Gun week total is down 8%

[Ohiosam]

Hunters still have a weekend of deer-gun hunting, December 18-19
COLUMBUS, OH- Ohio hunters took 104,442 white-tailed deer during the state's popular, week-long deer-gun season, which ran November 29 through December 5, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Wildlife. In 2009, hunters killed a preliminary total of 114,633 deer during the same time period.

Counties reporting the highest numbers of deer brought to Ohio check stations last week included Tuscarawas-5,513, Harrison-3,721, Guernsey-3,455, Licking-3,351, Coshocton-3,320, Washington-2,935, Knox-2,843, Holmes-2,800, Muskingum-2,447 and Athens-2,395.

A total of 163,362 deer have been harvested so far this season when combining the adult and youth gun seasons, early muzzleloader season, and the first six weeks of the archery season. That compares to a total of 178,397 killed last year during the same time period. Hunters took a record total of 261,314 deer during all of last year's hunting seasons.

The statewide deer population was estimated to be 750,000 in late September, prior to the start of the hunting season. Approximately 420,000 hunters were expected to participate in the statewide deer-gun season.

Hunters still have a weekend of deer-gun hunting, December 18-19, and nine weeks of archery hunting in Ohio. Archery season remains open until February 6, 2011. The statewide muzzleloader deer-hunting season will be held January 8 -11, 2011.

Saturday, December 4 was designated as Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry Day. Totals for deer donated though the FHFH program will be available next week. Donations of extra deer will be accepted through the entire deer season which ends on February 6, 2011. Hunters who give their deer to a food bank are not required to pay the processing cost as long as the deer are taken to a participating processor and funding for the effort lasts. Counties being served by this program can be found online at www.fhfh.org.

Hunters who wish to share their success can submit a photo of themselves and the deer they killed this year to www.wildohio.com.

The white-tailed deer is the most popular game animal in Ohio, frequently pursued by generations of hunters. Ohio ranks 8th nationally in annual hunting-related sales and 10th in the number of jobs associated with the hunting-related industry. Each year, hunting has a $859 million economic impact in Ohio through the sale of equipment, fuel, food, lodging and more.

Ohio's first modern day deer-gun season opened in 1943 in three counties, when hunters harvested 168 deer. In 1956, deer hunting was allowed in all 88 counties and hunters killed 3,911 deer during that one-week season.

A detailed listing of deer-hunting rules is contained in the 2010-2011 Ohio Hunting Regulations, available where licenses are sold. It may also be viewed online at www.wildohio.com.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR web site at www.ohiodnr.com.


[EDITORS NOTE: The following is a list of deer checked and tagged by hunters during the 2010 deer-gun hunting season. The number taken during the 2009 season is marked in ( )-- 2010 (2009)]


Adams –1,617(1,790); Allen –314(567); Ashland –2,210(2,239); Ashtabula –2,310(2,084); Athens –2,395(3,049); Auglaize –221(221); Belmont –2,074(3,238); Brown –1,070(1,096); Butler –415(411); Carroll –1,824(1,715); Champaign –440(737); Clark –322(338); Clermont –1,315(1,166); Clinton –627(558); Columbiana –2,393(2,186); Coshocton –3,320(3,680); Crawford –943(1,002); Cuyahoga –128(107); Darke –174(309); Defiance –957(762); Delaware –602(652); Erie –253(332); Fairfield –1,605(1,964); Fayette –83(221); Franklin –247(263); Fulton –450(377); Gallia –1,549(1,766); Geauga –641(509); Greene –274(221); Guernsey –3,455(4,289); Hamilton –355(377); Hancock –375(449); Hardin –586(655); Harrison –3,721(4,310); Henry –401(264); Highland –1,436(1,695); Hocking –1,874(2,594); Holmes –2,800(3,265); Huron –1,151(1,142); Jackson –1,869(2,577); Jefferson –2,113(2,699); Knox –2,843(3,046); Lake –300(282); Lawrence –1,446(1,510); Licking –3,351(3,734); Logan –902(815); Lorain –823(808); Lucas –235(273); Madison –186(193); Mahoning –877(694); Marion –321(308); Medina –685(639); Meigs –1,932(2,203); Mercer –240(231); Miami –145(126); Monroe –2,040(2,521); Montgomery –228(177); Morgan –1,602(1,887); Morrow –961(957); Muskingum –2,447(2,829); Noble –2,235(2,561); Ottawa –74(65); Paulding –809(472); Perry –1,979 (2,046); Pickaway –504(635); Pike –937(1,254); Portage –718(544); Preble –230(229); Putnam –607(624); Richland –1,297(1,438); Ross –2,129(2,355); Sandusky –145(217); Scioto –1,339(1,420); Seneca –910(1,012); Shelby –488(448); Stark –1,948(1,615); Summit –415(381); Trumbull –1,514(1,474); Tuscarawas –5,513(5,901); Union –519(478); Van Wert –449(245); Vinton –1,412(1,829); Warren –473(462); Washington –2,935(3,589); Wayne –624(618); Williams –730(615); Wood –410(402); Wyandot –626(595); Total –104,442(114,633)

 

[rrr]

Morrow –961(957)

Well, it was up at home :smiley_depressive:

Got to say - before anyone else says it - I was wrong about this. I figured with the weak bow season, crops coming off early, and the snow that a lot of deer would die during gun week...not be down by 8%.

