Down

[Jackalope]

Regula Gun W/O Bonus
2003----116236 .................. -12.90%
2004----123041 .................... 5.90%
2005----116517 ................... -5.30%
2006----112260 .................. -3.70%
2007----103134 .................. -8.10%
2008----117487 .................... 13.90%
2009----114075 ................... -2.90%
2010----105781 ................. -7.80%
2011----90,282 ................. -14.76%
2012----86964 .................... -3.70%



-25.29% since 2003

-30.33% since peak in 2004

 

[lung buster]

I heard more shots opening weekend of squirrel season than i heard Saturday and Sunday!

 

[Dannmann801]

$5 bounty on yotes
Make everyone's license $24
You get $5 back if you kill a yote (Joe aptly named it a "core charge" on coyotes) and your license stays at $19

 

[Ohiosam]

I wonder if there has been any changes in the ratio of bucks to does harvested?

 

[cotty16]

I guess not everyone is on the same page as us.

 

[cotty16]

That's in the issue of deer and deer hunting I just got today.

 

[brock ratcliff]

The thing with developing a love of coyotes in areas where deer are too abundant is those areas are also full of small pets = urban. People would probably rather deal with deer in the flower bed than finding the bloody remains of Fluffy the cat in the back yard.

 

[Carpn]

BTW guys, I do agree there are fewer deer. But wasn't that the goal of the to drop the population . I guess that my stance is that i don't mind fewer deer, to a point. Not sure what point that is tho . I got skunked a lot more this yr than I can remember in previous yrs b. But I attributed that to still finding my way in a relatively new area for me to hunt . As far as coyote, I only saw a couple. In the yrs I hunted sw Ohio I usually killed a couple each yr while deer hunting and routinely saw them on multiple hunting properties.

 

[Jackalope]

I wonder if there has been any changes in the ratio of bucks to does harvested?

Gun Bucks 2003-2010

46074
44716
42561
44872
37590
39863
39221
35419


Gun Does 2003-2010
69209
78325
73956
67388
65544
77624
74854
70362



Bucks as a percentage of gun kills.
2003 = 39.63%
2004 = 36.34%
2005 = 36.52%
2006 = 39.97%
2007 = 36.44%
2008 = 33.92%
2009 = 34.38%
2010 = 33.48%

Percent Bucks killed 2003 compared to 2010 GUN = -23.13%

However

Percent Bucks killed 2003 compared to 2010 Vertical BOW = +30.51%
Percent Bucks killed 2003 compared to 2010 CROSSBOW = +16.3%



Percent Does killed 2003 compared to 2010 Gun = +2.64%
Percent Does killed 2003 compared to 2010 Vertical BOW = +258% (9,537 / 24,615)
Percent Does killed 2003 compared to 2010 CROSSBOW = +193% (12,639 / 24,458)

 

[jagermeister]

Regula Gun W/O Bonus
2003----116236 .................. -12.90%
2004----123041 .................... 5.90%
2005----116517 ................... -5.30%
2006----112260 .................. -3.70%
2007----103134 .................. -8.10%
2008----117487 .................... 13.90%
2009----114075 ................... -2.90%
2010----105781 ................. -7.80%
2011----90,282 ................. -14.76%
2012----86964 .................... -3.70%



-25.29% since 2003

-30.33% since peak in 2004

I would like to see those numbers alongside the statewide archery kills over the same time frame.

I'm not doubting that we have less deer (in spots), but let's keep in mind there are a TON of factors involved here. The DOW expected a decrease because they took away the $15 tags for gun week, like Jake said. But, IMO hunter effort during gun week was also down as a whole. It doesn't matter how good the weather is when you have less tags available and less guns being carried through the woods. I honestly thought the harvest would be closer to 10% down for gun week.

 

[Jackalope]

BTW guys, I do agree there are fewer deer. But wasn't that the goal of the to drop the population . I guess that my stance is that i don't mind fewer deer, to a point. Not sure what point that is tho . I got skunked a lot more this yr than I can remember in previous yrs b. But I attributed that to still finding my way in a relatively new area for me to hunt . As far as coyote, I only saw a couple. In the yrs I hunted sw Ohio I usually killed a couple each yr while deer hunting and routinely saw them on multiple hunting properties.

