Ohio's 2022 spring wild turkey hunting season ends with a fizzle, not a pop

 

Ohio’s final 2022 spring turkey season kill numbers continues to show they’re slipping and sliding on black ice.

Even so, the Ohio Division of Wildlife is reporting at least some positives.

For the 2022 statewide spring wild turkey-hunting season, a total of 11,872 birds were taken. In 2021 that figure was 14,546, while the three-year average figure stands at 17,173 birds.

The total statewide kill represents 30 days of hunting in two zones between April 23 and May 29. Included are the 1,103 wild turkeys taken during the youth season April 9-10.

In terms of pecking order, the Top 10 counties for the 2022 spring wild turkey season were: Ashtabula (348), Tuscarawas (338), Belmont (314), Guernsey (312), Columbiana (309), Harrison (299), Muskingum (298), Trumbull (295), Jefferson (292), and Gallia (280).

Of Ohio’s 88 counties, only five saw gains over their respective three-year averages: Clark, Mercer, Logan, Van Wert, and Union. The kill was the same in Greene County, while no birds were shot at all this year in Ottawa County.

Interestingly, there were also 131 bearded female turkeys (hens) checked. The Division of Wildlife sold and distributed 48,815 wild turkey permits during the spring hunting season. In 2021, that sold and distribution figure was 61,135 permits.

Declining wild turkey kill numbers - a result of lower wild turkey numbers - have been a long-term trend since 2001. Population declines have been noted in many other eastern U.S. states, the Wildlife Division says as well.

Mark Wiley – the Wildlife Division’s lead wild turkey management biologist - says the statewide spring kill total “is down for several reasons.”

“Wild turkey numbers are likely depressed across much of the state, having not yet recovered from a string of years with poor poult production,” Wiley said.

Also says, Wiley, “the bag limit reduction and long-term hunter declines have directly impacted spring permit sales totals and spring harvest totals.”

However, Wiley has previously noted that the now-abandoned second-bird allowance contributed only minimally to the overall season tally. In 2021, for example, the second-bird accounted for only 1,824 turkeys.

Wiley does say that preliminary results suggest 2022 permit success rates - “the percentage of permits resulting in a harvest”- for residents, nonresidents, and youth hunters were slightly higher than success rates in 2021.

“When comparing permit success rate it is important to consider how hunter effort might change year-to-year. Post-season hunter surveys will be used to evaluate trends in hunter effort,” Wiley says.

Furthermore, says Wiley, “it is worth noting how the percentage of jakes in the 2022 harvest is approximately 25 percent, which is higher than the previous four spring seasons.”

“We typically observe this type of increase in jake harvest in a spring following a spike in the poult index, which we had in 2021,” Wiley said.

And though any wild turkey population rebound will likely take more than one year of good poult numbers to boost numbers to levels Ohio hunters are used to experiencing, “it is encouraging to see that all indices suggest a strong class of turkeys was produced in 2021,” Wiley says.

Here is a county-by-county breakdown of Ohio’s 2022 spring wild-turkey-hunting season. In parentheses are the three-year averages for each of the counties as well: Adams: 278 (399); Allen: 56 (72); Ashland: 134 (178); Ashtabula 348 (469); Athens: 231 (389); Auglaize: 24 (42); Belmont: 314 (514); Brown: 278 (396); Butler: 144 (200); Carroll: 266 (347); Champaign: 72 (86); Clark: 21 (15); Clermont: 205 (317); Clinton: 57 (72); Columbiana: 309 (392); Coshocton: 271 (443); Crawford: 45 (58); Cuyahoga 6 (8); Darke: 57 (59); Defiance: 152 (200); Delaware: 75 (109); Erie: 24 (46); Fairfield: 83 (105); Fayette: 3 (12); Franklin: 10 (20); Fulton: 91 (113); Gallia: 280 (386); Geauga 149 (212); Greene: 22 (22); Guernsey: 312 (471) Hamilton: 78 (113); Hancock: 31 (37); Hardin: 80 (94); Harrison: 299 (428); Henry: 35 (55); Highland: 252 (372); Hocking: 171 (256); Holmes: 176 (230); Huron: 68 (106); Jackson: 176 (345); Jefferson: 292 (412); Knox: 198 (312); Lake 42 (68); Lawrence: 159 (215); Licking: 208 (320); Logan: 122 (106); Lorain: 87 (130); Lucas: 53 (58); Madison: 4 (9); Mahoning: 141 (188); Marion: 30 (35); Medina: 96 (121); Meigs: 267 (498); Mercer: 21 (19); Miami: 27 (24); Monroe: 277 (529); Montgomery: 19 (26); Morgan: 194 (329); Morrow: 116 (132); Muskingum: 298 (486); Noble: 251 (410); Ottawa: 0 (2); Paulding: 58 (71); Perry: 202 (280); Pickaway: 7 (23); Pike: 148 (208); Portage: 165 (231); Preble: 113 (114); Putnam: 29 (55); Richland: 173 (249); Ross: 223 (297); Sandusky: 19 (22); Scioto: 144 (261); Seneca: 98 (128); Shelby: 35 (40); Stark: 225 (269); Summit: 62 (74); Trumbull 295 (372); Tuscarawas: 338 (505); Union: 52 (47); Van Wert: 18 (17); Vinton: 170 (285); Warren: 65 (93); Washington: 276 (491); Wayne: 99 (116); Williams: 175 (200); Wood: 21 (25); Wyandot: 77 (83). 2022 total: 11,872. Three-year average: 17,173.

- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio's 2022 spring wild turkey-hunting season is headed for the scrap heap

Ohio’s spring wild turkey kill numbers have been circling the drain for several years, and the to-date numbers through May22nd shows the speed of the draw down is accelerating.

From when the season began through May 22^nd, 11,770 birds were killed – a precipitous drop from the three-year average of 17,060 bearded wild turkeys. And also a sharp decline from the same 2021 to-date kill of 14,450 turkeys.

It is important to note two other things, as well. This year, hunters could shoot only one bearded bird.

However, adding a second turkey to the mix would not have contributed much more to the tally. Last year the second-bird accounted for only 1,824 turkeys, says Mark Wiley, the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s chief wild turkey biologist..

Likewise, the state’s Northeast Zone – consisting of Lake, Ashtabula, Geauga, Cuyahoga, and Trumbull counties – concludes its spring season May 29th. Thus those final week numbers are not included: but which last year amounted to only 95 birds, said Wiley.

Spring harvest totals are down across much of the state for a number of reasons, Wiley said as well.

“Despite a boost in poult numbers during the summer of 2021, wild turkey numbers have not yet recovered from poor poult numbers in 2017 through 2019,” Wiley said.

“Spring turkey hunter numbers and permit totals also have been declining in the state for almost two decades, which has direct impact on the harvest total.”

As the season winds down, Wiley says, the Wildlife Division, “will get a better idea of the spring permit success rates.”

“These rates will provide a more accurate assessment of the 2022 spring season. We will soon distribute the post-season hunter survey which will provide even more detail on what Ohio hunter encountered this spring,” Wiley said.

Several factors play a role in fluctuating turkey populations, including weather events, predation, disease, and hatch productivity, the agency says.

Also, each summer, the Division of Wildlife conducts a turkey brood survey to estimate population changes. Biologists expect the population dip to be temporary given the 2021 brood survey showed encouraging results. Young turkeys will be tracked closely in the coming years. The brood survey is largely based on public reports. Submit observations of young turkeys during July and August at wildohio.gov.

Here is a list of all wild turkeys checked by hunters in each county through May 22nd. Results from the state include 30 days of hunting in the south zone, 23 days in the northeast zone, and the two-day statewide youth season. The first number following the county’s name shows the numbers for 2022, and the three-year average through the corresponding dates are in parentheses. All numbers below are raw data and are subject to change.

