Yep....there is no need for it. The state has a good thing going on right now. I firmly believe they want you to buy tags and not shoot any deer. Eventually it's going to get to that.
I'm not backing down from what I said. If it hurt your feelings, sorry. There is more than enough time to shoot an anterless deer with the way the seasons are set now.
I understand work and family obligations effect most of us. I work full time myself and only average MAYBE 8-10 days with a bow each year. With a gun I average around 6 days. Do the math, I deer hunt at most 16 days a year!!!! I'm not crying about another gun season. I choose not to hunt much during the early season because of the heat. I choose not to hunt in late season because I also enjoy waterfowl hunting. I limit my bow hunting from late October through the middle of November.
It is multiple stands Fred. I have hunted 8 sets this year on 6 different properties. I will say most of them were for getting the big boys though and not does. Just that kind of season so far and I know many others that are good hunters are in the same postion so far. I attribute it to a massive decline in the herd, especially does. Hell, look at the guys on this sight that are coming up not only empty handed but sightings so far.
Not everyone lives/hunts in SE or Eastern Ohio... I think those in high deer/acre counties are a bit outta touch with the rest of the state about how "easy" it is to see deer consistantly. It is slowly going your way though...
You should feel very priviliged then Darron. I also have what I feel are some very good hunting locations. I could have killed 6-8 small bucks this year. While I have seen does, they are often 100yds away or more. I have had 2 shot opportunities at does this year on my local hunting grounds. One was facing toward me, turned while shot was blocked by brush and walked directly away from me. The other, well, she is in my freezer. I have passed on several yearlings because that is simply my choice. Seeing deer and having them in bow range are totally different. I guess I am not much of a hunter either. Let me know when you write your book since you have it figured out.
I don't claim to be some great hunter. I feel I do alright. I don't care how you feel about me or Hoot or anyone else on here. I would love to see everyone get along. Just realize the wording you chose is pretty much a kick in the bag to anyone out there hunting hard but still working on filling their freezers. Your knowledge on food plots and sharing on here is appreciated. You are certainly entitled to your opinions as well. However, this is a big state and there are many variables from one corner to the next or even one county to the next. I think many (if not most) would agree with you on the extra muzzle loader season. I am not sure personal attacks on other hunters about their capabilities as hunters is much related to an extra season.
I don't claim to be some great hunter. I feel I do alright. I don't care how you feel about me or Hoot or anyone else on here. I would love to see everyone get along. Just realize the wording you chose is pretty much a kick in the bag to anyone out there hunting hard but still working on filling their freezers. Your knowledge on food plots and sharing on here is appreciated. You are certainly entitled to your opinions as well. However, this is a big state and there are many variables from one corner to the next or even one county to the next. I think many (if not most) would agree with you on the extra muzzle loader season. I am not sure personal attacks on other hunters about their capabilities as hunters is much related to an extra season.
Stand behind it all you want but this is an opinion of a closed minded individual and it sounds rather brash. This is coming from someone that hasn't went without for a LONG time. I know many good hunters that have went the season without a kill so far and in recent years.
But I digress because the thread has a different purpose than if you can kill a deer. It is about the numbers. And the deer numbers are down, way down on my area. There is no "need" for an extended gun season unless your goal is to further decimate our doe population. Which is what Tonk wants.
If the intent of the proposed extra gun season was different I would feel differently about it. If the available numbers of tags was dropped I would be more for thinking about it. The earlier the gun season, the easier it is to fill tags. Pressure and easier to pattern IMHO. The other reason I am against it is I don't want the trash hunting, trespassing, stand/camera stealing, portion of the orange army in the woods before the rut...
