COLUMBUS — Ohio’s wild turkey hunters have harvested 13,564 birds through three weeks of the 2020 spring season. Hunters harvested 15,565 wild turkeys during the same time in 2019.
The top 10 counties for wild turkey harvest during the first three weeks of the 2020 hunting season include Belmont, with 419; Guernsey, with 410; Tuscarawas, with 403; Meigs, with 402; Monroe, with 396; Muskingum, with 364; Washington, with 360; Harrison, with 353; Coshocton, with 342; and Brown, with 340.
In addition to the first two weeks of hunting, youth hunters harvested 1,843 wild turkeys during Ohio’s youth season April 18-19. All counties are now open to hunting. The state has two zones for spring wild turkey hunting: the south zone and the northeast zone.
The south zone was open until May 17. The northeast zone (Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Trumbull counties) is open until May 31.
The spring turkey season bag limit is two bearded wild turkeys. Hunters may harvest one bearded turkey per day, and a second spring turkey permit may be purchased at any time throughout the spring turkey season.
Turkeys must be checked no later than 11:30 p.m. the day of harvest. All hunters are required to report their turkey harvest using the automated game-check system, which is available online, by phone or at a participating license agent.
Hunters may hunt wild turkeys with shotguns or archery equipment. It is unlawful to hunt turkeys using bait, live decoys or electronic calling devices, or to shoot a wild turkey while it is in a tree.
The Division of Wildlife advises turkey hunters to wear hunter orange clothing when entering, leaving or moving through hunting areas in order to remain visible to others.
Checked wild turkeys by county
A county list of all wild turkeys checked by hunters during the first three 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.
The 2019 harvest numbers in the northeast zone (Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Trumbull counties) reflect two weeks of hunting, whereas the 2020 harvest numbers reflect only one week of hunting due to the northeast zone opening one week earlier in 2019 compared to 2020.
Adams: 334 (363)
Allen: 65 (59)
Ashland: 128 (163)
Ashtabula: 193 (355)
Athens: 308 (414)
Auglaize: 45 (31)
Belmont: 419 (476)
Brown: 340 (333)
Butler: 189 (155)
Carroll: 290 (318)
Champaign: 83 (84)
Clark: 11 (15)
Clermont: 293 (267)
Clinton: 67 (57)
Columbiana: 306 (266)
Coshocton: 342 (455)
Crawford: 43 (51)
Cuyahoga: 3 (6)
Darke: 53 (37)
Defiance: 179 (158)
Delaware: 107 (95)
Erie: 36 (40)
Fairfield: 90 (106)
Fayette: 11 (10)
Franklin: 16 (17)
Fulton: 84 (89)
Gallia: 317 (345)
Geauga: 100 (177)
Greene: 18 (21)
Guernsey: 410 (440)
Hamilton: 125 (90)
Hancock: 34 (29)
Hardin: 78 (77)
Harrison: 353 (394)
Henry: 39 (48)
Highland: 330 (319)
Hocking: 217 (249)
Holmes: 170 (225)
Huron: 98 (96)
Jackson: 289 (335)
Jefferson: 323 (355)
Knox: 236 (268)
Lake: 35 (48)
Lawrence: 195 (203)
Licking: 251 (300)
Logan: 94 (99)
Lorain: 112 (112)
Lucas: 36 (57)
Madison: 8 (6)
Mahoning: 157 (144)
Marion: 39 (24)
Medina: 84 (116)
Meigs: 402 (464)
Mercer: 21 (16)
Miami: 19 (19)
Monroe: 396 (517)
Montgomery: 22 (24)
Morgan: 246 (344)
Morrow: 109 (107)
Muskingum: 364 (496)
Noble: 306 (379)
Ottawa: 1 (5)
Paulding: 57 (57)
Perry: 215 (260)
Pickaway: 25 (16)
Pike: 149 (202)
Portage: 204 (214)
Preble: 100 (113)
Putnam: 45 (50)
Richland: 173 (247)
Ross: 259 (255)
Sandusky: 18 (18)
Scioto: 226 (245)
Seneca: 90 (120)
Shelby: 34 (31)
Stark: 217 (250)
Summit: 63 (64)
Trumbull: 164 (301)
Tuscarawas: 403 (452)
Union: 34 (49)
Van Wert: 14 (18)
Vinton: 218 (265)
Warren: 83 (93)
Washington: 360 (492)
Wayne: 98 (103)
Williams: 152 (196)
Wood: 22 (21)
Wyandot: 71 (65)
2020 total: 13,564
2019 total: (15,565)
Harvest numbers below are raw data and subject to change.