Adams: 278 (399); Allen: 56 (72); Ashland: 134 (178); Ashtabula 318 (424); Athens: 231 (389); Auglaize: 24 (42); Belmont: 314 (514); Brown: 278 (396); Butler: 144 (200); Carroll: 266 (347); Champaign: 72 (86); Clark: 21 (15); Clermont: 204 (317); Clinton: 56 (72); Columbiana: 309 (392); Coshocton: 271 (443); Crawford: 45 (58); Cuyahoga 5 (7); Darke: 57 (59); Defiance: 152 (200); Delaware: 74 (109); Erie: 24 (46); Fairfield: 83 (105); Fayette: 3 (12); Franklin: 10 (20); Fulton: 91 (112); Gallia: 280 (386); Geauga 132 (194); Greene: 22 (22); Guernsey: 312 (470) Hamilton: 78 (113); Hancock: 31 (37); Hardin: 80 (94); Harrison: 298 (428); Henry: 35 (55); Highland: 253 (372); Hocking: 170 (256); Holmes: 175 (230); Huron: 68 (106); Jackson: 176 (345); Jefferson: 292 (412); Knox: 198 (312); Lake 38 (61); Lawrence: 159 (215); Licking: 208 (320); Logan: 121 (106); Lorain: 87 (130); Lucas: 53 (58); Madison: 4 (9); Mahoning: 141 (188); Marion: 30 (35); Medina: 96 (120); Meigs: 267 (498); Mercer: 21 (19); Miami: 27 (24); Monroe: 277 (529); Montgomery: 19 (26); Morgan: 194 (329); Morrow: 116 (132); Muskingum: 294 (486); Noble: 251 (410); Ottawa: 0 (2); Paulding: 58 (71); Perry: 202 (280); Pickaway: 7 (23); Pike: 148 (208); Portage: 164 (230); Preble: 113 (114); Putnam: 29 (55); Richland: 173 (249); Ross: 223 (297); Sandusky: 19 (22); Scioto: 143 (261); Seneca: 98 (128); Shelby: 35 (40); Stark: 225 (269); Summit: 61 (74); Trumbull 258 (335); Tuscarawas: 338 (505); Union: 52 (47); Van Wert: 18 (17); Vinton: 170 (285); Warren: 65 (93); Washington: 276 (491); Wayne: 99 (116); Williams: 175 (200); Wood: 21 (25); Wyandot: 77 (83). 2022 to-date total through May 22nd: 11,770. To-date three-average total: 17,060.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio's 2022 sandhill crane nesting count sees marked increase over 2021's survey results

 

The number of reported sandhill cranes on their nesting grounds in Ohio has more than doubled in the past year.

During a one-day count in April of sandhill cranes in Ohio, mostly volunteer observers found 371 birds. That figure is more than twice the number of sandhill cranes observed during the 2021 count of 160 birds.

The annual event – called the “Midwest Crane Count” - was coordinated by the Ohio Division of Wildlife, the International Crane Foundation, and the Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative.

For the purposes of the count, Ohio Division of Wildlife officials had established 24 pre-selected counties and was conducted during the crane’s nesting season.

Counties were selected based on the availability of wetland habitat that cranes use for nesting. Sandhill cranes can be secretive during their breeding season, and the survey is an effort to better understand Ohio’s breeding population, the Wildlife Division says.

The top seven counties with the most sightings were Wayne (84), Lucas (60), Geauga (56), Trumbull (47), Holmes (18), Ottawa (17), and Wyandot (17).

Volunteers searched crane habitat within the preselected 10-square mile survey blocks. The count was the second of what will be an annual event to track the status of sandhill cranes in the state, the Wildlife Division adds as well.

Sandhill cranes are tall wading birds, each characterized by a long neck and bill. They are mostly gray in plumage with a red patch on its forehead.

Individuals may stand up to four feet tall with a wingspans of up to 6.5 feet with a weight of just over eight pounds for males and seven pounds for females. Sandhills mate for life.

The young are called “colts” and though a female may lay two or three eggs, often only one colt survives. Males assist in the incubation of the eggs.

To hear one is to understand the term “wild,” and is unforgettable, sometimes referred to as a rolling bugle. Prehistoric-like throaty bellow may even be more accurate.

Sandhills are migratory, breeding in wetlands across the northern U.S. and Canada, and wintering farther south in North America. Florida has a growing year-round population.

The species was once extirpated from Ohio but has begun to reestablish itself on its own. They returned to Wayne County in 1987 to breed and have been expanding ever since.

It is estimated that the total North American population of sandhill cranes is 670,000 to 830,000 birds. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services estimates the three-year annual kill by hunters averages almost 23,000 birds, slightly above the long-term goal of 17,000 to 21,000 birds annually being taken.

In Ohio, sandhill cranes remain on the state’s threatened species list, but are huntable in about a dozen states, most notably in the Midwest down through Texas. Kentucky has established a two-bird per day season.

- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio's 2022 to-date spring turkey season take continues its free-fall

Ohio 2022 wild turkey-hunting season continues its slip and slide.

The season’s to-date total through May 8^th stood at 9,353 birds. Last year that figure was 11,779 turkeys, while the three-year average is 13,664 birds.

Included in the to-date 2022 statistics are birds killed during the first 15 days of the South Zone season, the first nine days of Northeast Zone season, and both days of the Youth-Only season.

Ohio’s 2022 spring harvest totals are below the 3-year average in all but a few counties, also says Mark Wiley, the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s lead wild turkey biologist.