Maybe I should be a weatherman, I was close...closer....closish....:smiley_baby:

 

[Ohiosam]

Vinton county is down to under 1500, who would of thunk it a few years ago .

 

[Jackalope]

Well, it was up at home :smiley_depressive:

Got to say - before anyone else says it - I was wrong about this. I figured with the weak bow season, crops coming off early, and the snow that a lot of deer would die during gun week...not be down by 8%.

Maybe I should be a weatherman, I was close...closer....closish....:smiley_baby:

You simply forgot to factor in a dwindling deer population...

 

[Jackalope]

Vinton county is down to under 1500, who would of thunk it a few years ago .

I seem to remember shouting it from the rooftops a couple years ago.. Vinton was down 23% this year..

 

[rrr]

You simply forgot to factor in a dwindling deer population...

Well, if people didn't shoot button bucks we'd have a larger herd.

AHEM!

[Kidding...I'm a dumbass college kid and I don't know that much about biology. Buck deerz and doe deerz fugg and make little deerz. The more fuggin, the better..]

That said, could it also have been a bad year for rut TOO?

 

[Jackalope]

Well, if people didn't shoot button bucks we'd have a larger herd.

AHEM!

[Kidding...I'm a dumbass college kid and I don't know that much about biology. Buck deerz and doe deerz fugg and make little deerz. The more fuggin, the better..]

That said, could it also have been a bad year for rut TOO?

Button bucks are zero impact on future population numbers other than themselves. They aren't even your future bucks, they are your neighbors miles and miles down the road. However one dead doe hurts tremendously in regards to future offspring production..

There is no rut style hunting during shotgun season in Vinton.. It's drives drives drives. Kick em in the ass and shoot.. Same drives the family and camps have been doing since they were kids.

 

[cotty16]

Just got a text from the property owner where I hunt. A "giant 10" was at his bird feeder today. So, there's one not accounted for in Jefferson County so far.

There is no doubt the deer pop is down. I used to spend hours scouting the fields at our sportsman club. There would be some really nice bucks out feeding all summer.
The past three years I can count on one hand how many bucks I've seen in those same fields. I'm not talking shooters. I'm talking bucks... Period.
I've put the same amount of scouting time in. Just not the same amount of deer.

 

[Diablo54]

Deer numbers were down this year. So far my family especially my dad who hunts his but off isn't seeing much. Part of it are the dogs in my area. The other part could be other ppl creeping in on us even though my family has been hunting there for 20yrs. Sorry bout the Lil rant. All in all there are less deer this year and it was really noticeable around my area.

 

[Bowhunter57]

I've hunted in Guersey county for a number of years and they have more deer than Allen county, where I reside. However, the kill numbers that are getting turned in are bogus.

The only reason(s) that I can think of for the ODNR to turn in such numbers for harvest totals would be for the FFA and/or the Ohio Insurance Commission. Both of these organizations have strong influence on the ODNR, for the amount of tags being allowed...and they both have their own agendas.

My reason for making this statement: Two men that belong to a Guernsey county conservation club, were in agreement that the kill numbers were entirely too high for their county. They decided to go to each Deer Check Station, from the start of the Deer Gun Season and get their own totals from the owners of each store. (this was the '05-'06 season) Anyway, the numbers they were getting by mid-week were not even going to come close to the end numbers that the state had been producing.

Well, they never got to finish their count totals, as they were stopped by Wednesday of that week. 2 GWs came to their homes, knocked on the door and asked if they were asking for harvest totals at the check stations. They replied that they had and the GWs didn't order them not to, but indicated that they were to cease and desist in their counting of total deer harvested. :smiley_chinrub: They asked why they were being asked to stop and they were told that it's not their place or job to take these matters into their hands and it's to be left up to the state.

Call it a conspiracy, call it a coincidence, but there's too many things that don't match up with the harvest totals, in this program. I'm not buying the numbers that I'm hearing from the ODNR.

Personally, I believe that the live deer numbers are way down. I've talke to more than one bowhunter this fall that has said that they didn't see as many deer as they've been seeing in previous years.

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

 

[huntn2]

If I recall, the state said that though there was a record harvest last year, the deer population statewide still increased by 2-3% going into this season.

I don't necessarily dissagree that the "statewide" population has continued to increase. I think that the urban areas, specifically within cities where no hunting is allowed are continuing to have a population boom that outpaces the aggressive doe harvest the state is striving for. In my opinion, the bag limits are putting a hurt on the population numbers in areas where hunting is actually allowed. The local ordinances in urban areas are counter-productive to the ODNR's agenda and therefore, screwing the heard numbers in huntable areas.

