Brush Creek Wildlife Area
The Brush Creek Wildlife Area also gets a thumbs-up from Kramer. Brush Creek is in Jefferson County and covers 4,131 acres of rugged country, predominately hardwood forest. Steep slopes and ridges can make hunting a challenge.

The area lies six miles southeast of Salineville. State Route 164 provides access.

Highlandtown Wildlife Area
The Highlandtown Wildlife Area in Columbiana County is also on Kramer’s list of good turkey-hunting destinations for northeastern Ohio. The area covers 2,265 acres of hardwoods and open, brushy cover. The topography is rolling and includes 170-acre Highlandtown Lake. Access is from state routes 39 and 164.

More information is available from the ODOW’s District Three office at (330) 644-2293.

SOUTHEASTERN OHIO
If Ohio has a turkey capital, District Four is it. More turkeys are taken in the southeastern forests than anywhere else in the state.

“We had a good reproductive season and a mild winter in 2005, so there’s no reason we shouldn’t have as good a season as we’ve been having over the last few years,” said Dave Swanson, a District Four wildlife biologist and avid turkey hunter.

“We should harvest 20,000 birds in the spring of 2007.”

Swanson uses the term “we” to include himself in the ranks of shooters chasing down the area’s gobblers.

“I’m still learning,” he confessed. “Turkey hunting is a lot of fun, but you’ve got to be patient and learn to be a woodsman.”

The extensive forests in southeastern Ohio provide turkeys with ideal habitat. The winters generally aren’t severe; there is plenty of food and adequate cover.

“The average number of turkeys statewide is about five birds per forested square mile,” said Swanson. “Areas like Wayne National Forest and Shawnee and Zaleski state forests support from 10 to 15 birds per square mile. That doesn’t mean you’ll find a bird around every tree, and they’re far from being evenly spaced in the woods. The gobblers tend to bunch up and live in quality habitat within these areas. But there are enough turkeys that hunters should have no trouble finding them.”

Openings and small fields in mature forests are good places to start, Swanson noted. Trails and old logging roads are also good places to check. Walk quietly down these paths, do some pre-season scouting for sign and listen for gobblers in the fall.

Most of the birds that hunters checked in last year were 2-year-olds averaging 18 pounds, said Swanson. Older birds can weigh 25 pounds or more. The mild 2005 winter allowed turkeys to keep right on eating, and they really put on some weight.

Wayne National Forest
Hunters shouldn’t forget federal properties when looking for vast tracts of forest to hunt. Wayne National Forest covers 236,638 acres and sprawls across 12 counties in southern Ohio. The forest properties are open to spring hunting, and hunter access is good.

“The Wayne has a real good population of turkeys on excellent habitat, and it is open to hunters,” said Swanson.

The forest is a multi-use public destination containing miles of roads and ATV, hiking and riding trails that provide good hunter access. It’s divided into three districts that aren’t physically connected. The Athens Ranger District, the Marietta Unit and the Ironton Ranger District are managed by the U.S. Forest Service for a variety of outdoor activities, but it’s the hunting opportunities that draw the most praise.