I've been reading all along but I can't add anything to it cause the areas I hunt have yet to be affected and I highly doubt they ever will be cause its hard to get access to even hunt it. I know the last day I hunted one of my better areas on Dec 17th before I switched my attention to Tank I saw 82 deer in one 25 acre field. The only thing I can complain about is the lack of big bucks. Next season I have one buck I know of worth shooting. Don't yall feel bad for me?...lol... I know what's going on in the state as an entirety though. There's more than just a hand full of hunters complaining about it so something has gotta change. If you want to see more deer then you got to quit killing does its that simple...
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I've been reading all along but I can't add anything to it cause the areas I hunt have yet to be affected and I highly doubt they ever will be cause its hard to get access to even hunt it. I know the last day I hunted one of my better areas on Dec 17th before I switched my attention to Tank I saw 82 deer in one 25 acre field. The only thing I can complain about is the lack of big bucks. Next season I have one buck I know of worth shooting. Don't yall feel bad for me?...lol... I know what's going on in the state as an entirety though. There's more than just a hand full of hunters complaining about it so something has gotta change. If you want to see more deer then you got to quit killing does its that simple...
JD, out of curiosity why are there so many deer where you hunt? Seeing 82 deer in one day is not normal. There is some reason they are there. Huge property with awesome cover and zero hunting pressure or what?
A lot of no hunting ground and most of the land owners that do allow hunting lease it to outfitters...
Big_Holla
Senior Member
And therein lies some of the problem. Footage of hunts like that through the outfitter, especially if it's a TV show there, shows a deer behind every tree there in Ohio.
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With the direction the DOW is heading leases are going to be the only way to get true quality hunting in Ohio. As you see the numbers continue to drop because we kill to many deer You'll see more leases. People will lease to try and improve their hunting by managing the property. Once upon a time I saw leasing as a bad thing. Now I welcome it in hopes that more people will start to manage their local deer populations contrary to the DNRs efforts. If it takes leases for people to become responsible for the deer in their area then so be it. Now outfitters is a different topic, I'm just talking about group leasing.
Once group leasing starts big it will be the end of the regular guy deer hunting and access for other small game. Maybe video games are the wave...
There's no way I would pay that kind of money to just hunt a deer. Unless I hit the lottery, and then I'd just buy land. But I don't play the lottery so that plan's out the window. I'd rather save my money and take trips out of state to experience other types of hunting.
I ate lunch with my buddy who has been hunting the farm with me. We decided to lease the 50 acres next to us if possible and for a reasonable price. If it gets above budget, fugg it. The money I was prepared to put towards a high quality lease will dry up after next year, so what I do have will go towards going out of state to hunt waterfowl.
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Where I grew up everything is leased, and I mean everything. They called them hunting clubs and everyone I knew belonged to one. It didn't end the little guy or stop small game hunting. Actually the ability to hunt was plentiful and very easy to get on, even as a guest. Club prices ranged from 200 - 12,000 a year. Most averaged about 400-500 bucks. If you didn't want to join a club there was always the ability to go with family or friends as a guest. nobody really cared if you small game hunted. Back in the early 90's My grandfather and I used to squirrel hunt a little known place at the time called Tara wildlife. He knew some of the guys there and it was never a problem to walk in a do some squirrel hunting. Today Tara wildlife has a hell of a reputation as a deer outfitter with over 20,000 managed acres. I'm sure If I showed up now and asked to squirrel hunt they'd laugh or quote me a $1,000 a day price. lol In some ways you're right about leasing killing the small guy like Tara has become. But there are tons and tons of other places to hunt. Good with the bad. But overall it opens much more area to hunters than knocking on doors does.
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The fact of leasing literally gives me a sick feeling. It's a shame hunting has become like most everything else, a rich mans sport. It is no longer an American tradition, at least not like it once was. Not everyone can experience a quality hunt. Not everyone has the money to pay to lease land, or the rich uncle who owns a 1,000 acre farm. Even if I did have a lot of extra money, the idea of leasing land to hunt is fundamentally wrong to me. With that said, I think I will have to be looking for another job to fund a lease if I ever want to be able to enjoy quality hunting like I once did. It's either that, or sale out and move to Florida and become a full time fisherman. Wouldn't have to worry about the big rack obsession there. That is sounding better every year. Other then family, there's not much of an incentive hunting and fishing wise to keep me in Ohio anymore.
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CritterGitterToo
Junior Member
Exactly! Who controls the land we hunt on? Farmers do. Who controls the Ohio Farm Bureau? Farmers do. Who controls the ODNR/DOW? The OFB more or less. Who stands to gain the most for Ohio to become a predominant lease hunting state? Farmers.
Any questions?
Lundy
Member
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Milo
Tatonka guide.
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Lundy
Member
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Question for you. How many of the farmers leasing the land for farming also have the right to grant or turn down hunting on the property? Very, very, few from what I have seen over the years. If it is not written in the lease they have no legal standing to do either, only the land owner or their agent (leasing farmer with those powers granted by the owner in the lease) can grant of deny access to private property for any reason.
Milo
Tatonka guide.
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Your essentially asking a question that cannot be answered as a way to prove a point. Nice work..except for the fact that many of the farmers here write hunting permission into the lease. Did you know the farmer can get crop damage permits for someone else's property.
Gordo
Senior Member
Whats the point? If you 'own ' it, your free to do what you want with it?
I dont exactly live in farm country, but know two farmers within striking distance. One farms about 1000 acres, the other 600 acres, each in which they do not own. One of them was in full control of hunting permission, the other was in control of about 50%.
I
I dont exactly live in farm country, but know two farmers within striking distance. One farms about 1000 acres, the other 600 acres, each in which they do not own. One of them was in full control of hunting permission, the other was in control of about 50%.
I