Lake, Ashtabula, Lorain buck lower opening day turkey kills

It was a mixed bag for the start on Monday of Ohio spring wild turkey-hunting season.

Though several counties - including Lake, Lorain and Ashtabula - noted gains over their 2011 spring turkey-hunting season opening day kills, overall the numbers are down statewide.

Blame the weather, which presented less than ideal hunting conditions though that didn’t stop Ashtabula County from taking the lead in the number of turkeys shot on opening day.

In all, a preliminary total of 2,227 bearded wild turkeys were killed on the first day of the spring turkey-hunting season. In 2011, a preliminary total of 2,646 wild turkeys were killed on opening day.

Top counties on Monday were: Ashtabula-93, Coshocton-79, Tuscarawas-78, Muskingum-74, Guernsey-69, Adams-62, Highland-57, Knox-56, Brown-55 and Clermont-54.

The Division of Wildlife estimates that more than 70,000 people will hunt turkeys during the four-week season and which runs through May 6.

Ohio’s wild turkey population was estimated at 180,000 prior to the start of the spring season.

Only bearded wild turkeys may be taken during the spring hunting season. Hunters with the proper permits may take a limit of two bearded gobblers during the four-week season, but not more than one wild turkey per day.

Here is a list of preliminary wild turkey harvest results for opening day of the 2012 spring wild turkey-hunting season with their respective 2011 figures in parentheses: Adams: 62 (88); Allen: 4 (7); Ashland: 22 (24); Ashtabula: 93 (70); Athens: 41 (69); Auglaize: 5 (4); Belmont: 38 (73); Brown: 55 (71); Butler: 27 (30); Carroll: 38 (41); Champaign: 9 (14); Clark: 2 (4); Clermont: 54 (54); Clinton: 10 (9); Columbiana: 41 (56); Coshocton: 79 (79); Crawford: 10 (15); Cuyahoga: 0 (1); Darke: 4 (3); Defiance: 22 (19); Delaware: 16 (20); Erie: 7 (8); Fairfield: 11 (21); Fayette: 0 (0); Franklin: 6 (4); Fulton: 12 (9); Gallia: 35 (64); Geauga: 34 (42); Greene: 1 (6); Guernsey: 69 (94); Hamilton: 13 (30); Hancock: 3 (5); Hardin: 11 (8); Harrison: 50 (67); Henry: 5 (4); Highland: 57 (59); Hocking: 41 (44); Holmes: 41 (30); Huron: 16 (31); Jackson: 49 (43); Jefferson: 32 (62); Knox: 56 (79); Lake: 14 (11); Lawrence: 14 (29); Licking: 52 (67); Logan: 26 (24); Lorain: 22 (15); Lucas: 9 (3); Madison: 0 (0); Mahoning: 21 (24); Marion: 7 (4); Medina: 7 (11); Meigs: 45 (69); Mercer: 2 (3); Miami: 2 (5); Monroe: 43 (55); Montgomery: 1 (1); Morgan: 37 (54); Morrow: 29 (31); Muskingum: 74 (81); Noble: 43 (31); Ottawa: 2 (0); Paulding: 10 (7); Perry: 37 (38); Pickaway: 6 (4); Pike: 48 (46); Portage: 32 (29); Preble: 16 (10); Putnam: 8 (3); Richland: 50 (53); Ross: 46 (58); Sandusky: 1 (3); Scioto: 33 (36); Seneca: 17 (22); Shelby: 5 (6); Stark: 24 (27); Summit: 1 (4); Trumbull: 41 (47); Tuscarawas: 78 (85); Union: 5 (7); Van Wert: 0 (3); Vinton: 32 (33); Warren: 15 (17); Washington: 35 (72); Wayne: 7 (15); Williams: 33 (24); Wood: 3 (4); Wyandot: 13 (14). Total: 2,227 (2,646).

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
Twiter: @Fieldkorn