Hunters get extra week to pursue wild turkeys

10/2/2001

Ohio wild turkey hunters will have an extra week to pursue their game when the season opens on Oct. 13, state wildlife managers said.

The fall season this year will run 16 days, through Oct. 28, for a turkey of either sex. Ashtabula, Geauga, Trumbull, and Licking counties have been opened for the first time in the fall, bringing the total fall turkey counties to 32.

An estimated 22,000 hunters pursued wild turkey in Ohio last fall, taking 2,407 birds. The statewide wild turkey flock now is estimated at 260,000 birds.

A fall turkey permit is required in addition to a general hunting license. Dogs may be used to assist in taking wild turkeys in the fall season, though not during the spring season.

Turkeys hunters are advised that the extended turkey season partially will overlap the special primitive weapons deer hunting season, Oct. 22 through 27, on three state public hunting areas – Wildcat Hollow and Salt Fork state wildlife areas and Shawnee State Forest. Turkey hunting will not be allowed on these areas during the special primitive bucks-only deer season.

The season will not conflict with Ohio's archery deer hunting season, which opens Saturday.

Young waterfowl hunters are reminded that they must have completed a safe-boating course before operating a boat with more than 10 horsepower.

A mandatory training law applies to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1982. An approved boating education course is scheduled Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Maumee Bay State Park Nature Center. To register, call the Ohio Division of Watercraft, 836-6003.

In other Ohio waterfowling news, early special youth waterfowl hunting dates are set for Oct. 13 and 14 at Killdeer Plains State Wildlife Area, Wyandot County, and Pickerel Creek State Wildlife Area, Sandusky County. The season applies to hunters 15 and younger.

Drawings are set each day at the area check station at 5:15 a.m. Each youth must be accompanied by a non-hunting adult hunter. For other details call the Ohio Wildlife District 2, Findlay, 419-424-5000.

Fishing report - Yellow perch action on western Lake Erie got better with the return of calmer weather over the weekend.

Schools are scattered, area bait shops said, so anglers have to search for active fish. Close to Toledo, try in the area within the following marks: the Toledo Harbor Light, the Turn-Around Buoy of the Toledo Ship Channel, West Sister Island, and Toledo Water Intake.

Anglers who fish both in Ohio and Michigan waters are reminded that the daily perch limit in Ohio waters and within a quarter-mile of the Ohio lakeshore is 30 perch. It is illegal to keep a Michigan daily creel limit of 50 per perch in Ohio waters or to come to an Ohio port with a Michigan limit, even if an angler possesses licenses from both states.

More than 25,000 rainbow trout measuring 8 to 10 inches are to be released this month in 25 inland bodies of water statewide, including four in northwest Ohio.

The areas to be stocked in the region include Olander Lake, Sylvania Township, 1,000 trout, Oct. 12; Lake Daugherty (Fostoria Reservoir No. 1), Hancock County, 1,000 fish, Oct. 12; Lima Lake, Allen County, 1,360 fish, Oct. 18, and Norwalk Reservoir No. 1, Huron County. 1,025 fish, Oct. 19.

The daily limit in these inland lakes is five trout a day.

DATEBOOK

Tonight - Walk along historic canal locks, 6, Side Cut Metropark, Silver Lake Area; also, tonight, full moon walk, 8:30, Oak Openings Preserve Metropark, Mallard Lake Area, groups register by calling 535-5058 extension 101; also, Friday, teen service project to restore habitat, 4 to 6 p.m., Side Cut Metropark, Siegert Lake Area, for details call 535-3058 extension 109; also, Saturday, hike with the Maumee Valley Volkssporters, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Pearson Metropark, Packer-Hammersmith Center, for details call 734-847-0641, or Virginia Schreiber, 693-8425; also, Saturday, twilight walk, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Oak Openings Preserve Metropark, Pine Ridge Area.