To me it doesn't matter what their goal, intent, desire, or wish, was.. . Imagine if they netted 50% of the carp out of every lake in Ohio. Now imagine if the sole reason they did it was because a big organization like FLW and BASS pressured them because they wanted more money. Probably wouldn't sit well with you. Intent is a moot point and doesn't come close to making it justified

 

[Jackalope]

I would like to see those numbers alongside the statewide archery kills over the same time frame.

I'm not doubting that we have less deer (in spots), but let's keep in mind there are a TON of factors involved here. The DOW expected a decrease because they took away the $15 tags for gun week, like Jake said. But, IMO hunter effort during gun week was also down as a whole. It doesn't matter how good the weather is when you have less tags available and less guns being carried through the woods. I honestly thought the harvest would be closer to 10% down for gun week.

Look right above your post. They've increased dramatically.. But really there is one number that matters and that's total.



By spots you mean 88 counties right? We had the best gun weather in years. An excuse they've used many times when convenient for them. There is also no indication as to hunters not hunting. With no crops, perfect weather, and higher unemployment every bellwether points to same or increased participation. I'll have the Zone A,B numbers compared soon. Doe tags shouldn't have had an effect on those zones as they couldn't be used during gun season anyway.

 

[jagermeister]

Look right above your post. They've increased dramatically.. But really there is one number that matters and that's total.



By spots you mean 88 counties right? We had the best gun weather in years. An excuse they've used many times when convenient for them. There is also no indication as to hunters not hunting. With no crops, perfect weather, and higher unemployment every bellwether points to same or increased participation. I'll have the Zone A,B numbers compared soon. Doe tags shouldn't have had an effect on those zones as they couldn't be used during gun season anyway.

No indication? What about the majority of responses in the "Hunting Pressure Observations" thread indicating less gun hunters than normal?

 

[brock ratcliff]

BTW guys, I do agree there are fewer deer. But wasn't that the goal of the to drop the population . I guess that my stance is that i don't mind fewer deer, to a point. Not sure what point that is tho . I got skunked a lot more this yr than I can remember in previous yrs b. But I attributed that to still finding my way in a relatively new area for me to hunt . As far as coyote, I only saw a couple. In the yrs I hunted sw Ohio I usually killed a couple each yr while deer hunting and routinely saw them on multiple hunting properties.

It was the DOW goal to reduce the population. The problem, as I see it, is that they have no idea how many we have and therefore no idea how many we should be harvesting.

 

[Jackalope]

No indication? What about the majority of responses in the "Hunting Pressure Observations" thread indicating less gun hunters than normal?

That simply demonstrates that hunters were not seen or heard where an individual is accustomed to them being in the past. Not that they didn't hunt somewhere else or at all. By no indication I am referring to the typical bellwether statements the dnr has used in the past weather etc. early archery season kept pace with last season so there is no indication that people aren't hunting. Couple that with the best shotgun weather in years and a decrease in participation just doesn't jive with all the excuses the dnr has previously used for a decline. That is. Unless "weather" only works as an excuse when it's bad during gun.

 

[Lundy]

Hunting pressure in my area of Athens County seemed similar to any other year.

The little hotel we stay at had about the same numbers as it always does, the trucks and the orange seemed about the same from what I can see from the property. The restaurants in Athens seemed about as full of hunters as always.

Scientific, not a chance, just what I think I saw this past week

I will say that also with the big moon all week it was most definitely an afternoon bite for us and also most of the shots I heard that were not drive related. For me somewhere around 75% off all of the deer I saw were between 12:30- 1:45 or 4 PM on. My son shot his buck at 1:30 on Monday moving on his own. The only morning buck of any size we saw all week was Saturday morning around 7:30 and my daughter-in law could not get a shot at him.

I am not saying the world is ending where I deer hunt, I still have deer to hunt, but it is no where near as much fun as it used to be with a bunch of deer to watch all day. I could get in some good naps in the blinds now and not miss anything.

 

[jagermeister]

That simply demonstrates that hunters were not seen or heard where an individual is accustomed to them being in the past. Not that they didn't hunt somewhere else or at all. By no indication I am referring to the typical bellwether statements the dnr has used in the past weather etc. early archery season kept pace with last season so there is no indication that people aren't hunting. Couple that with the best shotgun weather in years and a decrease in participation just doesn't jive with all the excuses the dnr has previously used for a decline. That is. Unless "weather" only works as an excuse when it's bad during gun.

