Ohio’s upcoming fall wild turkey hunting season
October 1st, 2006 by Administrator
CINCINNATI -It is time for hunters to make preparations for Ohio’s upcoming fall wild turkey hunting season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife.
The 16-day fall wild turkey hunting season begins Saturday, Oct. 14 and runs through Sunday, Oct. 29. The fall archery-only wild turkey season opens Monday, Oct. 30 and ends Sunday, Nov. 26. Thirty-seven counties are open for fall turkey hunting.
“Good reproductive success this past summer should equate to better wild turkey abundance during the 2006 fall turkey hunting season compared to last year,” said Dave Swanson, Division of Wildlife turkey management leader. Swanson said Ohio’s statewide wild turkey flock now numbers more than 200,000 birds.
“In southwestern Ohio, we have several wildlife areas that are great for fall wild turkey hunting,” said Dave Kohler, wildlife management supervisor. “During the fall, turkeys will rake through the leaf litter in search of acorns and hickory nuts to eat. Luckily, many of our wildlife areas in the counties that are open to fall wild turkey season have mature mast producing woodlands.”
Hunters can download the maps to Tranquility (Adams County), Indian Creek (Brown County), East Fork (Clermont County), Oldaker (Highland County), Paint Creek (Highland and Ross counties), Fallsville and Fallsville South Unit (Highland County) wildlife areas from ohiodnr.com/wildlife.
Fall wild turkey season hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset during the 16-day regular fall turkey season and one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset during the archery only season. The bag limit is one turkey of either sex per hunter per season. A fall turkey permit is required in addition to a current Ohio hunting license. All harvested turkeys must be taken to an official turkey check station by 8 p.m. the day of harvest.
Dogs may be used to assist in taking wild turkeys during the fall hunting season, but not during the spring season.
Hunters should be aware that the fall turkey season will partially overlap the Special Area Muzzleloader Season (Oct. 23-28) deer hunt on three state-owned areas: Wildcat Hollow and Salt Fork state wildlife areas, and Shawnee State Forest. Turkey hunting will not be allowed on these areas during those dates. More than 21,000 hunters pursued wild turkeys in the state last fall, harvesting 1,339 turkeys. The first fall wild turkey hunting season in Ohio was in 1996.