Ohio’s
turkey turkeys scored about 10 percent fewer birds than did the Class
of 2018 opening day hunters.
Preliminary
figures show that for the 83 counties where spring turkey hunting was
legal for the April 22 opener, 2,965 bearded birds were shot, a drop
from the 3,316 birds taken on the 2018 spring turkey hunting season.
Going
back to 2015, Ohio’s turkey hunters
checked 2,335 wild turkeys on the opening day. In
2016, that figure was 2,511 wild turkeys. Importantly, however, these
two years represented seasons in which there were not separate south
and north spring wild turkey-hunting zones.
That
division began in 2017 when hunters in the south zone checked 3,123
wild turkeys on the opening day.
The five extreme Northeast Ohio counties of Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula and Trumbull will see their season start April 29 in a delayed program that takes into account this Snow Belt region’s typically later turkey-breeding period.
It
is expected that Ohio’ turkey hunters will struggle to achieve last
year’s total season kill of 22,571 birds but may come close to the
2017 figure of 21,042 birds. The anticipated drop will be likely
because the
state’s turkey
production index - which is the biological yardstick used measure the
ratio of poults (young turkeys) to hens - has been poor in recent
years.
The
past two years the index has been 2.0 poults per hens observed with
any figure below 2.2 demonstrating lost ground.
Ohio’s
spring wild turkey season is divided into two zones: a south zone,
which is open from Monday, April 22 to Sunday, May 19, and a
northeast zone, which is open from Monday, April 29 to Sunday, May
26.
-
In 2018 hunters in the south zone checked 3,316 wild turkeys on opening day.
-
Hunters are required to have a hunting license and a spring turkey hunting permit. The spring season bag limit is two bearded turkeys. Hunters can harvest one bearded turkey per day, and a second spring turkey permit can be purchased at any time throughout the spring turkey season. Turkeys must be checked by 11:30 p.m. the day of harvest.
-
Hunting hours from April 22-28 in the south zone and April 29-May 5 in the northeast zone are 30 minutes before sunrise until noon. Hunting hours from April 29-May 19 in the south zone and May 6-26 in the northeast zone are 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset.
Here
are the 2019 opening day county-by-county results (with their
respective 2018 figures in parentheses): Adams:
71 (53); Allen: 8 (6); Ashland: 36 (53); Athens: 76 (89); Auglaize: 5
(3); Belmont: 85 (128); Brown: 73 (54); Butler: 31 (32); Carroll: 77
(90); Champaign: 14 (18); Clark: 1 (1); Clermont: 59 (45); Clinton:
13 (4); Columbiana: 66 (57); Coshocton: 81 (149); Crawford: 9 (4);
Darke: 13 (4); Defiance: 34 (33); Delaware: 16 (19); Erie: 11 (7);
Fairfield: 16 (28); Fayette: 1 (2); Franklin: 1 (3); Fulton: 16 (14);
Gallia: 66 (61); Greene: 3 (4); Guernsey: 86 (136); Hamilton: 14
(12); Hancock: 8 (4); Hardin: 23 (11); Harrison: 86 (133); Henry: 12
(8); Highland: 62 (59); Hocking: 55 (63); Holmes: 56 (56); Huron: 25
(30); Jackson: 66 (70); Jefferson: 74 (78); Knox: 60 (85); Lawrence:
37 (28); Licking: 63 (77); Logan: 21 (25); Lorain: 24 (18); Lucas: 14
(16); Madison: 2 (2); Mahoning: 35 (27); Marion: 3 (3); Medina: 15
(30); Meigs: 89 (110); Mercer: 3 (5); Miami: 0 (3); Monroe: 86 (126);
Montgomery: 6 (5); Morgan: 71 (96); Morrow: 34 (20); Muskingum: 86
(117); Noble: 77 (69); Ottawa: 3 (0); Paulding: 12 (9); Perry: 57
(67); Pickaway: 2 (3); Pike: 44 (43); Portage: 38 (48); Preble: 21
(25); Putnam: 10 (5); Richland: 44 (50); Ross: 59 (58); Sandusky: 6
(3); Scioto: 61 (36); Seneca: 27 (26); Shelby: 11 (5); Stark: 39
(38); Summit: 10 (10); Tuscarawas: 94 (146); Union: 8 (8); Van Wert:
2 (4); Vinton: 52 (84); Warren: 17 (6); Washington: 96 (107); Wayne:
15 (18); Williams: 48 (25); Wood: 5 (3); Wyandot: 9 (6); Total:
2,965 (3,316).
No comments:
Post a Comment