All I'm saying is I think there are less total gun-hunting hours of effort being put forth now than what we've seen in years past. Decreased effort results in decreased kill numbers... and theoretically may result in less overall sightings, due to reduced pushing.

Are the numbers down? Most likely. Are the decreased gun harvest numbers simply the result of there being fewer deer? I don't think so... I think there's more to it than that.

 

[hickslawns]

Awesome. Allen and Auglaize counties up about 100 deer from last year. Just peachy. 193 in 2011 but 293 in 2012. How is this possible when everyone I have talked to locally is telling me how they are not seeing deer? It is apparent to me there were plenty of hunters out in my local area. I know we saw more trespassers and heard more shots last week than we had in previous years.

Just so Lundy doesn't think I am crying about NW Ohio, maybe these number shed some light. Sure, Athens is down 50% in ten years. Our harvest was 193 last year. 10% of your 1900ish. Sadly, we are up 100 deer this year in my primary county. A 33% increase just during gun week is going to hurt our local herd. We just don't have many to start with. It will not take much to put us into the Fayette category. I personally need to start watching what I harvest.

Lundy- This is not me trying to start anything with you. I appreciate your frustration in what you are seeing. Just saying, there are counties where the deer never were which are seeing a decreased herd, yet an increased harvest. I feel it will impact those of us with few deer harder than the areas with dense populations of deer.

 

[brock ratcliff]

Awesome. Allen and Auglaize counties up about 100 deer from last year. Just peachy. 193 in 2011 but 293 in 2012. How is this possible when everyone I have talked to locally is telling me how they are not seeing deer? It is apparent to me there were plenty of hunters out in my local area. I know we saw more trespassers and heard more shots last week than we had in previous years.

Just so Lundy doesn't think I am crying about NW Ohio, maybe these number shed some light. Sure, Athens is down 50% in ten years. Our harvest was 193 last year. 10% of your 1900ish. Sadly, we are up 100 deer this year in my primary county. A 33% increase just during gun week is going to hurt our local herd. We just don't have many to start with. It will not take much to put us into the Fayette category. I personally need to start watching what I harvest.

Lundy- This is not me trying to start anything with you. I appreciate your frustration in what you are seeing. Just saying, there are counties where the deer never were which are seeing a decreased herd, yet an increased harvest. I feel it will impact those of us with few deer harder than the areas with dense populations of deer.

Lundy doesn't live in Athens, he travels there because for the past couple of decades the hunting has been great there for him. The travel to "deer camp" is as much of the tradition as hunting itself for many. Thing is, an area runs low on deer, hunters will set up camp elsewhere. Heck, Lundy has traveled all over the country to hunt deer. I doubt he is ready to abandon Athens just yet, but if the numbers continue to dwindle, why not go where they are? I hope the DOW recognizes this is a reality, and if we don't work to "preserve" what we have, perhaps even work to get back what we HAD, things could change dramatically. Personally, I'd like Ohio to remain a "go to" for deer hunters.

 

[brock ratcliff]

Awesome. Allen and Auglaize counties up about 100 deer from last year. Just peachy. 193 in 2011 but 293 in 2012. How is this possible when everyone I have talked to locally is telling me how they are not seeing deer? It is apparent to me there were plenty of hunters out in my local area. I know we saw more trespassers and heard more shots last week than we had in previous years.

Just so Lundy doesn't think I am crying about NW Ohio, maybe these number shed some light. Sure, Athens is down 50% in ten years. Our harvest was 193 last year. 10% of your 1900ish. Sadly, we are up 100 deer this year in my primary county. A 33% increase just during gun week is going to hurt our local herd. We just don't have many to start with. It will not take much to put us into the Fayette category. I personally need to start watching what I harvest.

Lundy- This is not me trying to start anything with you. I appreciate your frustration in what you are seeing. Just saying, there are counties where the deer never were which are seeing a decreased herd, yet an increased harvest. I feel it will impact those of us with few deer harder than the areas with dense populations of deer.

Phil, did your counties just go into zone b?