By 1812Blockhouse, Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Hunters across Ohio, including those here in Richland County, were less successful in 2021 in taking wild turkeys than in previous years.
Ohio hunters checked 694 wild turkeys during the 2021 fall hunting season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The 2021 fall season was open in 70 counties from Saturday, Oct. 9 to Sunday, Nov. 28.
The top 10 counties for wild turkeys taken during the fall 2021 hunting season include: Highland (29), Trumbull (29), Columbiana (27), Ashtabula (25), Stark (25), Coshocton (22), Tuscarawas (21), Guernsey (20), Clermont (19), and Knox (18).
The average harvest for the previous three fall seasons (2018, 2019, and 2020) is 1,079. In 2020, hunters took 1,063 birds. The Division of Wildlife issued 7,470 fall turkey hunting permits in 2021. This is 21% below the 3-year average (9,428 permits).
Wild turkeys were extirpated from Ohio by 1904 and were reintroduced in the 1950s by the Division of Wildlife. Ohio’s first modern day wild turkey hunting season opened in the spring of 1966 in nine counties, and hunters checked 12 birds. The spring wild turkey harvest topped 1,000 for the first time in 1984. Spring turkey hunting opened statewide in 2000. Fall turkey season first opened in 19 counties in 1996.
Learn more about wild turkey hunting at wildohio.gov, including information about previous seasons.
The Division of Wildlife can help you take advantage of all Ohio has to offer. Download the HuntFish OH app and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for instant news stories, outdoor recreation ideas, and local wildlife information. The Your Wild Ohio Hunter Facebook page provides hunting tips and useful information as you get outside this season.
Richland County hunters harvested 16 turkeys this year as compared to an average of 21 annually in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Totals in contiguous counties ranged from 4 in Morrow County to 18 in Knox County.
