|
WILD TURKEYS
CHECKED & TAGGED
|
| COUNTY |
2002 |
2003 |
| Adams |
52 |
37 |
| Ashland |
30 |
60 |
| Ashtabula |
134 |
102 |
| Athens |
48 |
51 |
| Belmont |
54 |
47 |
| Brown |
52 |
46 |
| Carroll |
51 |
47 |
| Clermont |
43 |
48 |
| Columbiana |
81 |
50 |
| Coshocton |
123 |
76 |
| Gallia |
59 |
41 |
| Geauga |
63 |
55 |
| Guernsey |
121 |
77 |
| Harrison |
81 |
80 |
| Highland |
closed |
32 |
| Hocking |
57 |
54 |
| Holmes |
56 |
60 |
| Jackson |
94 |
67 |
| Jefferson |
60 |
42 |
| Knox |
40 |
61 |
| Lawrence |
20 |
21 |
| Licking |
46 |
63 |
| Meigs |
53 |
46 |
| Monroe |
79 |
40 |
| Morgan |
44 |
54 |
| Muskingum |
62 |
41 |
| Noble |
50 |
54 |
| Perry |
79 |
59 |
| Pike |
17 |
17 |
| Richland |
63 |
36 |
| Ross |
45 |
34 |
| Scioto |
30 |
20 |
| Trumbull |
92 |
61 |
| Tuscarawas |
60 |
61 |
| Vinton |
53 |
66 |
| Washington |
53 |
47 |
| Total |
2,145 |
1,853 |
|
COLUMBUS, OH -- Hunters harvested a preliminary total of 1,853 wild turkeys during Ohio's eighth annual fall turkey gun-hunting season that was open in 36 counties October 11-26, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The preliminary figure is a nearly 14 percent decrease from last year's preliminary gun-season total of 2,145 birds.
"Juvenile birds on average make up 40 percent of the fall harvest. Fall hunting success is directly related to the number of turkey poults that survive in the spring," said Dave Swanson, a Division of Wildlife forest biologist. "The decline in the fall numbers reflects the difficulty juvenile wild turkeys have had surviving three successive cold, wet springs in Ohio."
This year marks the first fall turkey hunting season in Highland County, with a total of 32 birds checked so far. The second year of archery-only wild turkey hunting began October 27 and will run through November 30.
During the archery-only portion of the fall turkey hunt, hours are a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset. Hunters must have a fall turkey permit, as well as a 2003 Ohio hunting license, to participate in the fall season.
The ODNR Division of Wildlife says Ohio has approximately 200,000 wild turkeys statewide. Wild turkeys, absent in the state a half-century ago, now inhabit each of Ohio's 88 counties.