So, it looks like we haven't had a good discussion about how the DOW has screwed up the deer population since December. I was poking around on their website and found a little gem called, "Quality vs Quantity: Deer Herd Condition Trends in Ohio."
I won't post it all here, but I did quote the very end of it.
"Despite the overwhelming increases in the
popularity of deer management and the focus on
large-antlered bucks in recent years that would
generate more interest by hunters to have their
bucks recognized by a record-keeping organization,
fewer bucks as a percentage of the annual
antlered buck harvest sport large enough
antlers to qualify for the record books. Our
analyses of long term condition, productivity,
and antler size data confirm that the quality of
Ohio’s deer herd, while still relatively good, has
declined due to increases in deer population size
and changes in habitat quality across most of
our state over the past several decades. Not only
have we seen significant declines in fawn pregnancy
rate, adult reproductive rate, and yearling
beam diameter, but our analysis of record book
entries shows a decline in trophy buck entries
as well. Efforts by the Division of Wildlife to reduce
populations to goal, albeit successful, have
not been well received by all. Social tolerances
aside, the time is upon us to integrate herd and
habitat health into our deer management goal.
Perhaps our analysis of declining trophy buck
potential will provide a fresh perspective as we
go into the population goal setting process in the
summer of 2015."
So, they're trying to scare the masses into thinking that high deer numbers means low potential for a trophy buck. This is why educated hunters don't trust the ODOW. They use propaganda to twist the truth and get hunters to carry out there agenda. Their agenda is basically to support the Ohio Farm Bureau and insurance industry. I am really growing tired of this. I won't quit hunting at this point, but I am very seriously considering it. I took this year off and missed it terribly. I may look more seriously into hunting Kentucky.
I won't post it all here, but I did quote the very end of it.
"Despite the overwhelming increases in the
popularity of deer management and the focus on
large-antlered bucks in recent years that would
generate more interest by hunters to have their
bucks recognized by a record-keeping organization,
fewer bucks as a percentage of the annual
antlered buck harvest sport large enough
antlers to qualify for the record books. Our
analyses of long term condition, productivity,
and antler size data confirm that the quality of
Ohio’s deer herd, while still relatively good, has
declined due to increases in deer population size
and changes in habitat quality across most of
our state over the past several decades. Not only
have we seen significant declines in fawn pregnancy
rate, adult reproductive rate, and yearling
beam diameter, but our analysis of record book
entries shows a decline in trophy buck entries
as well. Efforts by the Division of Wildlife to reduce
populations to goal, albeit successful, have
not been well received by all. Social tolerances
aside, the time is upon us to integrate herd and
habitat health into our deer management goal.
Perhaps our analysis of declining trophy buck
potential will provide a fresh perspective as we
go into the population goal setting process in the
summer of 2015."
So, they're trying to scare the masses into thinking that high deer numbers means low potential for a trophy buck. This is why educated hunters don't trust the ODOW. They use propaganda to twist the truth and get hunters to carry out there agenda. Their agenda is basically to support the Ohio Farm Bureau and insurance industry. I am really growing tired of this. I won't quit hunting at this point, but I am very seriously considering it. I took this year off and missed it terribly. I may look more seriously into hunting Kentucky.
