Ohio’s Spring Wild Turkey Hunting Begins in April

Article presented by Kingston National Bank …

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife has announced hunting season dates for the wild turkey, one of Ohio’s most iconic game species.
 
Spring turkey hunting is an anticipated event for many Ohioans. During the 2025 spring wild turkey season, hunters checked 16,014 birds. Among those were 1,740 turkeys taken by hunters aged 17 and younger during the youth season.

New this year, the spring hunting seasons include separate youth dates for the south and northeast zones. Ohio’s upcoming turkey season dates are as follows:

• Youth turkey, south zone: April 18-19, 2026
• Youth turkey, northeast zone: April 25-26, 2026
• Spring turkey, south zone: April 25-May 24, 2026
• Spring turkey, northeast zone: May 2-31, 2026

Ohio’s spring turkey hunting season is split into two zones to align with the timing of turkey nesting in those regions. The south zone covers the majority of Ohio, comprising 83 counties. The northeast zone includes Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, and Trumbull counties. The season limit is one bearded turkey.
 
Eastern and southern counties, where forested habitat is most abundant, typically record the highest number of hunter harvests. The top five counties for turkeys taken in 2025 were Ashtabula (516), Monroe (462), Belmont (459), Guernsey (419), and Muskingum (406).

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 at The Ohio State University. Similar research is being conducted in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Since 2023, Ohio’s biologists have affixed GPS transmitters to 319 hens and gathered information on their movement, survival, and nest activity timing.

Division of Wildlife staff are also conducting research on the gobbling frequency and timing of male wild turkeys. Biologists placed audio recorders in eastern Ohio in 2024 and 2025 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 in these turkey research projects 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 youth hunting seasons, 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 dates 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 24, and in the northeast zone on Sunday, May 31. 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 a 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 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.