COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is asking Ohioans to report sightings of wild turkeys and ruffed grouse throughout the summer for the annual brood surveys. 

What You Need To Know

  • The surveys help estimate population statuses, and the surveys rely on the public reports in July and August

  • ODNR said this is when female birds and their young are the most active 

  • Observations can be submitted on the Wildlife Reporting System webpage at wildohio.gov or on the HuntFish OH mobile app

The surveys help estimate population statuses, and the surveys rely on the public reports in July and August. ODNR said this is when female birds and their young are the most active. 

Observations can be submitted on the Wildlife Reporting System webpage at wildohio.gov or on the HuntFish OH mobile app. When submitting observations for wild turkeys, Ohioans are asked to list the number of gobblers, hens and young turkeys they saw. For ruffed grouse, observations should include the number of adults and young ones. ODNR encourages submissions to be as detailed as possible, including the date, county and other factors that may be important. 

For both the 2021 and 2022 wild turkey brood surveys, there was an above-average nest productivity, compared to previous years, which were below average, according to ODNR. Experts said the turkey brood success is dependent on weather conditions, habitat, predators and other factors. ODNR said the wild turkey populations are the strongest in eastern and southern counties. 

ODNR explained turkeys disappeared from the state in 1904, so in the 1950s, the Division of Wildlife restored the population by releasing birds from other states. 

Ruffed grouse can usually be found in the more forested regions of the state. Habitat loss has caused the population to dwindle since the 1980s, and the susceptibility of West Nile Virus made the population decline even worse since the early 2000s, according to ODNR.

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