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In Darron's defense, I would have agree wholeheartedly with what he said a few years ago. Prior to 2009 when we went to 6 tags down here, if you spent any amount of time in the woods around here with gun or bow, you would have chances to kill deer. There were years when it wasn't a matter of if I would kill a doe, but when. When the deer herd was in its prime down here, I could get on does any time I wanted and with a gun in my hand, I could tag one in a couple hours if I wanted. This season, I have spent 80+ hours on stand in 27 hunts and have only had one solid (not forcing the shot and under 40 yards) at a doe all season long. I'm at the point now, where I would disagree with Darron's statement; although I understand what he is saying. With four months of bow season, and 13 days of gun season, it should be a given to harvest a doe in nearly every area of the state if you have the time and access to get out there. As we continue to decimate our deer herd, I will begin to think killing a mature doe is no longer a "gimme" and will become a triumph all its own. To me, that is a sad statement. Every harvest is a blessing and a trophy in its own right. But when I have to hunt my ass off just to kill a doe in the area I live, then things are FUBAR'd beyond all regard...
Schu72
Well-Known Member
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Simple Eric.... Huntable populations... In 2010-2011 Illinois hunters killed 181,866 deer...... What cities do they have.. Chicago and St Louis.. Both on the edges of the state... The interior is largely rural...
We have Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo.... They are killing a bunch of deer... We are killing a bunch of deer in a much smaller hunting area..
Buckmaster
Senior Member
Milo
Tatonka guide.
- 8,189
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I could care less what you think about me as well. Filling the freezer.........how many deer does it take to fill the freezer? If you're talking about trying to kill 4, 5 or 6 deer a year yes, you might struggle a bit. Which goes back to my point.....why do we need to shoot that many in the first place? However, if one anterless deer is "filling the freezer" that should be manageable and any hunter who knows a little about what they are doing should be able to harvest A deer a year with the current seasons.
I'm not trying to belittle anyone's hunting capabilities. If I came off that way I apologize. However, hunters in this state have more than enough opportunities to harvest deer with the current deer seasons. Hunters have over 200 days to harvest deer. Do we really need another gun season? That's the question. What good will come out of an early muzzy season?
Issues like this should be put on the ballot just like political issues. The only difference is you should be a
License holder in order to vote.
I'm against it. The deer sightings aren't nearly what they were in the 90's and I spend a helluva lot more time in the woods now then I did then. I just don't get why they seek annihilation.
License holder in order to vote.
I'm against it. The deer sightings aren't nearly what they were in the 90's and I spend a helluva lot more time in the woods now then I did then. I just don't get why they seek annihilation.
Contact Mike T.....maybe if he gets enough e-mails he will think twice. He just now sent me an e-mail with a bar graph showing how the deer pop in SE Ohio is above "target." Above target was back in the mid-late 90's and early 2000.
Gotta love this response:
“The last thing we want to do is get hunters comfortable with seeing 25 deer every time they go hunting because we’ve got to get the population down,” said Tonkovich. “If you look at the harvest numbers over the past few years I still think the deer heard is tending upward. I’d eventually like to see the deer herd 25 percent lower then what it is now.”
What a joke...
“The last thing we want to do is get hunters comfortable with seeing 25 deer every time they go hunting because we’ve got to get the population down,” said Tonkovich. “If you look at the harvest numbers over the past few years I still think the deer heard is tending upward. I’d eventually like to see the deer herd 25 percent lower then what it is now.”
What a joke...
I did not take it that way, but only because I understood what you were trying to say. I also agree with what you said here 100%. We (the hunters) have plenty of chances to harvest a deer and given the assumption you have time and access, then you have ample opportunities afforded to you via our hunting regs to get meat in the freezer. Obviously, there a things that can hinder you doing this, but based on what the state says we can do from September 24 through February 5 this season, there is plenty of time to get things done...
I don't like the idea of a statewide early muzz season. There's absolutely no need for it, IMO. As a matter of fact, I wish they'd get rid of the extra gun weekend as well.... No need for that either, IMO. But, the DNR's goal is to reduce the population by 25%, as stated above, so I doubt that extra weekend is going away any time soon. If deer sightings are decreasing statewide, as many are suggesting, there's a good chance this early muzz season gets turned down. There are a shit-ton of bowhunters in Ohio these days, and I have a feeling 95% of them would not be in favor of an early statewide muzz season.