Northwest Ohio deer hunters!!!
- Thread starter swantucky
- Start date
Apparently they don't like controversy lol.... Glad too see your efforts weren't in vain.... Congrats....
I probably should not have posted anything, I think it was supposed to be kept quiet for some reason. But I was pretty excited. lol I got it from 2 VERY reliable sources that they were going to do more deer counts before they continue.
bthompson1004
Member
Its all good...and good enough for me...while i did not participate in the town hall meeting i am truly greatful to those that did go...and VERY glad to hear that it produced a positive result for hunters and the deer herd...I actually thought nothing would come of it (as in the park could give a crap less about what some hunters say about it).
Hope that some of the non-hunting public park users had the same concerns about killing so many deer in and that the park heard it from a diverse group of park users.
It really was a diverse crowd, there were children there as young as 10 and there was a guy who was in his 80's. When I called to thank one of the township trustees for organizing the meeting they said the same thing, hunters, nonhunters, even a few antihunters. were in attendance. This was the first of I think many battles with the park system. There is a park board meeting on the 27th and we are starting to organize for that.
Didn't figure he would go back and watch it 14 times. Maybe once, but not 14. THought he would know I was screwing around. Ooops.
Randy, Could you let us know about the meeting on the 27th when you know more about it? I want to get more involved in this area. I spent last year getting my feet under me from moving up here and now I want to get involved.
Thanks for your work in this Oak Openings deal!!
Thanks for your work in this Oak Openings deal!!
The Metropark board of commissioners meeting is next Wednesday at 8:30am at Wildwood in the Ward Pavilion, located at the east park entrance. Not exactly the best time for folks that work for a living but I plan on being there.
That was probably scheduled at the time for a reason Randy. Hoping most won't attend!
Bigcountry40
Member
- 4,792
- 137
Thats government in action for ya and everyone has a voice. What a freaking joke, they do this crap on purpose all the time in all facets of government. "Lets hold meetings in the middle of the day, so registered voter and tax payers are not able to voice their legitimate concerns". unless of course a person wants to waste a sick day or possibly lose their job.
Bigcountry40
Member
- 4,792
- 137
Thats government in action for ya and everyone has a voice. What a freaking joke, they do this crap on purpose all the time in all facets of government. "Lets hold meetings in the middle of the day, so registered voter and tax payers are not able to voice their legitimate concerns". unless of course a person wants to waste a sick day or possibly lose their job.
Since I missed half a day of work to go to the meeting my day got jammed up. I have to say I was extremely surprised how open and honest the commissioners were. There were a lot of rumors floating around that were just not true!
I spoke very briefly during the meeting and also had a chance to talk to the park commissioners and the parks manager one on one after the meeting. The bottom line is the cull has been stopped until another population survey is done. I cautioned them that the numbers in the park after 3 months of hunting around the park will likely be higher than the normal year round numbers. I also let them know I understand something has to be done and offered what I think is a good solution. The park system is focusing on outreach programs to get more of the public involved and using the parks. My suggestion was to do a week long "bowhunters education" outreach program to include archery skills and safety, the hunter safety course, treestand safety/placement and general deer hunting knowledge. I suggested that after completion of the course those individuals could skip entering the existing park hunt lottery and automatically be given a hunting slot. The parks manger offered to have a one on one meeting to discuss how this might be accomplished.
They could just be bullshitting me to get me to shut up but I don't think that is the case. I truly believe they are listening to reasonable options other than sharpshooters. Most who spoke at the meeting just wanted to bitch and did not give any suggestions to change things.
The highlight of the meeting for me was when some tree hugging whacko suggested they collect the shit from the lions, tigers, bears, and wolves at the zoo and spread it around the park to keep the deer out. I immediately got a visual of volunteers with wheelbarrows of shit and shovels. I could not help but laugh out loud when she said this was a viable option rather than killing the deer. A close second was the suggestion that they castrate all but one the bucks and fence the deer in and call it a deer park. I seriously don't know how they kept a straight face during her time at the podium.
