Ohio Administrative Code
Title 1501:31 - Division of Wildlife
Chapter 1501:31-15 - Hunting and Trapping
Section 1501:31-15-10 - Wild turkey regulations
Universal Citation: OH Admin Code 1501:31-15-10
Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) Season dates
(1) It shall be unlawful for any
person to hunt or take wild turkeys at any time except in accordance with this
rule or any provisions of this rule:
(a) The
northeast zone for turkey consists of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and
Trumbull counties. Spring wild turkey season is open in the northeast zone from
April 27, 2024 through May 26, 2024.
(b) The south zone for turkey consists of the
remaining eighty-three counties not included in the northeast zone. Spring wild
turkey season is open in the south zone from April 20, 2024 through May 19,
2024.
(c) Youth spring wild turkey
season is open on April 13 and 14, 2024 for persons seventeen years of age and
younger. All spring wild turkey season rules apply to these dates.
(d) Fall wild turkey season is open from
October
1, 2024, through October 27,
2024, in the following counties: Adams, Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula,
Athens, Belmont, Brown, Butler, Carroll, Champaign, Clermont, Columbiana,
Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Defiance, Delaware, Erie, Fairfield, Franklin,
Fulton, Gallia, Geauga, Guernsey, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henry,
Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Huron, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Lake, Lawrence,
Licking, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Mahoning, Medina, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Morrow,
Muskingum, Noble, Paulding, Perry, Pike, Portage, Preble, Putnam, Richland,
Ross, Scioto, Seneca, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Vinton, Warren,
Washington, Wayne, Williams and Wyandot counties.
(B) Bag limits
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to
take or possess a wild turkey during the spring wild turkey season that does
not have a visible beard.
(2) It
shall be unlawful for any person to hunt, take or possess more than one wild
turkey per day.
(3) It shall be
unlawful for any person to hunt, take or possess more than one bearded wild
turkey during the spring wild turkey season.
(4) It shall be unlawful for any person to
hunt, take or possess more than one wild turkey of either sex during the fall
wild turkey season.
(C) Hunting implements
(1) Archery:
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to
hunt or take a wild turkey with any archery equipment except:
(i) A longbow and arrow.
(ii) A crossbow and arrow.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any
person to hunt wild turkey while being in possession of, or take a wild turkey
with, explosive or poisoned arrows.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person to
hunt or take wild turkey with a longbow having a draw weight less than forty
pounds, or with a crossbow having a draw weight less than seventy-five
pounds.
(d) It shall be unlawful
for any person to hunt or take a wild turkey with a broadhead having less than
two cutting edges measuring less than three quarters inch wide.
(2) Firearms:
It shall be unlawful for any person to hunt or take wild turkeys with any firearm except:
A shotgun using shot.
(3) It shall be unlawful for any person to
possess more than one hunting implement, singly or in the aggregate, to include
a firearm, longbow or crossbow while hunting wild turkey.
This paragraph does not prohibit a person from legally carrying a concealed firearm in accordance with law.
(D) Hunting methods and hours
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person
during the spring wild turkey season to hunt or take a wild turkey at any time
other than from one half hour before sunrise to twelve p.m. during the period
of April 27, 2024 through May 5, 2024 in the northeast zone.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person
during the spring wild turkey season to hunt or take a wild turkey at any time
other than from one half hour before sunrise to twelve p.m. during the period
of April 20, 2024 through April 28, 2024 in the south zone.
(3) It shall be unlawful for any person
during the spring wild turkey season to hunt or take a wild turkey at any time
other than from one half hour before sunrise to sunset during the period of May
6, 2024 through May 26, 2024 in the northeast zone.
(4) It shall be unlawful for any person
during the spring wild turkey season to hunt or take a wild turkey at any time
other than from one half hour before sunrise to sunset during the period of
April 29, 2024 through May 19, 2024 in the south zone.
(5) It shall be unlawful for any person
during the spring youth wild turkey season to hunt or take a wild turkey at any
time other than from one half hour before sunrise to sunset.
(6) It shall be unlawful for any person
during the fall wild turkey season to hunt or take a wild turkey at any time
other than from one half hour before sunrise to sunset.
(7) It shall be unlawful for any person to
hunt or take a wild turkey by the aid of baiting or on or over any baited
area.
(8) It shall be unlawful for
any person to hunt or take a wild turkey by the use or aid of live birds as
decoys.
