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Help Needed: Land Usage Data

Jackalope

Jackalope

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I am currently compiling a land usage spreadsheet for every county in Ohio that has the below data..

Green is what I presume to be mostly huntable.
Peach is areas I think would be unhuntable or so difficult to hunt it's minuscule in the scope of the issue.

Specifically what I am looking for is Wooded acreage to open AG.



In a recent news article Mike Tonkovich stated

"Tonkovich manages deer by trying to work with a snapshot no larger than a single county. Simply put, deer are unequally distributed across a varied landscape, which explains in part why an island of two central Ohio counties, Fayette and Madison, will be included next year in the most restricted harvest zone. (The restricted zone, by the way, has over the years shrunk to only four other contiguous counties along Lake Erie in northwest Ohio.)

What makes Fayette and Madison different from surrounding counties is the ease with which hunters can wipe out deer. Two-acre woodlots sprouting amid a mostly agricultural expanse offer deer meager opportunities to avoid hunters.

“Five hunters easily can eradicate all the deer in a stand of trees,” Tonkovich said."
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I am going to correlate the data and find if the same principal can be applied to other counties. I want to see if there is a correlation between what he said and why the zones are split the way they are... And if similarities can be found between them and other counties..

Basically what I am trying to do i use his statement to redesign the Zone map for the state based on his very statement huntable / unhuntable / urban / wooded and open agraculture acerage combined with harvest numbers and decline.

What I need help with is finding the data.. I haven't found a single place where said data is condensed into one website. Mostly it is in each counties Land use surveys which are on their own county site and not standardized... So if you guys can find the information for your individual county that would be a GIANT help... Anything is appreciated, even one number.. Just give me a source to go with it. Thanks guys.. :)
 
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Jackalope

Jackalope

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Found and downloaded all 88 counties worth.... You know.. Before it disappears like other things have been know to do here recently... :)
 
hickslawns

hickslawns

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Dannmann801 said:
It's like watching Picasso or Rembrandt at work....sheer artistry....
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Agreed. I am sure it would be cool to be a little birdie watching over his shoulder at times. We all have our niches in this world. Joe is the master of googleometry. Might be impressive to watch Dante weld, or Jesse schmoove a customer on a land acquisition, or maybe watch me or the guys plow a parking lot in an efficient manner. However, I am always amazed at how quickly Joe can pull facts out of a computer. What a nerd. lmao
 
CJD3

CJD3

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Joe Joe He's our Man! :smiley_cheerleader::smiley_cheerleader::smiley_cheerleader::smiley_cheerleader::smiley_cheerleader:

Thats quite a link Joe. Great work!
 
Gern186

Gern186

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Cool Joe, I emailed a guy at the OSU extension in my county and haven't gotten anything back yet.

Paulding county, 7.66% wooded......WOW! and we are a 4 deer county!
 
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finelyshedded

finelyshedded

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SW Ohio
The two counties I hunt mostly(Morgan and Warren) are so different. Morgan has 86% forest and Warren has 29% forest. I saw more deer while hunting in Warren this year by a longshot. There's alot of unexcessible ground near where I hunt in Warren and every inch of ground gets hammered around me in Morgan. The forest land % between the two is huge but cover only gets you so far when it pertains to a deers survival.

Great link Joe! You did find the motherload!
 
Jackalope

Jackalope

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Hardin = Wooded 6.89%
Fayette = Wooded 6.88%
Madison = Wooded 5.20%

Hardin = Agriculture 80.00%
Fayette = Agriculture 84.98%
Madison = Agriculture 81.12%

Hardin = Pasture 6.92%
Fayette = Pasture 6.29%
Madison = Pasture 6.78%

Hardin = Urban 4.32%
Fayette = Urban 1.49%
Madison = Urban 5.65

Total Acreage
Hardin Acres = 301,062
Fayette Acres = 260,070 --13.62% Smaller
Madison = Acres = 297,728 -- 1.11% Smaller

Hardin = Zone B
Fayette = Zone A
Madison = Zone A

Hardin Harvest = 1,145 (7 year high was 09-10 with 1,646) 04-05 was 919
Fayette Harvest = 282 (7 year high was 04-05 with 507) 04-05 was 507
Madison Harvest = 548 (7 year high was 09-10 with 659) 04-05 was 371

"""""What makes Fayette and Madison different from surrounding counties is the ease with which hunters can wipe out deer. Two-acre woodlots sprouting amid a mostly agricultural expanse offer deer meager opportunities to avoid hunters."""""



Hardin Madison and Fayette are so geographically similar it's uncanny.. Especially Madison and Hardin.. Using the management logic above that was used to move Fayette and Madison to Zone A; wouldn't it be a prudent step to do the same with Hardin BEFORE we run into the same problem.. Hardin has already seen about a 30% harvest decline in the past two years..

 
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Jackalope

Jackalope

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DJK Frank 16 said:
I'm all for being put into Zone A and back to a one or two deer county. I think 4 deer is too many for our county.
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I don't think it has to do with "Limits" Those are simply revenue generators... A very small percentage of hunters over the whole state actually kill 3+ deer.. Taking it from a 4 to a 2 deer county will only prevent 1/88th of that tiny percent from killing a third deer.. You might save a few in your county that's it.. I bet you could count the hunters on two hands who killed more than 2 in your county last season.
 
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