Deer Management Stakeholder Organization.

[bowhunter1023]

Joe hit the nail on the head. The vast majority off all huntable land in Ohio, has hunters on it. 15 years ago, I could hunt all kinds of farms and was the only bowhunter. I've been looking for a new farm with no other hunters for 2 years now and the only place out of 75+ attempts that was hunted, doesn't allow hunting. Every swinging dick hunts now. And with the rise in people wanting to know where their food comes from, there are more meat hunters getting involved daily. It is bordering on market hunting at this point on the food acquisition front IMO and it's a big reason why there's a hunter on every huntable property around.

 

[Hortontoter]

I have to agree, most landowners in rural areas allow someone to hunt the property. Like Joe said, it may be a select few friends or family, but it gets hunted. He is right that the herd would not have been decimated if properties weren't being hunted.

I believe there is an art to gaining access. Some learn this art and some have no clue.

 

[Jimbo63]

Bawana,
This is actually the first time that I have posted an opinion/response on this site, although I read the forum all the time (so you understand how serious I take this issue).

The questions and purpose of the group that you are a part of clearly has many different, and sometimes divergent objectives. With that said, you have to look back at the history of hunting in Ohio to understand the possible ramifications of the trends that have been established over the last 10 years with deer hunting in Ohio. I am of the age that remembers when pheasant hunting in Ohio was something that was at a similar position to that of deer hunting in Ohio right now. Back in the late 60's, it was our family tradition to hunt pheasant every Thanksgiving morning before our traditional dinner. Multi-generations would take part in this hunt and would establish memories for years to become. As pheasant populations declined, so did the participation in this hunt.....till now it is no longer a tradition. The only pheasant hunting that takes place around my local is stocked state land or private hunting preserves.

Although the reasons for the decline in population in pheasant is different from the reasons for the decline in population of deer, the results will be the same. The youth will no longer be interested in participating in an endeavor that provides no satisfaction.....beyond the stories of "how it used to be" from the elder members of their hunting party. The economic impact will be real, as there have been many studies of the economic impact of Deer Hunters dollars to Ohio (just ask South Dakota how beneficial pheasant dollars are to their economy). As a deer hunter, I want to preserve the memories of "deer camp" (which is not a drunken orgy that some describe) for generations to come, as I/we typically have three generations of deer hunters participate every "Monday after Thanksgiving" (although my son and I hunt through the season).........and this can only be achieved by maintaining a "truthful" minimum deer population.

Regulation and economic investment will be necessary to achieve this result.....not lies and "lip service". The return for Ohio will be immeasurable, not only economically, but in quality of life for the residents and tax payers of Ohio.......isn't this ultimately what our government is for?

 

[giles]

Bawana,
This is actually the first time that I have posted an opinion/response on this site, although I read the forum all the time (so you understand how serious I take this issue).

The questions and purpose of the group that you are a part of clearly has many different, and sometimes divergent objectives. With that said, you have to look back at the history of hunting in Ohio to understand the possible ramifications of the trends that have been established over the last 10 years with deer hunting in Ohio. I am of the age that remembers when pheasant hunting in Ohio was something that was at a similar position to that of deer hunting in Ohio right now. Back in the late 60's, it was our family tradition to hunt pheasant every Thanksgiving morning before our traditional dinner. Multi-generations would take part in this hunt and would establish memories for years to become. As pheasant populations declined, so did the participation in this hunt.....till now it is no longer a tradition. The only pheasant hunting that takes place around my local is stocked state land or private hunting preserves.

Although the reasons for the decline in population in pheasant is different from the reasons for the decline in population of deer, the results will be the same. The youth will no longer be interested in participating in an endeavor that provides no satisfaction.....beyond the stories of "how it used to be" from the elder members of their hunting party. The economic impact will be real, as there have been many studies of the economic impact of Deer Hunters dollars to Ohio (just ask South Dakota how beneficial pheasant dollars are to their economy). As a deer hunter, I want to preserve the memories of "deer camp" (which is not a drunken orgy that some describe) for generations to come, as I/we typically have three generations of deer hunters participate every "Monday after Thanksgiving" (although my son and I hunt through the season).........and this can only be achieved by maintaining a "truthful" minimum deer population.

Regulation and economic investment will be necessary to achieve this result.....not lies and "lip service". The return for Ohio will be immeasurable, not only economically, but in quality of life for the residents and tax payers of Ohio.......isn't this ultimately what our government is for?

[emoji122][emoji122][emoji122]hell of a first post! Welcome!!! You should post more often, some solid words.

 

[Jackalope]

Bawana,
This is actually the first time that I have posted an opinion/response on this site, although I read the forum all the time (so you understand how serious I take this issue).

The questions and purpose of the group that you are a part of clearly has many different, and sometimes divergent objectives. With that said, you have to look back at the history of hunting in Ohio to understand the possible ramifications of the trends that have been established over the last 10 years with deer hunting in Ohio. I am of the age that remembers when pheasant hunting in Ohio was something that was at a similar position to that of deer hunting in Ohio right now. Back in the late 60's, it was our family tradition to hunt pheasant every Thanksgiving morning before our traditional dinner. Multi-generations would take part in this hunt and would establish memories for years to become. As pheasant populations declined, so did the participation in this hunt.....till now it is no longer a tradition. The only pheasant hunting that takes place around my local is stocked state land or private hunting preserves.

