To many deer odnr

[Hortontoter]

An hour of interesting reading. But, did it solve anything? We all have such varied ideas of what is proper in life, including deer hunting ethics and tactics. Some hunt over bait, I have before, for the last 10 years or more I have not. I think baiting should be banned, but this is just my opinion.

Some feel that crossbows should be banned, I'm on the fence about that as I must hunt with one. I do believe that crossbow users are more apt to "stretch" the capability of their weapon than a compound or traditional archer. I base this on conversations I've had with crossbow user that tell me they can easily take a deer at 70+ yards with the latest and greatest crossbows. Total nonsense in my opinion, yes it has been done, but that doesen't make it right IMO.

Some complain about NR hunters locking up big parcels of land, be assured residents do the same. And if a group of 5 or so like minded hunters can get together they can lease land at a reasonable cost. Fing enough with the same thoughts about hunting is the haed part. As BH said residents are more likely to want to fill the limit of tags at their disposal, again his and my opinion also.

I think the electronic tagging system is the biggest mistake the ODNR has made in recent years. To much ability to cheat the system. I will say as a landowner that uses a landowner tag cheating the tagging system would be so simple it isn't even funny. I could shoot a deer, attach my landowner tag, bring the deer home, process the deer and be on my merry way tomorrow to have my 3 landowner tags still to fill. I gaurantee you this is done time and again by some.

Let's talk youth season. I have nothing against this season, but it seems odd that youth hunters took more bucks than does this past weekend. Just seems odd, and I wonder if all these deer, buck or doe, were actually killed by hunters under 18. "Wow, five year old Timmy shot a B&C buck this morning at 220 yards with a straight walled rifle, can you believe it." Makes me wonder at times.

Does Ohio really need a 4 1/2 month archery season. I think archery season should end after the second gun weekend. This would at least give more of the pregnant does a chance to drop fawns in the spring.

And I must disagree with Brock about grown men sitting in a tent to hunt. No different than a grown man climbing a tree to gain an advantage over his quarry. And, I guess I'm the worst of the worst, sitting in my box blind with my Buddy heater hooked to my 20 lb propane tank running to keep me warm on those cold days lol.

I think the point of all this is that as hunters we are definately our worst enemy. We only agree to disagree, what a shame.

 

[BuckeyeFooter]

Accessible land in southern Ohio has been culled of deer via over hunting and EHD. There are a small fraction of deer compared to 20 or 30 years ago, it is not even close. Urban and suburban deer are exploding, we’ve been watching this guy grow up over the last three seasons. All the tools for herd management are worthless where it is needed, and over hunting has depleted herds on accessible land.

I sent an email to ODNR about the problem, their reply was “approximately the same number of Bucks are harvested year over year so the herd must be the same”

I pointed out that technology has changed the game on harvest numbers: wicked-fast crossbows, cellular trail cams, straight wall rifles and ever increasing popularity of bait have made hunters more successful, yet the harvest numbers of bucks drifts slowly down.
Bottom line is they want low deer herds and high tag revenue, we are paying for our own demise, ODNR is pissing down our backs and telling us it is raining.

 

[gjs4]

I think there is some irony with folks who claim trophy deer management that dont shoot does. While you only need ladies night to keep the bar hopping.... a doe saturated property is the last the place you can consistently and strategically kill bucks. Folks who get that and target giants arent the ones where this is an issue.

I think the ODNR does a great job overall. If you had to rate dentists giving you a root canal- theyre all getting grief and the same goes for these folks. They are politically bound, have limited resources and will be working around the nerves of emotional people (hunters). Could they do better? Of course everyone will say so. Do they know that my neighborhood doesnt have chit for deer yet its in an area that is supposed to be saturated? Nope....nor can they get that granular with locale. Id love them to though. People are greedy with their expectations. Here are two in my opinion, which will piss some folks off reading this. I think there should be a reduced fee, but not free licenses for landowners (and the acreage increased to 50) and baiting cannot occur on properties less than 5. The corn piles have fueled populations of animals- whether deer, or nest predators, etc.....but do they grow the population of any animals the state desires? Its hypocrisy. The folks not paying for licenses, registering kills, just "taking the buck in the backyard" are consumers in everyway and provide nothing......but the lighning rod to my mind is the group below.

Not sure how many of you know your local neighborhood outfitter....but you should look into these folks. They lease from widows for pennies on the dollar (drive the cost of all things hunting to the moon), run hunters through by the bus load, only take bucks, only run corn piles, wouldn't know conservation if it bit them in the arse.....but they're everywhere in OH. Far more than most states due to the proximity to the east coast. There goes your access, costs, buck herd (while growing the doe herd) and nothing goes anywhere but the owners pocket. You can blame the bus loads of lazy addicts form out of state but the drug dealer outfitter is who needs to go. They need governance and a forced contribution to state for the resource they don't own but rape. Do yourself a favor and Google/search for the outfitters near you (just be prepared for some disappointment).

 

[giles]

Take away property taxes and I'll gladly pay a tax to provide food off my own land. Until that happens, I am not okay with paying another tax off my own land. Because license fees are just another tax. If you think the landowner is the one abusing the system now...tell them they have to pay more. See how that works out, lol.

 

[Hortontoter]

I think there is some irony with folks who claim trophy deer management that dont shoot does. While you only need ladies night to keep the bar hopping.... a doe saturated property is the last the place you can consistently and strategically kill bucks. Folks who get that and target giants arent the ones where this is an issue.

Most properties are not saturated with does unless they are off limits to hunting. Yes, I'm one of those that doesn't shoot does. But, I only control a small piece of property. Deer venture a 1/4 mile from me and they are no longer safe from hunters. Does my letting the does walk mean anything? Maybe not to the does, but I feel good about doing it. Does are the fawn factory. It is easy math, less does less fawns.

I think there should be a reduced fee, but not free licenses for landowners (and the acreage increased to 50) and baiting cannot occur on properties less than 5. The corn piles

If you have found somewhere that shows the amount of acres needed for a landowner permit I'd like to see it. I am 73 and get reduced fees already. Any why 50 acres for a landowner permit? But, lets be able to bait if we have 5 acres or more. Lets just take the baiting away everywhere. And many landowners buy licenses and tags to hunt places other than land they own. IMO the only way to get the herd back to what it was 10-15 years ago is to lower limits and opportunity.

 

[BuckeyeFooter]

Baiting is not hunting, just selective harvest.