes 339 302
    Huron 130 134
    Jackson 494 493
    Jefferson 353 456
    Knox 327 409
    Lake 171 131
    Lawrence 257 245
    Licking 310 357
    Logan 175 167
    Lorain 114 89
    Lucas 28 19
    Madison 3 5
    Mahoning 203 200
    Marion 17 15
    Medina 114 96
    Meigs 612 534
    Mercer 5 8
    Miami 15 14
    Monroe 486 458
    Montgomery 14 10
    Morgan 298 286
    Morrow 217 196
    Muskingum 349 354
    Noble 318 408
    Ottawa 7 12
    Paulding 69 65
    Perry 353 346
    Pickaway 57 71
    Pike 226 211
    Portage 165 108
    Preble 70 85
    Putnam 55 40
    Richland 283 257
    Ross 365 374
    Sandusky 13 20
    Scioto 366 334
    Seneca 100 106
    Shelby 26 22
    Stark 222 235
    Summit 68 57
    Trumbull 437 356
    Tuscarawas 570 478
    Union 23 16
    Van Wert 8 9
    Vinton 260 219
    Warren 83 65
    Washington 517 501
    Wayne 113 89
    Williams 176 176
    Wood 14 5
    Wyandot 48 59
    Totals 18,262 17,542

    May 22, 2006

2006 OHIO SPRING TURKEY HARVEST ENDS
WITH SLIGHT INCREASE OVER 2005 NUMBERS
Ashtabula County tops in harvest numbers

COLUMBUS, OH - Hunters checked 18,262 wild turkeys during Ohio’s four-week, statewide spring turkey-hunting season that opened April 24 and ended May 21, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.

The preliminary total represents nearly a 4 percent increase over last year’s preliminary number of 17,542.

Ashtabula County led the state in the number of turkeys killed with 782. Counties with additional high harvest numbers were: Guernsey - 661; Harrison - 625; Meigs - 612; Tuscarawas - 570; Athens - 566; Coshocton - 551; Washington - 517; and Jackson - 493.

In addition to the turkeys taken during the regular season, young hunters harvested another 1,872 birds during a special hunt for hunters age 17 and younger held April 22-23.

The ODNR Division of Wildlife estimates that more than 90,000 people hunted turkeys during the four-week season. Prior to the start of the spring hunting season, state wildlife biologists estimated the wild turkey population in Ohio to be more than 180,000 birds.

This was the seventh spring that turkey hunting was open in every Ohio county. Only 57 of the state’s 88 counties were open to spring turkey hunting in 1999.

Wild turkeys were nearly extinct in Ohio before being reintroduced in the mid-1950s by the Division of Wildlife. The first spring turkey-hunting season opened in 1966. Wild turkeys are now present in all 88 counties.

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For additional news online, check out the ODNR Press Room at Ohiodnr.com

For Further Information Contact:
Dave Swanson, Division of Wildlife
(740) 589-9923
-or-
Mike Reynolds, Division of Wildlife
(740) 589-9921