Although the reasons for the decline in population in pheasant is different from the reasons for the decline in population of deer, the results will be the same. The youth will no longer be interested in participating in an endeavor that provides no satisfaction.....beyond the stories of "how it used to be" from the elder members of their hunting party. The economic impact will be real, as there have been many studies of the economic impact of Deer Hunters dollars to Ohio (just ask South Dakota how beneficial pheasant dollars are to their economy). As a deer hunter, I want to preserve the memories of "deer camp" (which is not a drunken orgy that some describe) for generations to come, as I/we typically have three generations of deer hunters participate every "Monday after Thanksgiving" (although my son and I hunt through the season).........and this can only be achieved by maintaining a "truthful" minimum deer population.

Regulation and economic investment will be necessary to achieve this result.....not lies and "lip service". The return for Ohio will be immeasurable, not only economically, but in quality of life for the residents and tax payers of Ohio.......isn't this ultimately what our government is for?

Thank you for taking the time to post and for being a continued reader. Very well said.

 

[bowhunter1023]

Thank you for taking the time to post and for being a continued reader. Very well said.

Agreed. Well done sir.

 

[Boarhead]

Well said!

 

[Fletch]

Yes, totally agree...

 

[Mike]

Thumbs up

 

[Dustinb80]

Welcome aboard Jimbo.

 

["J"]

Wow, heck of a first post.... Welcome aboard and thanks for you well thought and articulate response....

 

[Quantum673]

Well said.

 

[finelyshedded]

Wow, heck of a first post.... Welcome aboard and thanks for you well thought and articulate response....

DITTO!!!!! Great post Jimbo63!!!!!

Welcome to TOO as well!

 

[Bigslam51]

Great post Jimbo, welcome!

 

[bawana]

So when you said A specific group wants to see a drastically reduced population, i then asked you specifically who that group was, and your response was read the list of participants I'm sure you can figure it out, wasn't refusing to answer my question?

And I personally never said there were no other concerns such as land access. My personal opinion on that is I don't see it as a threat to deer hunting at all. If I think back to all the properties that I have Hunted and include all of the knowledge about neighboring and surrounding Farms, I can only think of two out of hundreds that did not have someone hunting it. Granted some of them were only hunted by the farmer's grandson, or it was hunted by family during gun week, but I would say 95% of the properties that I have knowledge of, have someone hunting them. So the problem is not necessarily that there are vast expanses of land that nobody can hunt, the problem i think people have is they personally can't get permission. Those are two totally different problems. One is with landowners not allowing any hunting at all, which most of the time does not seem to be the case. And the other is with landowners being very selective and only allowing people they know personally to hunt, which you are never going to fix. The reality is the hunters of this state would have never been able to drastically reduce the population if they as a collective were severely limited on land access. There will always be a subset of hunters who find it difficult to find a place to hunt.

And at the end of the day access to property doesn't matter a hill of beans if the deer population is absolute crap. I can get access to the most exclusive strip club in the world, but it don't mean crap if I get there and they only have two fat chicks.

And at the end of the day there can be two beautiful strippers inside, but if you can't get in what good does it do you?

 

[Fletch]

JimBo sounds like your Thanksgivings were similar to ours.... Back then everyone would head to my parents house in Western Pa... Thanksgiving Day hunts were a mainstay prior to the big feast... Everyones small game jacket would be bulging with bunnies and roosters their long tails sticking out the sides of the coat... Fri. would be a repeat of Thurs. with more small game hunting... Sat. we normally checked our rifles for the upcoming start of buck season on Monday... Sunday would find us climbing the Laurel Mountain to the top to check out favorite spots... Mon. morning we were all up early and Mom would be making coffee and breakfast and packing lunch for everyone... God Bless her, as she made sure everyone was taken care of..
Once on top of that mountain you were there for the whole day... I remember one opening day when it was like 65 degrees and raining in the morning, then the temp dropped to like 20 degrees and it started snowing... Those Woolrich outfits got like board's when they froze... At one spot over the years guy's assembled 4 big logs in a square and always had a fire going, and guys would drop in and toast their sandwich on a forked stick or heat up some soup... I'm sure those logs have rotted away over the years but the memories still remain... Back then not many deer were shot, but memories and friendships were made.... AND THATS WHAT HUNTING TRULY WAS ABOUT BACK THEN.... AND THERE WERE NO PRO_STAFFERS...

 

[xbowguy]

Standing O Jimbo! Thank You For Being You! :smiley_clap:

 

[Jackalope]

And at the end of the day there can be two beautiful strippers inside, but if you can't get in what good does it do you?

Take care of the population and the access will work itself out. Still don't want to allow hunting, well enjoy your thriving deer population in your sainctuary, someone will be hunting next door either through permission or lease and wont have to actually lease the part set aside as a saintuary.

As i said thought the whole "access" thing is largely a farce. Every dang property I've come across worth hunting has hunters on it except for a couple. Granted its not like the old days where a fella could get permission just about anywhere he wanted. But its not like everywhere doesn't have anyone hunting on it either.

 

[huntn2]

Excellent post Jimbo. Welcome to TOO.

 

[cspot]

And at the end of the day there can be two beautiful strippers inside, but if you can't get in what good does it do you?

In my experience, most people who say they can't find any place to hunt, don't spend much time actually trying to find a place to hunt. If you put some miles on the vehicle, and spend some time talking to people, you can usually find some places to hunt. Granted there may be a few other guys after the ugly strippers, but it is still a place to hunt.

Also even if you can't hunt the place at least you still can look at the strippers from across the fence. It is alot better than staring at the wall.