Wiley accounts for the drop for a couple of reasons. Among them is that much of this apparent turkey kill deficit is explained by the recent reduction in the bag limit from two birds to one bird, as well as long-term declines in hunter participation.

“In addition, Ohio’s wild turkey abundance has been depressed in recent years following several summers with poor poult numbers,” Wiley says.

Currently, Wiley says also, the proportion of jakes in the spring harvest total “appears to be slightly elevated in 2022.”

“This is expected following a year with above-average poult numbers, which occurred in 2021,” Wiley says.

Of particular note, Wiley also says that “at this point in the spring season I see no clear pattern tied to the range of 2021 periodical cicada emergence.”

That factor is possibly led by the way the 2021 emergence of the 17-year cyclic cicada occurred, Wiley says, too.

While the general range of the emergence covered a large swath of central to southern Ohio, it appears that the event was not uniform, producing a patchwork of abundance here and a dearth of cicadas there, speculates Wiley.

Wiley did say too that post-season hunter surveys will reveal more details about what Ohio turkey hunters encountered and that input “will help us understand how the 2022 season stacks up against recent years.”

Here the county-by-county list of all wild turkeys checked by hunters through Sunday, May 8, 2022, is shown below. The first number following the county’s name shows the to-date statistic for 2022, and the three-year average through the corresponding dates are in parentheses. The numbers are raw data and subject to change.

 

Adams: 214 (331); Allen: 49 (58); Ashland: 108 (141); Ashtabula 215 (266); Athens: 187 (327); Auglaize: 18 (30); Belmont: 243 (422); Brown: 219 (323); Butler: 117 (159); Carroll: 216 (285); Champaign: 58 (68); Clark: 15 (13); Clermont: 166 (254); Clinton: 43 (56); Columbiana: 250 (325); Coshocton: 220 (360); Crawford: 37 (38); Cuyahoga 2 (3); Darke: 50 (48); Defiance: 118 (160); Delaware: 60 (89); Erie: 20 (35); Fairfield: 64 (86); Fayette: 3 (11); Franklin: 5 (15); Fulton: 65 (86); Gallia: 234 (318); Geauga 83 (125); Greene: 19 (16); Guernsey: 261 (400); Hamilton: 62 (86); Hancock: 23 (28); Hardin: 61 (71); Harrison: 244 (344); Henry: 29 (47); Highland: 193 (297); Hocking: 144 (217); Holmes: 138 (184); Huron: 52 (87); Jackson: 154 (285); Jefferson: 239 (338); Knox: 163 (247); Lake 28 (42); Lawrence: 129 (186); Licking: 172 (255); Logan: 95 (86); Lorain: 67 (101); Lucas: 40 (45); Madison: 4 (6); Mahoning: 111 (144); Marion: 22 (30); Medina: 73 (94); Meigs: 223 (418); Mercer: 16 (17); Miami: 24 (19); Monroe: 229 (436); Montgomery: 14 (22); Morgan: 165 (271); Morrow: 100 (105); Muskingum: 253 (392); Noble: 201 (335); Ottawa: 0 (2); Paulding: 47 (58); Perry: 158 (228); Pickaway: 4 (19); Pike: 118 (164); Portage: 138 (184); Preble: 90 (90); Putnam: 20 (44); Richland: 129 (190); Ross: 182 (240); Sandusky: 15 (20); Scioto: 111 (226); Seneca: 77 (101); Shelby: 27 (33); Stark: 176 (215); Summit: 43 (55); Trumbull 170 (223); Tuscarawas: 264 (401); Union: 46 (36); Van Wert: 18 (14); Vinton: 143 (231); Warren: 53 (78); Washington: 205 (390); Wayne: 79 (92); Williams: 141 (160); Wood: 16 (19); and Wyandot: 56 (67). 2022 to-date total is 9,353. The corresponding three-year average is 13,664.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio's spring wild-turkey hunters are still struggling to find and shoot birds

 

Plagued by inconsistent weather patterns for Week One of Ohio’s 2022 spring wild turkey-hunting season, participants also are dealing with a general dearth of birds.

That decrease in how many turkeys Ohio hunters are encountering in the woods is showing up in the to-date kill across the state. As of May 1st, Ohio’s turkey hunters shot 7,551 birds. The to-date three-year average (2019 to 2021) figure stands at 10,759 birds. Meanwhile, the 2021 single-year to-date number is 9,745 birds.

