Ohio Eastern Turkey Hunting Guides and Outfitters

Ohio Eastern Turkey: Hunting A Tasty Meal
 
The state of Ohio is a great place for hunting wild Eastern turkey. It is estimated that Ohio has a large Eastern turkey population, with over 200,000 turkeys. Ohio eastern wild turkeys can reach in excess of 20 pounds. Ohio offers several weeks of spring turkey hunting and an even longer fall turkey-hunting season. The terrain varies widely between the northern and southern parts of Ohio, requiring different Eastern turkey-hunting strategies, and providing different experiences hunting wild Eastern turkey in Ohio.

The northern part of Ohio is mostly flat farmland. Small patches of woods provide cover for both Eastern turkeys and hunters, and the open grain fields provide ample food to produce large-bodied Eastern turkeys. Much of the land in Ohio is private, requiring permission to hunt. The southern counties are partly hilly and rugged. Most of the public hunting land in Ohio is located in the southern and southeastern part of the state. Hardwood forest and open fields provide most of the food sources. Opportunities exist throughout the state to bag big trophy, wild Eastern turkeys.

Hunting Eastern turkeys in the Ohio spring is very challenging, but a lot of fun. You get to enjoy the outdoors when trees and plants are coming to life after a long winter. The spring turkey season is usually four weeks during late April and early May. In Ohio, turkey hunting was only allowed in the mornings, leaving the afternoons open for mushroom hunting. Starting with the spring of 2010 season, hunters are allowed to hunt Eastern turkeys all day for part of the season. The bag limit has recently been two gobblers – or at least two bearded Eastern turkeys – for the entire spring season. On rare occasions, a hen will have a beard, and therefore can be legally shot. You can find some tips for hunting Ohio Eastern turkey on the official Ohio government website, as well.

A few years ago, Ohio had a short season – about one week – for hunting Eastern turkeys with a shotgun and a longer period – about seven weeks – for hunting Eastern turkeys with a bow. The bag limit has been one Eastern turkey of either sex for the entire fall season. During the 2009 season, hunters were allowed to kill their one-turkey limit with either a shotgun or a bow during the entire fall season, which lasted until the day before deer gun season.