The evening of January 21st

[Kaiser878]

I set out yesterday afternoon for a late season bowhunt. I have some does that have been coming in and figures i should probably shoot one. . I went out about 315 and sat until about 430 before I saw a deer. I should say I sat until about 430 until mass chaos.broke out. At 430 I noticed a deer coming through the timber. Within 10 minutes I was not accompanies by 1 deer, but 18 of them. I had 9 come in from one direction and 10 come in from another....all in a single file line.

I had deer from 5 yards to 55 yards and everywhere in between. I have never in my life had deer come in and not been able to draw back. Between the 18 pairs of eyes and a frozen creaky stand.....I was screwed. Before it was all said and done I saw 25 different deer.....yet not one set of antlers. I am pretty certain last night was ne of the most fun nights of hunting I have ever had where I didn't release an arrow. Despite the cold temperatures and frozen stand. It was def a sight to see.

 

[Curran]

Sounds like a good evening for sure! That's definitely a lot of eyes in a small area to try and draw a bow back.

 

[5Cent]

Nice Zach, doesn't get any better than that! You didn't have scrubs on did ya...that seat had to be cold Just fuggin with ya.

 

[hickslawns]

Good deal Zach! I hunted with a bow in hand last night as well. First time in a long time. Had 6 come out. They decided to feed a bit, then walk 10-15yds inside the timber and bed 65yds away. I couldn't move. Noisy freakin' stands when it is this cold. This was an older stand which doesn't help.

 

[Mike]

That was a great hunt.

 

[Dannmann801]

I thought I was doin' good last nite when I saw 3 of 'em at 300 yards over at Caesars Creek....dang man, that's a pile of deer!

 

[finelyshedded]

Sounds like a great hunt Zach. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Hoytmania]

I am wanting to get back out again a couple times before season closes. I just hope I can get a evening like you had.

 

[mrex]

I set out yesterday afternoon for a late season bowhunt. I have some does that have been coming in and figures i should probably shoot one. . I went out about 315 and sat until about 430 before I saw a deer. I should say I sat until about 430 until mass chaos.broke out. At 430 I noticed a deer coming through the timber. Within 10 minutes I was not accompanies by 1 deer, but 18 of them. I had 9 come in from one direction and 10 come in from another....all in a single file line.

I had deer from 5 yards to 55 yards and everywhere in between. I have never in my life had deer come in and not been able to draw back. Between the 18 pairs of eyes and a frozen creaky stand.....I was screwed. Before it was all said and done I saw 25 different deer.....yet not one set of antlers. I am pretty certain last night was ne of the most fun nights of hunting I have ever had where I didn't release an arrow. Despite the cold temperatures and frozen stand. It was def a sight to see.

I grew up less than 10 miles from you in Tuscarawas County. You saw more deer in that one sit than I saw in the decade of the 1970's. And you probably matched the best year I had in the early 80's.

I would like to personally thank the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife and specifically Mike Tonkovich for this success story. They are about as deserving of this pat on the back as they are for the rash of shit given on this forum...

 

[Mountaineer]

During the winter months, deer tend to "Herd up". Those 25 deer may represent a large area and will be displaced come spring, summer and fall. I believe its instinctive behavior for deer to yard up in the winter for survival reasons. Ive seen this behavior all my life and especially in Maine where deer positively have to yard up or they die.

 

[Redhunter1012]

:smiley_coolpeace:Ahh, how nostalgic Mike. Don't worry, we'll be back to those great times of the 70's and 80's before TOO long

 

[finelyshedded]

I grew up less than 10 miles from you in Tuscarawas County. You saw more deer in that one sit than I saw in the decade of the 1970's. And you probably matched the best year I had in the early 80's.

I would like to personally thank the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife and specifically Mike Tonkovich for this success story. They are about as deserving of this pat on the back as they are for the rash of shit given on this forum...

Tonk gets a pat on the back because a huge group of yarded up deer in Zachs area showed up in front of him during shooting light!?!:smiley_confused_vra

 

[mrex]

Tonk gets a pat on the back because a huge group of yarded up deer in Zachs area showed up in front of him during shooting light!?!:smiley_confused_vra

No...the DNR gets a pat on the back for bringing deer in Ohio back from near extinction...sorta tongue-in-cheek!

 

[Jackalope]

No...the DNR gets a pat on the back for bringing deer in Ohio back from near extinction...sorta tongue-in-cheek!

