COLUMBUS, Ohio – Anticipation among hunters is building for Ohio’s challenging and exciting spring wild turkey hunting seasons beginning in April, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.
 
Ohio’s 2025 youth turkey hunting season is Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13. Ohio’s regular seasons are divided into two zones: the south zone, which begins on Saturday, April 19, and the northeast zone (Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, and Trumbull counties), which opens on Saturday, May 3. The season limit is one bearded turkey.
 

Each summer, the Division of Wildlife collects information on young wild turkeys, called poults. Brood surveys in 2022, 2023, and 2024 showed good results that will benefit Ohio’s wild turkey population numbers this spring. The statewide average poults per hen was 2.9 in 2024, 2.8 in 2023, and 3.0 in 2022, with a long-term average of 2.8.
 
During the 2024 spring wild turkey season, hunters checked 15,535 birds. Among those were 1,785 turkeys taken by hunters aged 17 and younger during the youth weekend. Eastern and southern counties, where forested habitat is most abundant, typically record the highest number of harvests. The top five counties for turkey harvest in 2024 were Ashtabula (470), Belmont (454), Tuscarawas (449), Monroe (447), and Washington (410).
                                                                                                                    
The restoration of the wild turkey in Ohio is among the state’s most notable wildlife success stories. Wild turkeys were extirpated (disappeared) around 1904, and the Division of Wildlife began reintroducing wild turkeys to the Buckeye State in the 1950s. Ohio’s spring turkey season opened in nine counties in 1966. For the next five decades, the wild turkey population grew and expanded rapidly, facilitated by trap-and-transfer efforts. By 1999, wild turkeys were found in all 88 counties.

Wild turkey research 
The Division of Wildlife is studying the nesting and survival of hen turkeys in eastern and southwestern Ohio in collaboration with researchers in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Over the last two years, Ohio’s biologists affixed GPS transmitters to 151 hens and gathered information on their movement, survival, and nest activity timing. This year, staff are gathering data from an additional 97 hens via GPS transmitters. 
 
Division of Wildlife staff are also conducting research on the gobbling frequency and timing of male wild turkeys. Biologists placed 32 recorders in eastern Ohio in 2024 to record wild turkey gobbles and learn more about factors that influence gobbling. Preliminary results show that daily gobbling activity varies considerably throughout the spring. When compared with hen GPS data, periods of peak gobbling align closely with periods of peak nest initiation and egg-laying.
 
Information gathered from the brood surveys, multiyear nest study, and gobbling research will influence wild turkey management decisions in the coming years. This helps the Division of Wildlife structure science-based turkey hunting regulations, ensuring wild turkey success across Ohio for many more years. 
 
Turkey hunting regulations 
During the two-day youth hunting season, hunters aged 17 and younger can participate with a youth hunting license ($10 for a one-year license) and youth turkey permit ($16). Licenses and permits can be purchased on the Ohio Wildlife Licensing System, via the HuntFish OH mobile app, or at participating license sales agents. Youth hunters are required to be accompanied by a non-hunting adult, 18 years of age or older. Hunting hours during the youth season are 30 minutes before sunrise until sunset. 
 
In both regular season hunting zones, turkey hunting hours for the first nine days of the season are from 30 minutes before sunrise until noon. For the remainder of the season, hours are extended until sunset. The season ends in the south zone on Sunday, May 18, and in the northeast zone on Sunday, June 1. Turkey hunters are required to have a valid hunting license and spring turkey permit, unless exempted. Find more information in the current hunting and trapping regulations. 
 
Hunters are required to game check their harvested bird no later than 11:30 p.m. on the day it was taken. The Division of Wildlife’s automated game check system is available on wildohio.gov, on the HuntFish OH mobile app, by phone at 877-TAG-IT-OH (877-824-4864), or at a participating license agent. Reporting your harvest allows the Division of Wildlife to monitor wild turkey populations from year to year and impacts management decisions on wild turkeys. 

The mission of the Division of Wildlife is to conserve and improve fish and wildlife resources and their habitats for sustainable use and appreciation by all. Visit wildohio.gov to find out more.

ODNR ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR website at ohiodnr.gov.