Again, the weather for this season’s first week has proven erratic, making it challenging for hunters to even be in the field, let alone finding cooperative birds.

However, the game changer appears to be an on-going issue involving turkey “recruitment,” particularly in some areas of the state.

“Despite improved poult numbers (poults per hen, or ‘PPH’) across much of the state in the summers of 2020 and 2021, it appears Ohio’s wild turkey population has not fully rebounded from three consecutive years of below-average poults-per-hen during 2017-2019,” says Mark Wiley, the Ohio Division of Wildlife biologist in charge of the agency’s turkey management program.

“The regional PPH index remained low into 2020 in southeast Ohio, which may partially explain some of the more notable dips in harvest in southeastern counties this spring.”

Wiley says that recent changes in hunter participation and hunting regulations must be considered as well.

“We expected total harvest and the total number of spring permits to drop between 2021 to 2022. This is due in part to the recent reduction to a one-bird bag limit, but we have also observed a fairly steady decline in spring permit sales for nearly two decades,” Wiley says.

Hunter success rates will be a more informative metric than total harvest, “but we cannot estimate success rates until the end of the season,” Wiley says.

Even so, the top 10 counties with the most checked wild turkeys in 2022 are Guernsey (224), Tuscarawas (223), Muskingum (213), Columbiana (212), Harrison (208), Belmont (203), Jefferson (198), Carroll (186), Monroe (186), and Coshocton (185).

Ohio has two zones for 2022 spring wild turkey hunting: the South Zone and the Northeast Zone. The South Zone’s season is open until Sunday, May 22nd. The Northeast Zone (Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, and Trumbull counties) will remain open until Sunday, May 29th.

Here is the unofficial total of all wild turkeys checked by hunters in each of Ohio’s 88 counties through May 1st. These results include nine days of hunting in the South Zone, two days in the Northeast Zone, and the youth hunting season.

The first number following the county’s name represents the 2022 to-date turkey kill, with the three-year average for the corresponding dates shown in parentheses.

Adams: 177 (262); Allen: 38 (47); Ashland: 93 (112); Ashtabula: 132 (145), Athens: 146 (260); Auglaize: 14 (23); Belmont: 203 (335); Brown: 168 (259); Butler: 86 (126); Carroll: 186 (227); Champaign: 46 (56); Clark: 14 (11); Clermont: 132 (210); Clinton: 33 (47); Columbiana: 212 (268); Coshocton: 185 (288); Crawford: 32 (28); Cuyahoga: 0 (1), Darke: 38 (40); Defiance: 92 (128); Delaware: 50 (68); Erie: 16 (25); Fairfield: 59 (67); Fayette: 3 (7); Franklin: 5 (13); Fulton: 56 (68); Gallia: 184 (256); Geauga: 44 (67), Greene: 16 (12); Guernsey: 224 (327); Hamilton: 50 (61); Hancock: 14 (23); Hardin: 53 (55); Harrison: 208 (277); Henry: 21 (39); Highland: 156 (239); Hocking: 122 (173); Holmes: 119 (151); Huron: 38 (71); Jackson: 127 (234); Jefferson: 198 (275); Knox: 133 (200); Lake: 14 (24), Lawrence: 111 (150); Licking: 140 (212); Logan: 81 (67); Lorain: 53 (75); Lucas: 34 (32); Madison: 4 (5); Mahoning: 84 (118); Marion: 18 (23); Medina: 60 (71); Meigs: 184 (336); Mercer: 12 (13); Miami: 23 (16); Monroe: 186 (344); Montgomery: 9 (19); Morgan: 134 (222); Morrow: 81 (87); Muskingum: 213 (315); Noble: 173 (275); Ottawa: 0 (1), Paulding: 37 (44); Perry: 138 (182); Pickaway: 3 (14); Pike: 100 (126); Portage: 100 (152); Preble: 70 (67); Putnam: 17 (35); Richland: 108 (150); Ross: 145 (193); Sandusky: 13 (16); Scioto: 89 (176); Seneca: 63 (81); Shelby: 22 (29); Stark: 134 (162); Summit: 33 (42); Trumbull: 92 (123), Tuscarawas: 223 (312); Union: 38 (28); Van Wert: 17 (10); Vinton: 114 (197); Warren: 45 (62); Washington: 176 (313); Wayne: 67 (70); Williams: 113 (123); Wood: 12 (14); Wyandot: 45 (52). 2022 to-date total: 7,551: three-year average: 10,759.

By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com