I hunted Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun of gun week. Mon, Wed and Fri were all day sits. I saw a total of 1 buck and 13 doe across those 5 days and 37+ hours on stand. To put in perspective, Thursday I drove to and from work which was a grand total of 9.2 miles through Cleveland suburbs. During those 9.2 miles I saw 27 deer. Of those 27, 5 were bucks. A basket 8, a half racked forkhorn, a nice young 10 point who is wide as hell for a young deer and a nice big tall 8. So within 30 min on one of the 2 days I didn't hunt I saw double to number of deer and 5 times as many bucks...hahaha, sucks real bad.

So, my thoughts are the "huntable" area has a deer population that continues to dwindle but the statewide numbers are still up because of an out of control urban population. Due to this and due to the fact that the urban areas will have more deer vehicle accidents (higher deer density, higher population density, more cars and more roads) the state will continue to push for a higher harvest which will in reality destroy the huntable deer population.

 

[Jackalope]

If I recall, the state said that though there was a record harvest last year, the deer population statewide still increased by 2-3% going into this season.

I don't necessarily dissagree that the "statewide" population has continued to increase. I think that the urban areas, specifically within cities where no hunting is allowed are continuing to have a population boom that outpaces the aggressive doe harvest the state is striving for. In my opinion, the bag limits are putting a hurt on the population numbers in areas where hunting is actually allowed. The local ordinances in urban areas are counter-productive to the ODNR's agenda and therefore, screwing the heard numbers in huntable areas.

I hunted Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun of gun week. Mon, Wed and Fri were all day sits. I saw a total of 1 buck and 13 doe across those 5 days and 37+ hours on stand. To put in perspective, Thursday I drove to and from work which was a grand total of 9.2 miles through Cleveland suburbs. During those 9.2 miles I saw 27 deer. Of those 27, 5 were bucks. A basket 8, a half racked forkhorn, a nice young 10 point who is wide as hell for a young deer and a nice big tall 8. So within 30 min on one of the 2 days I didn't hunt I saw double to number of deer and 5 times as many bucks...hahaha, sucks real bad.

So, my thoughts are the "huntable" area has a deer population that continues to dwindle but the statewide numbers are still up because of an out of control urban population. Due to this and due to the fact that the urban areas will have more deer vehicle accidents (higher deer density, higher population density, more cars and more roads) the state will continue to push for a higher harvest which will in reality destroy the huntable deer population.

You got it bub..

 

[Ohiosam]

Mike Rex posted something in the last year that I had never heard before. He said something like "The state estimates of herd size do not include those deer in areas that are unhuntable" ie within city limits, parks etc.

 

["J"]

I would add to the reasons some of the normally high harvest areas are down may be due to the fact some people aren't travelling the distance they used to... money is tight for some these days even for deer hunters.... how many people have changed careers and don't have the vacation time they once had? Just some random thoughts that could be one of the reasons the count is down.... there are probably a lot of them to add up to a lower harvest...

 

[Thunderflight]

Well, if people didn't shoot button bucks we'd have a larger herd.

AHEM!
?

That's what I'm tawken about!

Button bucks are zero impact on future population numbers other than themselves. They aren't even your future bucks, they are your neighbors miles and miles down the road. .

Preach it brother!

 

[Thunderflight]

The only reason(s) that I can think of for the ODNR to turn in such numbers for harvest totals would be for the FFA and/or the Ohio Insurance Commission. Both of these organizations have strong influence on the ODNR, for the amount of tags being allowed...and they both have their own agendas.

I've heard this for years, but can't find anything that ties either organization to the ODNR. Can you show me some evidence that both the FFA and OIC have a strong influence?

 

[uglykat26]

my daughter seen that pic and said omg daddy what happend to him , i said nothing honey thats just thunderflight.....lol

 

[uglykat26]

Harrison –3,721(4,310); we need to drop the antlerless tags back to two

 

[Gern186]

The number of deer killed in my county (paulding) has nearly doubled from last year! This is a result of going from a 1 or 2 deer county to a 4 deer county (zone a to zone b).......I can expect that we will be paying for it in the next few years now with a lot less deer to be seen. Like you guys mentioned, the huntable population of deer is going to be less and less until there are very few left if the DNR gets their way.

 

[Bowhunter57]

I agree with what huntn2 has said about the "countable" population. In some areas it's more about HOW the deer are getting counted.

I know in our N.W. section game meeting, one of the GWs mentioned a horrific number to the estimated population for Hancock and Allen counties and everyone laughed out loud. One of the members in attendance said out loud, "Where are you counting these deer herds? Are you driving around the OSU campus?" As you could imagine this was recieved well by the GWs, but facts are facts and it certainly didn't look good.

Good hunting, Bowhunter57