Joel
Senior Member
He just predicted 20,000 deer to be harvested in late muzzleloader season. I am going to remember that number and watching to see what the total is.
About time they revise the farmer/hunter attitude surveys... Trying to hit goals that were established 14 years ago?... That's stupid IMO.
Hard for me to believe a word he's saying.... wish there was a smiley face insert of Mike gaggin on his own cock! I would feel like that's more appropriate than the shit he's spewing!
I have yet to see a gun hunter sit more then an hour after sunrise. As soon as the sun gets up they sit there an hour and then they get up and move at least where I'm hunting they do. Then after lunch it is drives the rest of the day
I must say you haven't watched me much on my 11 hr. non-stop hunts for the last 48 yrs. I've haven't done it much any other way in 48 yrs.
Hence another big reason for the influx of "archers." People trying to avoid sharing their woods time with idiots. Archers is in quotes because, well, a lot of them are idiots too. LolFrank, we use to do the same thing. Sit for hours watching for deer to pass in range. We didn't start doing drives until Friday and Saturday. The last 5 years the other guys that hunt on our property sit for maybe an hour after sunrise then they get up and start walking all over the place including other properties they don't have permission for and try to say they didn't know they went past the property line. Then they go get a late breakfast or lunch and come back and start walking the rest of the day.
Is your name Clint?
The ODOW did an excellent job...20 years ago. Today, nah. I do differ from "their" way of managing the deer herd. Throwing crap on the wall to see what sticks is not proper management. Neither is relying on the natural predator-prey relationship. Thinking it is good management to shoot until we run out of deer so that hunters will quit and therefore the herd will rebound is insane. Estimating a deer herd by counting dead deer, is not good management. Relying on farmer attitude surveys when most farmers foolishly believe deer do the majority of damage to corn, is not good management. Not accounting for fawn mortality due to predation, is not good management. Not factoring that a rise in archery hunting equates to a higher loss per harvest, is not good management. Doing away with in-person check in stations, is not good management. Expanding opportunity to increase kill and falsely inflate herd numbers (due to being a moron that estimates herd size by harvest numbers), is not good management.
Ohio has fair deer hunting IN SPITE of the ODOW, not due to the ODOW. We once had GREAT deer hunting. It is entirely the fault of the ODOW that it is less than it once was. And BTW, it was not at it's peak when our harvest numbers were at their highest, it was at it's peak pre-2002. We had ample deer to hunt, no one was complaining then. If farmers were actually dealing with a measure of damage, they were issued permits. Problem solved. Policies put in place by none other than Mike Tonkovich (expanded opportunity, excessive tags) are to blame. But, what do I know, he's the one with the PHD...and the one who counts living deer by how many have died.
I tuned into the last 30 minutes.
You guys are cause couple big problems. Setting too much and targeting a special deer and not moving around enough.
Lets get up and start moving those deer around so I can harvest one. LOL.
Clint McCoy is an excellent person. I know him personally. I haven't known him long but there is no doubt in my mind that he has Ohio's deer herd in his best interest. I have had many conversations with Clint. He is very knowledgeable, honest, hard working and successful. He knows whitetail deer. Managing the deer herd in an entire state is a very difficult task. The Ohio Division of Natural Resources does an excellent job. They have worked hard to accomplish and maintain the excellent opportunities we have in Ohio. I realize people have differing opinions of how a deer herd should be managed, but from my experiences I have no complaints. Actually, I am thankful that God has provided me the opportunity to hunt this great state. I will do my best to preserve that opportunity and want to thank the ODNR for their hard work and dedication.
I Didn't listen. I've talked to him face to face enough to know it would be a tap dance line of BS. Same old Tonk. Blame the hunters. Blame the weather. Blame everything but the DNR for giving us a big one without so much as a reach around. The thing is. Now when he opens his mouth in a public forum the majority of hunters immediately recognize it as BS. We're too late to do anything IMO, but it's nice to see the walls closing in around them.
Where does this leave us? He either quits, retires, or is fired? Where does this leave us? Some other appointed numbskull to take over his position? Someone equally or more willing to appease his higher ups? Don't get me wrong, the guy has a difficult job. Trying to appease everyone AND doing what is best for the deer herd CANNOT be an easy task. I don't know where his true heart is. Maybe he truly wants what is best for the herd. Maybe his words fall on deaf ears. If so. . . shame on him for being willing to be the puppet/fall guy of his higher ups. Leads us to believe he feels he is doing the right thing. I don't know if he is an honest guy or full of crap. Just what I read on TOO. Assuming he is honest, and assuming he is doing what he feels is best for the herd. . . Makes me think he would have a tough time differentiating between a whitetailed deer and a possum.
So is Tonk retiring or something and this new guy is taking over or is the new guy going to be working with him?
Single best post about our deer herd EVER