Tomorrow - Safe boating course, 7 p.m., Room 2401 Collier Building, Medical College of Ohio, continues for seven weeks; call the Toledo Power Squadron, 470-2710.

Tomorrow - Fall trapshooting league, 5 to 8 p.m., Paulding County Fish & Game Club, U.S. 127 south of Paulding, call Dwayne Clevinger, 419-258-9339.

Thursday - Trapshoot, 6 p.m., Sandusky County Sportsmen's Club, State Rt. 600 east of Gibsonburg.

Thursday - Public trapshoot, 6 to 9 p.m., Ottawa County Conservation League, Martin-Moline Road, Martin, call Rick Temple, 666-1399.

Thursday - Trap and skeet shooting, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monroe Rod and Gun Club, 6280 Lighthouse Rd., Monroe, Mich., call Bill Warren, 734-243-9774.

Friday and Monday - Public trapshoots, 6:30 p.m., Wolf Creek Sportsmen's Association, 349 Teachout Rd. north of State Rt. 2, Curtice, call Frank Schaffer, 691-2769.

Friday through Sunday - 44th annual Paul Bunyan Show, Hocking Technical College, Nelsonville, Ohio., sponsored by the Ohio Forestry Association, wood and wood products displays, exhibits, and activities, call the OFA, 937-246-0223, or the college, 740-753-3591.

Friday through Sunday - Fall rendezvous, Sandusky County Hawkeyes Muzzle Loading Club, at Fremont Chapter, Izaak Walton League of America, County Road 170 north of Turnpike Exit 6/92, call Doug Leaser, 661-0389.

Saturday - ATA trapshoot and fish fry, first event 11:30 a.m., fish fry 1 p.m., Paulding County Fish & Game Club, U.S. 127 south of Paulding.

Saturday - Campout, 2 to 10 p.m., at Mary Jane Thurston State Park, State Rt. 65, Grand Rapids, Native American speaker John Miles 2 and 5 p.m., ham and bean soup lunch 2:30 p.m., American folk music 3 p.m., Irish folk music 4 p.m., hayrides 4 to 6 p.m., folk music 6:30 to 10 p.m., call the park, 419-832-7662.

Saturday - Fall foliage festival, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Hidden Lake Gardens, M-50 west of Tecumseh, Mich., traditional crafts, antique tractors, pumpkin decorating, wagon rides, corn maze, folk music; call the Gardens, 517-431-2060.

Saturday - Field trip to songbird migration stations, 9 a.m., Black Swamp Bird Observatory, meet at west parking lot, Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, State Rt. 2, north of Oak Harbor, call BSBO to register, 419-898-4070; also, BSBO/Christy Farm Nature Preserve open house, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Christy Road between U.S. 20 (West State Street) and State Rt. 19, northwest of Fremont, guided nature walks, bird banding demonstrations.

Saturday and Sunday - Prairie autumn weekend, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Kitty Todd Preserve, 10420 Old State Line Road, native wildflower garden, walking trails, guided hikes at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily; native wildflower sale 1 to 5 p.m. daily, program on the role of fire in native habitat restoration 3 p.m. Sunday; call The Nature Conservancy, 867-1521.

Sunday - American Red Cross benefit shoot, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., WR Hunt Club, 5690 Sandusky County Road 237, Clyde; shoot, gun raffle, lunch, hunting dog first aid demonstration; proceeds to the county Red Cross disaster fund; call WR, 419-547-8550.

Sunday - Monthly bird count, 8 a.m., Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, Toledo Naturalists' Association, meet at the refuge parking lot.

Sunday - Bowshoot, Four-County Conservation League, Bellevue, register 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., call the club, 419-483-8113.

Monday - Boating education course, 6 to 8:30 p.m., Paulding County Fish & Game Club, U.S. 127 south of Paulding, continues Oct. 9, 11, 15, 16, and 18; call Louie Klausing, 419-399-2502.

Steve Pollick is The Blade's outdoor writer. E-mail him at spollick@theblade.com.