Ohio’s 2021 spring wild turkey hunting season ended May 30 with 14,541 birds taken. In 2020, hunters harvested 17,894 wild turkeys during the spring hunting season.
The top 10 counties for wild turkey harvest during the 2021 spring hunting season include Columbiana (454), Belmont (444), Meigs (437), Tuscarawas (417), Jefferson (408), Monroe (408), Ashtabula (401), Washington (398), Guernsey (378), and Muskingum (373).
“Wild turkey populations appear to have declined in much of the eastern U.S., including Ohio,” said Kendra Wecker, Division of Wildlife chief. The Division of Wildlife will be consulting with the Wildlife Council, other state wildlife agencies and non-government wildlife partners to examine if further conservation measures are needed to stabilize and improve the state’s wild turkey population.
Youth hunters harvested 1,473 wild turkeys during youth season April 17-18, and those results are included in the final tally.
Ohio’s northeast zone includes Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Trumbull counties, while the south zone covers the rest of the state. The spring season concluded May 23 in the south zone with 13,510 turkeys were harvested; 941 turkeys were checked in the northeast zone.
Adult male turkeys (gobblers) made up 82% of the total 2021 harvest with 11,976 turkeys taken. Hunters checked 2,397 juvenile male turkeys (jakes) represented 16% of the harvest, and 173 bearded female turkeys (hens) were checked.
The Division of Wildlife sold and distributed 61,135 wild turkey permits during the spring hunting season.
The 2021 spring turkey season limit was two bearded wild turkeys. Hunters could harvest one bearded turkey per day using a shotgun or archery equipment. All hunters were required to check in their harvest using the game-check system.
In the 1950s the Division of Wildlife began an extensive program to reintroduce wild turkeys, and the 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. The record Ohio wild turkey harvest was in 2001, when hunters checked 26,156 birds.