(9) It shall be unlawful
for any person to possess or use any electronic calling device capable of
producing recorded turkey or other wild animal calls or sounds, or recorded
and/or electronically amplified imitations of turkey or other wild animal calls
or sounds, while hunting wild turkey.
(10) It shall be unlawful for any person to
take a wild turkey when it is in a tree.
(11) It shall be unlawful for any person
during the spring wild turkey season to hunt or take a wild turkey with the aid
of a dog, except wounded wild turkeys may be tracked using a dog that is
leashed.
(E) Permits
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to
hunt or take a wild turkey during the spring wild turkey season without
possessing a valid electronic or printed spring turkey permit.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person to
hunt or take a wild turkey during the fall turkey season without possessing a
valid electronic or printed fall turkey permit.
(3) It shall be unlawful for any person to
possess or use a spring turkey permit or a fall turkey permit of another while
hunting wild turkey.
(4) It shall
be unlawful for any person, during the spring wild turkey season, to hunt or
take wild turkey or aid another person in the hunting or taking of wild turkey,
while having in their possession a hunting implement, while being solely in
possession of a spring turkey permit for which a game check confirmation number
has been issued or the date, time and county of kill have been written on the
spring turkey permit.
(5) It shall
be unlawful for any person, during the fall wild turkey season, to hunt or take
wild turkey or aid another person in the hunting or taking of wild turkey,
while having in their possession a hunting implement, while being solely in
possession of a fall turkey permit for which a game check confirmation number
has been issued or the date, time and county of kill has been written on the
fall turkey permit.
(F) Tagging and game check
(1) It shall be
unlawful, after killing a turkey, to fail to immediately complete a spring
turkey permit, fall turkey permit, or landowner turkey tag, with the hunters
name, date, time, and county of kill prior to moving the carcass from the place
where it fell or fail to game check your turkey prior to moving the carcass
from the place it fell.
(2) It
shall be unlawful to leave a turkey that has been killed unattended without
first attaching a completed spring turkey permit, fall turkey permit or
landowner turkey tag with the hunters name, date, time and county of kill to
the turkey, or attaching a game check confirmation number to the
turkey.
(3) It shall be unlawful to
remove a spring turkey permit, fall turkey permit or a landowner turkey tag
from any turkey until the turkey has been game checked and a valid game check
confirmation number has been affixed to the turkey.
(4) It shall be unlawful for any person to
attach a spring turkey permit, fall turkey permit or a landowner turkey tag, or
a game check confirmation number to any wild turkey or parts thereof which was
taken by another person.
(5) It
shall be unlawful to attach or use a turkey permit on or for any turkey that
was taken before the permit was purchased or otherwise obtained.
(6) It shall be unlawful to manufacture,
counterfeit, sell, trade, distribute, forge and/or falsify a spring turkey
permit, fall turkey permit, landowner turkey tag, or game check confirmation
number for a turkey.
(7) It shall
be unlawful to possess, attach, affix or otherwise use a counterfeit or
falsified or invalid spring turkey permit, fall turkey permit, landowner turkey
tag, or game check confirmation number on or for any turkey.
(8) It shall be unlawful to possess any
turkey, or part thereof, which has attached or affixed a counterfeit or
otherwise falsified spring turkey permit, fall turkey permit, landowner turkey
tag or game check confirmation number.
(9) It shall be unlawful to fail to
immediately attach your spring turkey permit, fall turkey permit, or landowner
turkey tag with the hunters name, date, time and county of kill, or the game
check confirmation number to a harvested turkey upon arrival at a personal or
temporary abode.
(10) It shall be
unlawful to use or attempt to use an invalid or voided turkey permit to obtain
a game check confirmation number through the game check process.
(11) It shall be unlawful to attach, affix or
otherwise use a game check confirmation number for a turkey, or parts thereof,
other than for the turkey the game check confirmation number was issued to at
the time of game checking.
(12) It
shall be unlawful for any person to leave the state of Ohio with a turkey that
was taken by hunting that has not been game checked and the game check
confirmation number permanently attached.
(13) It shall be unlawful to attach a game
check confirmation number from a spring wild turkey permit to a wild turkey
taken during the fall wild turkey season.
(14) It shall be unlawful to attach a game
check confirmation number from a fall wild turkey permit to a wild turkey taken
during the spring wild turkey season.
(15) It shall be unlawful to remove the feet,
beard, meat or feathers of a turkey until the turkey has been game checked and
tagged with a valid game check confirmation number.
