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

The Grand River is to be chemically treated to help control the invasive and parasitic sea lamprey

 

Engaged in a war that will never see an ultimate victory, the federal government will fight another battle next week in its efforts to control the invasive sea lamprey.

The work will be performed at four pre-selected sites on the Grand River and was conducted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service with the cooperation of the joint U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Fisheries Commission. The former provided the expertise and muscle power while the latter furnished the bucks.

And those dollars are extensive, too. For the entire Great Lakes, the cost for sea lamprey control is $9 million annually from which the expense for the Grand River this year being about $200,000.

Yet the outlay is worth it, says Jenna Tews, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Station Supervisor for its Sea Lamprey Control Program in Ludington, Michigan.

Without treating the Grand River with what’s called a “lampricide,” approximately 3,400 juvenile sea lampreys would eventually grow into adulthood. At that stage the adults would migrate into Lake Erie where each would feast on – and kill – approximately 40 pounds (about 28,000 pounds total) of such fish species as steelhead, lake trout, bass, and walleye, Tews says.

“Those are significant number for Lake Erie,” Tews said. “The thing is, the Grand River is the fifth latest producer of sea lampreys for Lake Erie, the largest being the St. Clair River.”

Tews says the Grand River has perfect habitat and water quality for sea lamprey spawning and as a nursery water. Thus it qualifies for regular treatment of the lampricide, “TFM,” Tews said.

Besides the Grand River, Conneaut Creek also is periodically treated. Meanwhile, western New York’s Cattaraugus Creek  will receive a jolt of TFM this month; a process that costs $488,000, Tews says.

“Lake Erie has 842 tributaries, 30 tributaries have records of larval sea lamprey production, and of these, 18 tributaries – seven in Canada and 11 in the U.S.. - have been treated with lampricides at least once during 2012-2021,” Tews said additionally.

Since 1958, the program has used TFM to control sea lamprey in the Great Lakes. It was discovered in 1957 after more than 6,000 compounds were tested to uncover a selective sea lamprey control method. TFM is fully registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and with Health Canada as a safe and effective pesticide, Tews says.

This chemical works by killing sea lamprey juveniles, called larvae, which hatch from eggs, burrow into the river’s bottom where they live for several years before emerging as adults with eyes and the suction-cup mouth fitted with circular rows of hooked teeth.

At that point the adults make their way into Lake Erie where they feast on fish for 12 to 18 months before returning to a stream to spawn and die, repeating the cycle. They do this by using those circular rows of teeth to clasp onto a fish and then employ their rasping tongue to consume a fish’s flesh.

“So you can have several year classes of lampreys in a stream,” Tews said as well.

With TFM, Tews explains, the Great Lakes sea lamprey population has been reduced by 90 percent, helping to protect the system’s fisheries, estimate to be worth $9 billion annually, Tews says.

“The Grand River was last treated in 2017 so we are a little behind in our three- to five-year scheduling for it to be treated, partly as a result of COVID,” Tews said.

Treated will be a 32-mile long stretch of the Grand River, beginning at the Ashtabula Metro Parks’ Harpersfield Dam unit. Other sites included the confluence with the river at Mill, Paine, and Big-Kellogg creeks, all in Lake County and each associated with the Lake Metroparks’ system.

“We try to treat when the Grand River has a stream flow of 200 to no more than 1,000 (cubic feet per minute) stream flow. If the stream flow is too low than the TFM doesn’t move and the risk is greater for non-targeted species,” Tews also said.

And if the stream flow is too great than the lampricide becomes diluted and just washes downstream,” Tews also says.

Those non-targeted species include such species as mud puppies stonecats, and some fish species such as darters which could be spawning and consequently “are under greater stress,” Tews said.

For this reason part of the Fish & Wildlife Service’s work includes monitoring for any loss of non-target species as well as how the lampricide is being distributed.

What the Fish & Wildlife Service has found also, says Tews, is that the more frequently a stream is treated the greater is the public’s support for a project that for all practical purposes is the salvation of the entire Great Lakes fisheries.

“We have some people who are upset because of the non-targeted species losses but other people can see the bigger picture as to how the work is necessary for the protection of the Great Lakes fisheries,” Tews said.

By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

State wildlife rehabilitators are responding quickly to Ohio's call to protect against spread of contagious avian flu

 In an effort to help stymie the serious threat to wild and domestic bird populations brought about by the avian flu, the Ohio Division of Wildlife has issued an alarm to the state’s approximately 70 wildlife rehabilitators.

The agency is advising rehabilitators to take steps to ensure their operations do not become portals for the disease

So serious is the threat that state officials are noting the highly contagious avian-specific flu disease has been detected in Ohio-based gulls, eagles, geese and in case of domestic fowl, a flock of pen-raised chickens in Franklin County.

Among the suggested steps include greater focus on such “biosecurity” measures as ensuring increased sanitation efforts, increased observation of birds in the rehabilitators’ care, quarantining of suspected infected birds. And other protocols, the Wildlife Division has instructed wildlife rehabilitators.

“Please note,” says a March 25 memo by the Wildlife Division to wildlife rehabilitators, “birds testing positive will require humane euthanasia and quarantine of your facility to prevent spread. This may also trigger a foreign animal disease investigation by the “US Department of Agriculture).”

To that end, the Wildlife Division is recommending that rehabilitators “limit the use of birds in educational programs,” particularly off-site; for care center staff who also have domestic fowl or pet birds at home to - at a minimum - wear different clothing at work from home; house waterfowl separately from other birds; and disinfect vehicles, equipment and cages.

Some licensed rehabilitators are taking the severest of steps by refusing to accept any new birds of any species for care. Among such rehabilitators is Lake Metroparks which operates the Kevin P. Clinton Wildlife Center in Kirtland.

This licensed and highly respected animal/bird rehabilitation operation annually received 700 to 1,000 birds for rehabilitative services.

In fact, Lake Metroparks is maximizing the Wildlife Division’s suggested guidelines in other ways, too. It is removing all bird feeders at any park where they have been assembled for attracting both birds as well as birders, parks officials are saying.

Similarly, the agency is discouraging waterfowl from visiting the pond at Penitentiary Glen, the park where the Wildlife Center is located.

“The decision to not accept birds for rehabilitation as we enter our busy season, while difficult, was made in the best interest of our program bird collection. The problem is, the disease is easily transmissible and many birds do not show symptoms,” says Tammy O’Neil, the Kevin P. Clinton’s Wildlife Care Manager

Lake Metroparks does not have the space to “appropriately quarantine birds at our facility the way larger organizations such as the Cleveland or Akron Zoos may be able to,” O’Neil says also.

O’Neil said she, her staff and parks officials will stay abreast of the latest developments with avian influenza, “and update our protocols and intake policies throughout the summer.”

“The Wildlife Center continues to work with fellow wildlife rehabilitators, ODNR and other agencies to contribute to minimizing the spread of avian influenza and to help wildlife the best we can during this outbreak,” O’Neil said.

- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com