Its Tuesday night at 11:30 p.m. I just got home after a very long day. Everyone is asleep, and as usual I have waited till the last possible moment to write this column. I started writing about another subject, but it just wasnt flowing very well. I knew that it was a waste of time to continue on that topic. A glance at a nearby label reminded me I had some more information to share on the subject of turkey hunting.
Last week I covered some turkey basics, but there is so much more to this strange bird that I felt compelled to ramble on a little more about it and its history. There are four species native to the United States. The Eastern wild turkey is the one we have here in Ohio, and the Northeastern states. The Rio Grande wild turkey ranges from Texas to Oregon, and California. The Merriams wild turkey lives in the Rocky Mountain states, and Plains states, and finally the Osceola wild turkey lives in Florida. Lots of hunters have harvested all four species, known as a grand slam.
Trophy turkey hunters measure their success in three ways. By the length of the spurs on the back of the legs, by the length of the beard, which is a tuft of coarse hair protruding from the breast of the bird, and the weight is also considered when sizing up a trophy. The record-sized adult male wild turkey, according to the National Wild Turkey Federation, was 38 pounds.
After the bald eagle was selected as the national bird in 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter declaring the noble turkey would have been a better choice. He described the eagle as having a bad moral character, because of its habit of stealing fish from other birds, and thought the turkey a much better candidate.
The ODNR has published the first harvest reports for the spring turkey season, and the numbers are up. They report that 11,152 birds have been harvested compared to 9,054 taken in the first seven days last year. Turkeys can be legally pursued with a shotgun, crossbow, or long bow in Ohio, and the season remains open until May 16. Plenty of time to hunt if you havent already got yours.
For some reason the local harvest is lagging behind the rest of the state. Only 41 turkeys have been taken so far in Holmes County. Last year in the same period 103 birds had been killed. Wayne County isnt doing much better with 22 birds harvested compared to 42 last year. The bright spot is Ashland County, reporting 212 checked in, up from 183 last year.
Catch you later, Rick
