COLUMBUS, OH - Hunters are preparing for Ohio’s upcoming fall wild turkey season which runs Saturday, October 13 through Sunday, October 28, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.

The 16-day season is followed by the fall archery-only wild turkey season, which opens Monday, October 29 and ends Sunday, November 25. Thirty-seven counties are open for fall turkey hunting.

“Good reproductive success this past summer should equate to better wild turkey abundance during the 2007 fall turkey hunting season, as compared to last year,” said Mike Reynolds, Division of Wildlife turkey management leader. Reynolds estimates Ohio’s statewide wild turkey flock now numbers more than 180,000 birds.

Fall wild turkey hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset during the 16-day regular fall turkey season and one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset during the archery-only season. The bag limit is one turkey of either sex per hunter per season. A fall turkey permit is required in addition to a current Ohio hunting license. All harvested turkeys must be taken to an official turkey check station by 8 p.m. the day of harvest.

Dogs may be used to assist in taking wild turkeys during the fall hunting season, but not during the spring season.

Hunters should be aware that the fall turkey season will partially overlap the Special Area Muzzleloader Season (October 22-27) deer hunt on three state-owned areas: Wildcat Hollow and Salt Fork state wildlife areas, and Shawnee State Forest. Turkey hunting will not be allowed on these areas during those dates.

More than 19,000 hunters pursued wild turkeys in the state last fall, harvesting 1,175 birds. The first fall wild turkey hunting season in Ohio was in 1996.

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For Further Information Contact:
Mike Reynolds, ODNR Division of Wildlife
(740) 589-9921
-or-
Vicki Ervin, ODNR Division of Wildlife
(614) 265-6325