Open house meet-greet

[mrex]

1976 population was - 218,035,000 x 8% = 17,442,800

Current Population - 313,132,714 x 6% = 18,787,963

1.3 million more hunters now...

You're right...that math doesn't work...damn biologists.

There's still fewer hunter than there used to be and the future doesn't look good.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-3228893.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

 

[brock ratcliff]

Dang biologists...hehe.

Again, a nice read, thanks. But, what is happening in New Hampshire is not reflective of Ohio. You might wish to point out to Tonk that we need to keep our deer herd "abundant" to continue the success it has driven in hunter recruitment. We need LOTS of deer to recruit LOTS of hunters. This is my newest spin to pitch at him!

 

[brock ratcliff]

I said that in jest of course, but there is something to it.... New Hampshire hunting sucks I assume. Same could be said for many of the western states, relative to what they once were. Mule deer numbers have been on the decline for years, with no clear reason evident. Large areas have recently been depleted due to wolf re-introduction (I didnt reallize the scope of damage until my buddy TJ Conrads explained the entire situation to me. He lives in the heart of the battle lands) Point being, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a correlation between areas where preferred wildlife have declined and hunter interest and numbers have slipped. If so, perhaps that would be reason enough to justify pulling the reins on our herd in hurting areas...gotta have deer to keep hunters hunting.

 

[mrex]

I said that in jest of course, but there is something to it.... New Hampshire hunting sucks I assume. Same could be said for many of the western states, relative to what they once were. Mule deer numbers have been on the decline for years, with no clear reason evident. Large areas have recently been depleted due to wolf re-introduction (I didnt reallize the scope of damage until my buddy TJ Conrads explained the entire situation to me. He lives in the heart of the battle lands) Point being, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a correlation between areas where preferred wildlife have declined and hunter interest and numbers have slipped. If so, perhaps that would be reason enough to justify pulling the reins on our herd in hurting areas...gotta have deer to keep hunters hunting.

agreed

 

[bowhunter1023]

hmmm. Thanks.

I have to believe that today's hunters spend far more time in the field than did hunters of 50 years ago. I know I base things off personal observations, and they are not necessarily reflective of the whole, but my Dad and his bowhunting buddies probably only bowhunted a half dozen days a year when I was a kid. Mostly, they would take off on Saturday morning and return Saturday evening. That was it. They would hunt all of gun season, so essentially, they hunted 12 days a year at most. Mix in a couple of Saturday rabbit hunts and they were done. The idea of owning more than one bow, a couple of shotguns, and a 22 would have been obsurd to them. There may not be as many hunters today, but I believe we are far more passionate about it than our forefathers.

I agree with this. We also need to consider the "cool factor" that Hollywood has brought to the industry. It's laughable how many Bone Collector and Crush stuff I see floating around town with twenty-somethings. Where I am from, every Tom, Dick, and Harry is a hunter and a MASSIVE amount of people are coming over from WV these days. I have no doubts that more people are hunting in Washington County now than ever before...

 

[LonewolfNopack]

and the future doesn't look good.

Agree with that part.

On a brighter note, I assume interest in squirrel hunting will be rapidly increasing within the next few years as hunters find a new alternative to the recently depleted deer herd.

 

[Jackalope]

Agree with that part.

On a brighter note, I assume interest in squirrel hunting will be rapidly increasing within the next few years as hunters find a new alternative to the recently depleted deer herd.

I was talking to my lease president last week and he said

"We should buy 50 hogs and let them go in these hills; lets see the DNR try to kill those fuckers off... lmao

 

[finelyshedded]

That is simply not true around my area. Maybe declining from historic highs, but not anything recent. You have to consider that as many farms are sold and put into 10 acre lots, people are buying those lots and each lot will have a tree stand sitting behind the house. There are a lot less larger private land owners, and a TON more smaller private land owners. These people are not required to buy a hunting license yet they are still hunting.. I see it more and more every year. If the lot has a tree in it or big enough to fit a ground blind in it, there will be someone hunting it. The number of licenses sold do not accurately reflect hunter numbers.

Good post! Very true.

 

[finelyshedded]

I read the cuffs and collars section in OON in every issue and see more and more hunters and fishermen caught doing these activities without have bought a license. Just because license purchasing numbers are down doesn't mean said participation is down. I know this has gone on for years but with the economy sucking ass lately and more people out of work I see this problem getting worse. If hunting numbers are down, I'm definitely not seeing it in any of the areas I hunt.

