How many different counties do you hunt a year? Any different areas of the state, besides athens county?
Wildlife Council Hears Proposals for 2012-13 Deer Hunting Seasons
- Thread starter ohio mossy oak
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I have never saw large groups of deer in my area, even in bad winters if you see 5 deer at one time then you get excited about it. You guys in other areas of the state must just have a crap ton more deer than we have here. I cant even imagine 20+ deer all together.
On a side note, I was visiting a friend this weekend and drove 10+ miles through the heart of Wayne National Forest yesterday with the day old snow on the ground. I had to drive very slowly as I was in a Neon and those gravel roads dont see much snowplows. I saw what appeared to be two different sets of deer tracks crossing the road during the whole trip, that's it. Apart from the two Red Fox I saw, it was like a wildlife desert. That was in Athens county along West Baily and Utah Ridge, in some of the hardest hunted land in the state. Even in well populated deer counties, our public lands are suffering. When I talked to Tonk about this very issue last year I was surprised that he agreed with me. He seemed like he would be for special regulations on public lands. Don't tell Coonskinner though.
On a side note, I was visiting a friend this weekend and drove 10+ miles through the heart of Wayne National Forest yesterday with the day old snow on the ground. I had to drive very slowly as I was in a Neon and those gravel roads dont see much snowplows. I saw what appeared to be two different sets of deer tracks crossing the road during the whole trip, that's it. Apart from the two Red Fox I saw, it was like a wildlife desert. That was in Athens county along West Baily and Utah Ridge, in some of the hardest hunted land in the state. Even in well populated deer counties, our public lands are suffering. When I talked to Tonk about this very issue last year I was surprised that he agreed with me. He seemed like he would be for special regulations on public lands. Don't tell Coonskinner though.
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I figured the mild winter weather had something to do with the smaller yarded groups but even looking back on the entire season and pre-season I could only find 4 doe and one doe fawn. I have had the cams out every day since the BEC shoot this past summer with the exception of the week before gun season and this is the most I could muster up. I'm not blaming a single person or even the DOW because I don't have munch info to go on other then they just aren't here like they was last year. Something has happened to them around here but I have no other way to voice my problem other then at the open house where I will be laughed at and told everything is fine and not to worry but the cams and footwork I put into this passion over the year doesn't lie.
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Same here. Who would have thought we would ever wind up with regulations so liberal that it became necessary to allot permits on public land to stop over harvest. Seems we should just adjust the bag limits.
Now I'm confused though. Lonewolf says there are few on the (wn). Great, now what am I gonna do to see a bunch of deer next season? Seems like tresspassing may become more of an issue Mrex.
Hunters will go where the deer are, just sayin.
Now I'm confused though. Lonewolf says there are few on the (wn). Great, now what am I gonna do to see a bunch of deer next season? Seems like tresspassing may become more of an issue Mrex.
Hunters will go where the deer are, just sayin.
Southern Crawford county. Just a stones throw away from the Morrow county line and low and behold that county just a mile down the road is in Zone C. Go figure right lol.
Most of Morrow being in zone C is a joke. It has higher pockets of density but I is rare....really rare.
You have seen my hunting grounds. Don't you think there should be more deer in there ? Do you think the ground could handle a fair amount of deer without a problem of starvation or disease ? Any reason that you could see that the deer would just abandon the property ?
Dante and myself are left scratching our heads trying to figure out where they went. Last year and this year there was only 3 deer taken 2 of witch was bucks one doe and one BB hit by cars while crossing from bedding to food.
I would also like to add that my 500 acres bordering the Richland county line is the same. NO DEER. This place use to be a great spot in where my uncle bagged a 27pt and a 14pt bucks back in the early 90's. Now...NOTTA.
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Crawford has seen a 39.5% harvest reduction since the 07-08 season. This is the 4th season in a row it has seen less harvest than the previous year.. This season Was comparable to the 2006-2007 season.
06-07--1,150
07-08--1,835
08-09--1,248
09-10--1,360
10-11--1,234
11-12--1,110
If we break a thousand next year I will call for a recount lol. I probably hunt one of the better places in the county as far as diversity in habitat and terrain and the deer numbers suck. Hence the reason Dante and myself did NOT shoot any doe off this property.
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Coshoctons
18% decline since 2009-10.. 2nd season in a row it has seen a decline. This season was comparable to the 2005-2006 season.
04-05--7,055
05-06--7746
06-07--8657
07-08--5,998
08-09--9,564
09-10-- 9,635
10-11-- 8,837
11-12-- 7,969
Morrow
19% decline since 2009-10.. 2nd season in a row it has seen a decline. This season was comparable to the 2005-2006 season.
04-05-- 1,714
05-06-- 1,887
06-07- 2,080
07-08- 2,145
08-09--2,196
09-10-- 2,342
10-11-- 2,143
11-12-- 1,898
Same here. Who would have thought we would ever wind up with regulations so liberal that it became necessary to allot permits on public land to stop over harvest. Seems we should just adjust the bag limits.
Now I'm confused though. Lonewolf says there are few on the (wn). Great, now what am I gonna do to see a bunch of deer next season? Seems like tresspassing may become more of an issue Mrex.
Don't take my word for it, go check it out. Maybe I am just dumb and blind. I have hunted that area of the Wayne since 2007. The first year I hunted it I was extremely happy with deer numbers. One day I hunted for around 3 hours and saw 18 deer. Each year after that the deer sightings and the deer sign dropped significantly. This was comparable to hunter numbers rising significantly, especially non resident. I've killed a few deer there, and have had opportunites at others, but those oportunities are shrinking drastically with each year. If it wasn't for a few good friends that I enjoy camping and hunting with down there each fall, I would in no way consider going back. There are nice deer taken in the Wayne each season, but when the hunters outnumber the deer 5:1 (no facts to prove that statistic, just my observations), the deer are bound to walk by a hunter sooner or later. My one good friend that travels from PA to hunt there and has taken two very nice bucks there the past several years, didn't even bother to make the trip this past season. I cant say for sure it was solely because of deer numbers, but I do know that it is one of his main concerns. The state is really going to shoot themselves in the foot if they keep reducing the herd in these deer deprived areas. They may be bringing in revenue now, but once people get tired of the poor hunting they will simply stop hunting. I know one person personally who loves hunting that told me they will not be hunting deer next season for this very reason. Its simply no fun to sit in your deer stand and all you ever see and hear is other hunters and squirrels.
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Huckleberry Finn
Senior Member
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Interesting. What area were you hunting? What direction from Nellsonville. That should be all I need to know.
Brock, I hunt North East of Nelsonville. Just North of the small village of Doanville. It is the Utah Ridge area between Doanville and Chauncy. Once it gets closer to season if you are still serious about hunting out there, I have a few areas that you may want to check out that seem to hold more deer and receive less hunting pressure than any place close to Nelsonville. The closer you are to the College, the harder it gets hunted.
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I recall that from my days spent there. There wasn't a deer's rub, grouse's log, or turkey's roost the students didn' know about. That is not the area I plan to visit, but thanks for the information. I will be closer to Athens.
I'm guessing he consulted with other "dumbass" biologists from up in Wisconsin. I know this really made me rethink management practices on a large scale.
From JB's post:
"It is often popularly believed that smaller units result in more precise management, butthe opposite is more often true. Fragmentation of units reduces the precision of herd monitoring capability because sample sizes for key herd data (age data, hunting pressure, productivity) are smaller and subject to more inaccuracy. A change in any unit boundary also affects adjacent units. So, realignment of boundaries should be a last resort to resolving perceived problems within a unit. The cost in lost information and consistency of herd management is high every time a unit boundary is changed."