CLEVELAND — A proposal by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife would reduce the 2022 spring wild turkey season limit from two to one bearded turkey.
The proposal was made by the Division of Wildlife staff to the Ohio Wildlife Council at its regularly scheduled meeting on Aug. 4.
If approved, all hunters would be limited to one bearded (male) wild turkey during the spring 2022 hunting season. This includes the statewide spring wild turkey hunting season and the youth spring hunting season.
Ohio wildlife officials said the wild turkey population has declined following several years of below-average reproductive success.
Preliminary reports during the summer of 2021 show some improvement in young turkey (poult) numbers. The complete information on which harvest management decisions are based will not be available until September.
The Division of Wildlife said the limit during the spring season would remain in place until trends in reproductive success improve.
No changes have been made to Ohio’s fall 2021 wild turkey season,
The Division of Wildlife began an extensive program in the 1950s to reintroduce wild turkeys to the Buckeye State.
The first wild turkey season opened in 1966 in nine counties. In 1984, hunters topped 1,000 turkeys during the season for the first time.
The record Ohio wild turkey harvest was in 2001 when hunters checked 26,156 birds. The 2021 spring harvest was 14,541 birds.
Comments about the proposal can be made here.
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