The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife is releasing more than 14,000 ring-necked pheasants at public hunting areas across the state this fall, with releases under way this weekend for Ohio’s youth small game hunting season and central Ohio hunters among the first to benefit.
In central Ohio, roosters are being released at three public sites: Delaware Wildlife Area north of Columbus, Kokosing Lake Wildlife Area in Knox County and Urbana Wildlife Area in Champaign County. The Division of Wildlife’s fall table lists 1,130 pheasants for Delaware across the release dates, with smaller permit-only releases at Kokosing Lake and Urbana, where hunting is limited to controlled hunts drawn during the summer.
The release schedule runs through the fall. After this youth weekend, further releases are slated for the second youth weekend, for the pheasant hunting opening day in early November, again in mid-November and on Thanksgiving Day, giving both new and veteran hunters repeated put-and-take opportunities close to home.
The program exists because Ohio’s wild pheasant numbers alone cannot meet hunter demand. The Columbus Dispatch reported this week that the Division of Wildlife has long supplemented wild birds with pen-raised birds released in time for the hunt, even as grouse and bobwhite quail populations continue to decline across the state.
Hunters should check the site-specific rules before they go. Some areas are public and open, while others, including Kokosing Lake and Urbana in central Ohio, are permit-only, and hunting at some public places carries additional stipulations set out in the Ohio Hunting and Trapping Regulations 2026-27 and at wildohio.gov.
The releases coincide with other fall season milestones in central Ohio. The fall wild turkey season closes Oct. 25, and the first part of the season for geese, ducks, coots and mergansers also ends Oct. 25 in central Ohio, with goose season reopening Nov. 21 and duck, coot and merganser seasons resuming Dec. 12.
For families, the youth weekends are the headline: they give young hunters a first chance at a rooster in fields stocked for the occasion, within a short drive of Columbus. Anyone planning a trip should confirm the exact release area, access type and regulations for their chosen wildlife area before heading out.
Photo: James Mann, CC BY