What private land habitat improvements has the DNR done specifically to increase the deer populations? Or was it, let some go and say don't shoot so many right now? I'm pretty sure the deer have done far more towards their own population improvements than the DNR ever did.

And way to take a tiny chunk of land in Ohio and attempt to extrapolate that out to the rest of the state. lol.... If only the harvest and DVA numbers supported such theories.

BTW.. Did you see brocks post the other day where he said The first 6 days of the 1995 shotgun season we killed 115,000 deer... This year we killed 90,000 in 7 days.. Wasn't 1995 the year you jumped Tonks ass and said we killed too many deer?

1995 - 115,000 - 6 days
2011 - 90,000 - 7 days..

Just from a pure percentage standpoint not having the actual Sunday kill numbers let's subtract 1/7th from this years numbers to get rid of sunday.. And this is on the high side considering I only removed 1/7th as I'm sure Sunday accounts for more than that being a weekend..


1995 - 115,000 - 6 days

2011 - 77,149 - 7 days..

- 37,851 decline
Or a 32% decline since 1995...

Yes, Yes, Thank you DNR.. :smiley_depressive:

 

[brock ratcliff]

Not all things are factored in there Joe... We have more tags available today than we did in 95 (so therefore we have to have more deer) Things have changed a lot since then though. People no longer find hunting enjoyable 'cause it's too easy with so many deer around. Acorns affect things more than they used to. It rains during hunting season these days. Corn stands in the field until someone harvest it. Don't blame the DOW for the issues we have brought on ourselves...laziness, corn, rain, acorns...not the DOW fault!

Just playing along here of course... I really could care less if the herd is reduced to nothing. I'll still hunt 'em. It's a lot easier to go to the woods and not see (and therefore shoot) anything. I have all the fun and none of the mess! Having so many deer that you are actually doing the herd a favor by killing a few turns into too much dang work for a lazy fella like me!

 

[brock ratcliff]

Just for conversation's sake Joe, I should mention 95 was the first (and only) year we had a two week season...12 days. The total kill was 137,000 during shotgun season. The DOW stated they would not have another continual two week season due to lower participation in the second week. The bonus weekend is more effective as it makes another "opening day". We killed 16,000 and change this year, making the shotgun total 107,000, or down 30k from 95.

 

[mrex]

...and what was the total yearly harvest in 1995 compared to this year? And what will the hunter success ratio, (hunters a field vs deer killed) for 1995 vs 2012 be? I say this with no malice...you guys are idiots...

 

[brock ratcliff]

hahah...nice! I'll get the numbers for you in a bit. I had 'em somewhere. In fact, I figured the success rates off the stats you put up for the last 100 yrs....since around the mid 90's, it has been around 35-40%. You would think with as much time as we have to hunt (season length), and having 750,000 deer, it would be closer to 100%. Probably the corn, rain, acorns...and laziness.

 

[JD Boyd]

What private land habitat improvements has the DNR done specifically to increase the deer populations? Or was it, let some go and say don't shoot so many right now? I'm pretty sure the deer have done far more towards their own population improvements than the DNR ever did.

And way to take a tiny chunk of land in Ohio and attempt to extrapolate that out to the rest of the state. lol.... If only the harvest and DVA numbers supported such theories.

BTW.. Did you see brocks post the other day where he said The first 6 days of the 1995 shotgun season we killed 115,000 deer... This year we killed 90,000 in 7 days.. Wasn't 1995 the year you jumped Tonks ass and said we killed too many deer?

1995 - 115,000 - 6 days
2011 - 90,000 - 7 days..

Just from a pure percentage standpoint not having the actual Sunday kill numbers let's subtract 1/7th from this years numbers to get rid of sunday.. And this is on the high side considering I only removed 1/7th as I'm sure Sunday accounts for more than that being a weekend..


1995 - 115,000 - 6 days

2011 - 77,149 - 7 days..

- 37,851 decline
Or a 32% decline since 1995...

Yes, Yes, Thank you DNR.. :smiley_depressive:

You might as well say hunters killed 90,000 in 5 days of gun this season... In 95 we had a perfect week of hunting.

 

[mrex]

And my point for chiming in on this thread is that I grew up in the same area where Zach lives and it was a big deal to see a deer there in the 70's and early 80's. Now, Tuscarawas County is one of the top counties in the state...I was just kidding about the state...dang