(16) It shall be unlawful for each person who
kills a wild turkey to fail to game check and permanently attach the game check
confirmation number to the turkey, regardless of the season, by eleven-thirty
p.m. on the same day the wild turkey is killed.
(17) It shall be unlawful, while at any
personal or temporary abode, for any person to fail to immediately and
permanently attach their valid game check confirmation number to the turkey
after it as been game checked.
(18)
It shall be unlawful to provide any false information or data when game
checking any turkey.
(19) It shall
be unlawful at any time to possess a wild turkey or wild turkey parts that were
taken in violation of any Administrative Code rule or the Ohio Revised
Code.
(20) With the exception of a
hunter harvested turkey prior to reaching a personal or temporary abode, it
shall be unlawful for any person to possess a dead wild turkey, or any part
thereof, unless such wild turkey, or parts thereof, are accompanied by an
attached valid permit, tag, seal, certificate of legal ownership, statement or
receipt. For the purposes of this section a valid tag, seal, certificate for
legal ownership, statement or receipt for any wild turkey, or part thereof, is
any one or more of the following:
(a) A valid
Ohio division of wildlife spring wild turkey permit, fall wild turkey permit,
landowner turkey tag, permanent wild turkey tag, permanent wild turkey tag
number or game check confirmation number.
(b) An Ohio division of wildlife tag or seal
approved under the authority of section
1533.74 of the Revised Code if
the wild turkey or parts thereof were sold for food.
(c) A signed statement or receipt, legible in
the English language, which states the previous owners name, address and phone
number and the valid commercial propagation permit number if the wild turkey or
parts thereof were sold or given away under the authority of section
1533.71 of the Revised
Code.
(d) A tag or certificate as
described in section 1533.731 of the Revised
Code.
(e) A signed statement or
receipt, legible in the English language, which lists the owner or previous
owners name, address and phone number, the state and county of kill, the date
of kill and the assigned permanent wild turkey tag number or game check
confirmation number, if applicable.
(f) An official tag, seal or other official
documentation to show legal ownership and an accompanying valid hunting license
issued by another state or province if the wild turkey was killed outside of
Ohio.
(g) A valid tag, seal,
permanent tag number, game check confirmation number, certificate for legal
ownership, statement or receipt for the purposes of this rule is considered
attached if it is physically affixed to the wild turkey, or parts thereof, in
the following manner:
(i) The valid tag, seal,
permanent tag number, game check confirmation number, certificate for legal
ownership, statement or receipt must remain attached to the wild turkey until
the wild turkey has been processed into a taxidermy product. At this time the
valid tag, seal, permanent tag number, game check confirmation number,
certificate for legal ownership, statement or receipt may be removed from the
wild turkey and placed in another location on the taxidermy product which
allows for visual inspection. However the tag, permanent tag number, game check
confirmation number, seal, certificate for legal ownership, statement or
receipt must remain affixed permanently to the taxidermy product.
(ii) If through the butchering process one or
more packages of meat are produced the tag, game check confirmation number,
seal, certificate for legal ownership, statement or receipt shall be maintained
and available for inspection until the entire wild turkey is
consumed.
(21) It shall be unlawful for any person to
place or leave a wild turkey, or any part thereof, unattended or in the custody
of another person for the purpose of skinning, processing, taxidermy,
transportation, shipping, storage, including temporary storage, or any other
reason, unless such wild turkey or parts thereof are accompanied by an attached
valid permit, tag, permanent tag number, game check confirmation number, seal,
certificate for legal ownership, statement or receipt.
(G) Sales of turkey parts
It shall be unlawful for any person to buy, sell or offer for sale any wild turkey, or part thereof, taken from the wild, except:
(1) Legally acquired and possessed turkey
feathers, bones, spurs, feet, skin and beards may be bought and sold at any
time individually or as a wildlife ornamental product by the legal
owner.
(2) Wild turkey taxidermy
products may be bought or sold at any time. At the time of the purchase or sale
the taxidermy product must be accompanied by a signed statement or receipt,
legible in the English language, which lists the previous owner's name, address
and phone number, the state of kill(s) and the assigned tag, game check
confirmation number, seal, certificate for legal ownership or permit number(s),
if applicable, and the number of wild turkey, from which the said wild turkey
parts originated, that were sold during the transaction. This information must
remain with the taxidermy product unless said product(s) are disassembled and
manufactured into a wildlife ornamental product(s).
(H) All definitions set forth in rule 1501:31-1-02 of the Administrative Code apply to this rule.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Ohio may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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