Ohio’s wild turkey hunting season concludes in south zone
Hunters have harvested 15,718 wild turkeys after four weeks of Ohio’s 2020 spring hunting season. Wild turkey hunting ended Sunday, May 17 in Ohio’s south zone. The season continues until Sunday, May 31 in the northeast zone (Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Trumbull counties). Hunters harvested 17,619 wild turkeys during the first four weeks of the 2019 season.
The top 10 counties for wild turkey harvest following the completion of the 2020 south zone hunting season include: Belmont (486), Monroe (460), Guernsey (459), Tuscarawas (458), Meigs (446), Muskingum (434), Washington (429), Harrison (411), Coshocton (404) and Brown (393).
Youth hunters harvested 1,843 wild turkeys during Ohio’s youth season on April 18-19.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife began an extensive program in the 1950s to reintroduce wild turkeys to the Buckeye State. Ohio’s first modern day wild turkey season opened in 1966 in nine counties, and hunters checked 12 birds. The total number of harvested turkeys topped 1,000 for the first time in 1984. Turkey hunting was opened statewide in 2000.
Editor’s Note: A county list of all wild turkeys checked by hunters after four weeks of the 2020 season is shown below. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2020, and the 2019 numbers are in parentheses. Harvest numbers below are raw data and subject to change.
Adams: 379 (397); Allen: 69 (69); Ashland: 151 (194); Ashtabula: 284 (450); Athens: 345 (441); Auglaize: 50 (37); Belmont: 486 (527); Brown: 393 (377); Butler: 213 (180); Carroll: 336 (361); Champaign: 97 (95); Clark: 13 (16); Clermont: 336 (310); Clinton: 77 (68); Columbiana: 351 (294); Coshocton: 404 (509); Crawford: 56 (65); Cuyahoga: 5 (6); Darke: 60 (44); Defiance: 204 (180); Delaware: 116 (109); Erie: 39 (46); Fairfield: 104 (115); Fayette: 12 (12); Franklin: 19 (21); Fulton: 95 (109); Gallia: 362 (376); Geauga: 138 (211); Greene: 21 (24); Guernsey: 459 (486); Hamilton: 141 (103); Hancock: 41 (33); Hardin: 94 (87); Harrison: 411 (438); Henry: 43 (53); Highland: 371 (366); Hocking: 245 (269); Holmes: 204 (254); Huron: 104 (110); Jackson: 321 (373); Jefferson: 376 (386); Knox: 283 (319); Lake: 48 (54); Lawrence: 209 (218); Licking: 288 (339); Logan: 104 (106); Lorain: 129 (131); Lucas: 46 (66); Madison: 11 (9); Mahoning: 180 (166); Marion: 41 (28); Medina: 100 (142); Meigs: 446 (517); Mercer: 26 (16); Miami: 22 (22); Monroe: 460 (586); Montgomery: 25 (25); Morgan: 286 (375); Morrow: 125 (129); Muskingum: 434 (556); Noble: 348 (435); Ottawa: 1 (5); Paulding: 66 (67); Perry: 250 (290); Pickaway: 27 (22); Pike: 184 (224); Portage: 229 (241); Preble: 117 (130); Putnam: 50 (59); Richland: 204 (297); Ross: 303 (278); Sandusky: 20 (19); Scioto: 244 (276); Seneca: 100 (141); Shelby: 35 (36); Stark: 250 (288); Summit: 76 (74); Trumbull: 234 (354); Tuscarawas: 458 (521); Union: 43 (54); Van Wert: 18 (18); Vinton: 259 (302); Warren: 95 (97); Washington: 429 (555); Wayne: 112 (113); Williams: 172 (221); Wood: 27 (21); and Wyandot: 79 (76).
Category: High School, Sports