My takeaway from the meeting was they did not realize how many people actually cared what they were doing and they were willing to look other ways to deal with the deer. One of our local township trustees even stopped by my house last night to ask some questions regarding the deer and deer hunting. She was not dressed for the weather but was still willing to walk with me to show her what a "browse line" was. Most of us take our deer knowledge for granted and don't realize how little most people know about deer and their life cycles.
I need to give credit to Lundy for the harvest information he posted a few weeks ago, I used those numbers during my presentation to show that bow hunting has come a long way and is a viable option to control the deer.
I almost forgot to mention that their meetings have been on Wednesday mornings for decades. The commissioners said they would be willing to have their meetings in the evenings in the future when there are controversial issues like this to discuss.
I spoke very briefly during the meeting and also had a chance to talk to the park commissioners and the parks manager one on one after the meeting. The bottom line is the cull has been stopped until another population survey is done. I cautioned them that the numbers in the park after 3 months of hunting around the park will likely be higher than the normal year round numbers. I also let them know I understand something has to be done and offered what I think is a good solution. The park system is focusing on outreach programs to get more of the public involved and using the parks. My suggestion was to do a week long "bowhunters education" outreach program to include archery skills and safety, the hunter safety course, treestand safety/placement and general deer hunting knowledge. I suggested that after completion of the course those individuals could skip entering the existing park hunt lottery and automatically be given a hunting slot. The parks manger offered to have a one on one meeting to discuss how this might be accomplished.
They could just be bullshitting me to get me to shut up but I don't think that is the case. I truly believe they are listening to reasonable options other than sharpshooters. Most who spoke at the meeting just wanted to bitch and did not give any suggestions to change things.
The highlight of the meeting for me was when some tree hugging whacko suggested they collect the shit from the lions, tigers, bears, and wolves at the zoo and spread it around the park to keep the deer out. I immediately got a visual of volunteers with wheelbarrows of shit and shovels. I could not help but laugh out loud when she said this was a viable option rather than killing the deer. A close second was the suggestion that they castrate all but one the bucks and fence the deer in and call it a deer park. I seriously don't know how they kept a straight face during her time at the podium.
My takeaway from the meeting was they did not realize how many people actually cared what they were doing and they were willing to look other ways to deal with the deer. One of our local township trustees even stopped by my house last night to ask some questions regarding the deer and deer hunting. She was not dressed for the weather but was still willing to walk with me to show her what a "browse line" was. Most of us take our deer knowledge for granted and don't realize how little most people know about deer and their life cycles.
I need to give credit to Lundy for the harvest information he posted a few weeks ago, I used those numbers during my presentation to show that bow hunting has come a long way and is a viable option to control the deer.
I almost forgot to mention that their meetings have been on Wednesday mornings for decades. The commissioners said they would be willing to have their meetings in the evenings in the future when there are controversial issues like this to discuss.
Sounds promising. Our trustees always meet in the evenings. "Officially meet" I should say. They confer daily.
bthompson1004
Member
That is a great report Swantucky (Randy if I may)...glad to hear these positive results and I for one very much appreciate your attendance at this meeting...glad they are listening.
I guess, I'm still left wondering how and why the metroparks have changed their tune in the middle of all of this though...I'm sure they can't just get out of their contract with the sharpshooting company right?
Did anyone confirm that the cull was stopped?
Did the metroparks release how many deer have been culled up to that point?
I'm just curious is all...and like many, just hoping it wasn't all lip service.
They did give the cull numbers but I did not write them down. I think it was 106 from Oak Openings and 37 at Wildwood. Their contract was a "cost not to exceed" arrangement so they could stop it without further cost or paying the full amount. (I don't want to say how, but I have confirmed those numbers are accurate.) They said it has been stopped, if they are lying I will find out. Too many eyes on this situation now. in addition they are a public entity, any dollar they spend can be tracked through the Freedom of Information Act.
There is still a week left in the season so I am still doing some hunting, when the season is over I am going to contact the park director and take him up on his offer to meet.
There is still a week left in the season so I am still doing some hunting, when the season is over I am going to contact the park director and take him up on his offer to meet.