First-week turkey hunt totals up over last year
Ohio’s wild turkey hunters didn’t break records but still had a strong first week of the spring 2017 season.
Hunters in 83 counties checked 10,280 birds through last Sunday, according to the Ohio Division of Wildlife. That topped last year’s first-week total of 8,629 turkeys, an increase of 19.1 percent.
For the first time, Ohio has two spring turkey zones. The season didn’t begin in Ashtabula, Trumbull, Geauga, Lake and Cuyahoga counties until Monday. Last year, those counties added about 600 birds to the first-week total.
Turkey numbers reportedly are strong after last year’s successful hatch, which was abetted by the emergence of 17-year cicadas in eastern Ohio. The wildlife division believes hunters can anticipate aboveaverage wild turkey numbers for at least a couple of years.
Tuscarawas led Ohio’s open counties with 370 checked, followed by Coshocton (348), Muskingum and Guernsey (321 each) and Meigs (309).
Licking led central Ohio counties with 234 birds checked, followed by Fairfield (69), Delaware (45), Union (27), Pickaway (10), Franklin (nine) and Madison (two).
In the South Zone, which includes central Ohio counties, the hunting day ends today at noon. Beginning Monday, hunting hours run from 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset through May 21.
A single bearded bird may be bagged daily. The limit is two each season for hunters who purchase a second permit.
Chiefs speak
Six former Division of Wildlife chiefs went public last week with a letter sent to Gov. John Kasich and members of the Ohio General Assembly supporting a $3 increase in the cost of annual hunting and fishing licenses.
More than 30 hunting, fishing and conservation groups and related businesses are pushing for the increase in residence fees, the first since license costs were raised from $15 to $19, in 2004. The millions of dollars generated would help the division maintain services that have suffered from increased costs, the groups say.
Ex-chiefs Steve Cole, Clayton Lakes, Dick Pierce, Mike Budzik, Steve Gray and Dave Graham signed the statement, which took issue with a recent assertion by James Zehringer, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, that a license fee increase would discourage buyers.
The statement said “the current (funding) trend is slowly starving out the Ohio Division of Wildlife, which if not corrected will result an in irretrievable loss of customers and revenue.”
Bird days
The Biggest Week in American Birding kicked off Thursday and runs through next Sunday. Numerous activities, some that cost and some that don’t, are scheduled at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Maumee Bay State Park in northwest Ohio.
The attraction is migrating birds, most on their way to summer nesting sites. They tend to pile up along the shoreline to rest before heading across the lake. A mile-long boardwalk near the beach at Magee Marsh is one of the most renowned birding sites in the world.
An overview, including a daily schedule, is available at www. biggestweekinamericanbirding.
Gander going?
Sporting goods retailer Gander Mountain has been purchased for $390 million at bankruptcy auction by Camping World Holdings Inc. and a group of liquidators. The buyer plans to keep open 17 Gander Mountain locations and auction the leases to 100 others. What that means for Gander Mountain stories in Columbus and Reynoldsburg is not known.