More birds and more hunters meant a larger harvest during the 2017 Ohio spring wild turkey hunting season, which concluded May 28.
Ohio hunters checked 21,015 turkeys during Ohio’s combined spring season (south and northeast zones) and the youth season. In 2016, hunters checked a total of 17,793.
“There are a couple of reasons for the good turkey season that come to mind,” said Bret Beatty, wildlife management supervisor for the district office of the Ohio Division of Wildlife. “First, there were a lot of turkeys available. They gorged themselves on the big cicada hatch last year and we had a mostly mild winter. So there were plenty of nice, healthy birds out there.
“Second, we had mostly good weather for hunting. And that always makes for good seasons,” he said.
There were even a few more hunters in the field. This year 60,832 turkey hunting permits were sold, compared to 60,293 in 2016.
Breaking it down, hunters checked 19,095 birds in the south and new northeast zones compared to 16,229 last year. Youth hunters checked 1,920 birds, compared to 1,564 in 2016.
For more information, visit wildohio.gov.
Here’s how hunters fared in area counties (This year’s total, followed by last year’s total in parentheses):
Adams 503 (432), Allen 91 (89), Auglaize 60 (50), Brown 425 (347), Butler 189 (166), Champaign 89 (95), Clark 17 (15), Clermont 418 (396), Clinton 45 (40), Greene 24 (16), Hamilton 107 (117), Highland 456 (387), Logan 137 (141), Mercer 20 (21), Miami 24 (20), Montgomery 19 (18), Preble 93 (114), Shelby 46 (50), Warren 95 (101).
See a turkey?
The next time you see a wild turkey or ruffed grouse while you are out and about, write down when and where you saw it and then report it at the new wildlife species sighting webpage at wildohio.gov/reportwildlife.
Every year, the Division of Wildlife conducts a turkey and grouse brood survey to estimate population growth. The brood survey relies on the public to report observations of all wild turkeys and ruffed grouse seen during May, June, July and August. The surveys help predict population changes and help guide the state’s hunting regulations. More than 7,000 turkeys were reported during the 2016 survey.
Teach kids fishing
If you enjoy teaching kids how to fish, the Ohio Division of Wildlife is offering a free one-day (10 a.m.-7 p.m.) workshop called Passport to Fishing on June 13.
The program will take place at Wildlife District Five Headquarter located at 1076 Old Springfield Pike, Xenia. Once completed, the program qualifies individuals as Division of Wildlife certified fishing instructors.
To register for the workshop, e-mail Brittany.Kessler@dnr.state.oh.us or call (937) 372-9261. Registration deadline is June 9. Pre-registration is required because space is limited.
Pond scum
A few days ago I caught a quick glimpse of an ad on television that told of the great strides ExxonMobil has been making in the field of generating new biofuels out of algae. So, I Googled “Mobil algae” and came up with several articles.
Included was this passage: “We think our work with algae offers some of the greatest promise for next-generation biofuels, which is why ExxonMobil has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to algae research.”
To that I say, “Hey, over here … whistle, whistle, wave, shout! Start processing all the free algae you want out of Grand Lake St. Marys and Lake Erie!”
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Open this year’s hunting season with a trip to Olde English, proud to sponsor outdoors columnist Jim Morris on Press Pros Magazine.com!