 

[Jackalope]

The greatest threat to hunters is not licensing, loss of tradition, or acclimating to a more urban atmosphere.. The issue facing us today is loss of land access.. Hunters are being crammed into smaller and smaller areas that still allow hunting.. Some of this is due to the mindset of the public as urban sprawl happens.. But the vast majority of this land loss is due to hunters themselves... We are causing very large tracts of property to be closed to hunting for generations. Licensing, loss of tradition, and people quitting hunting is a symptom of loss of availability of hunting areas... This will eventually lead to more leasing.. What the DNR is doing to our deer population will also lead to more leasing.. As guys see less deer they will begin to attempt to get control of a large piece of property. They will seek out and find like minded people to join them.. It's only natural..

 

[LonewolfNopack]

Same here in my county. There is no way there are less people hunting around here. Maybe less upland hunters, but deer and turkey hunters have at very least tripled within the past five years. My buddy and I were just talking about this the other day. We walk a lot of land shed hunting, and i bet you could count on your hands the number of properties within our township that does not have someone hunting it either legally or illegally. Deer hunter numbers are increasing in my county I am positive of that, regardless of the amount of licenses sold. The dropped deer and turkey population is a direct reflection of this. More hunters is good, but it calls for more conservative hunting seasons if you want to maintain a healthy game population.

 

[LonewolfNopack]

.. This will eventually lead to more leasing.. What the DNR is doing to our deer population will also lead to more leasing.. As guys see less deer they will begin to attempt to get control of a large piece of property. They will seek out and find like minded people to join them.. It's only natural..

Sadly you are right. I have never been a fan of leasing, in fact I have been a big opponent of it. But the past two years I find myself thinking of it more and more. Having control of a large piece of ground is going to be the only way to maintain quality hunting. Leasing is going to be my only option to get that control. With more and more property owners starting to hunt or their step brothers sisters uncle from out of town taking over their land to hunt, many of the serious hunters who are truly passionate about hunting will take the leasing route as opposed to sitting all day in a tree thinking of what use to be.

 

[Hortontoter]

I did not attend the D3 open house as I feel they are a waste of time. Been there, done that. 100 or 1000 attending will not alter the agenda that is already mandated in my opinion.

I believe that those of us that see the deer population in trouble is a very small minority of the hunting public. We all hang around this site because, for the most part, we are like minded. We are passionate hunters that care greatly about the resource.

I commend Jackalope for his commitment to taking an unwavering stand for what he believes. But, I think the battle is a futile one unless it comes down to the almighty dollar. The only way that I see we will be heard is by putting a big dent in the ODNR pocketbook. To do that would take a commitment from the majority of the hunting public to not buy licenses and tags. But, the majority, will never take that big of a step to be heard. Without funding, ODNR jobs will be on the line and that will cause the ODNR workforce to take our voice seriously.

I may be completely wrong in my thoughts, but I feel this is the only way that hunters can "pressure" change.

 

[Jackalope]

I did not attend the D3 open house as I feel they are a waste of time. Been there, done that. 100 or 1000 attending will not alter the agenda that is already mandated in my opinion.

I believe that those of us that see the deer population in trouble is a very small minority of the hunting public. We all hang around this site because, for the most part, we are like minded. We are passionate hunters that care greatly about the resource.

I commend Jackalope for his commitment to taking an unwavering stand for what he believes. But, I think the battle is a futile one unless it comes down to the almighty dollar. The only way that I see we will be heard is by putting a big dent in the ODNR pocketbook. To do that would take a commitment from the majority of the hunting public to not buy licenses and tags. But, the majority, will never take that big of a step to be heard. Without funding, ODNR jobs will be on the line and that will cause the ODNR workforce to take our voice seriously.

I may be completely wrong in my thoughts, but I feel this is the only way that hunters can "pressure" change.

Oh you're right... I have said many times the damage is done.... I am only doing this to hopefully expose those responsible and maybe, maybe, prevent this in the future if we ever regrow our herd. I want to make this as exposing and painful as possible so that next time they'll hopefully think twice about it.. As far as the herd is concerned I think the damage is done and if we stopped today and put in reasonable measures; it would be 5+ years before we saw a recovery to numbers seen just 3-4 seasons ago.. I'm simply here to make sure the piper gets paid..