Hunters kill more than 260,000 deer for the first time

Ohio's White-tailed Deer Hunters Have a Successful Season
Hunters kill more than 260,000 deer for the first time

COLUMBUS, OH - A total of 261,314 deer were killed during Ohio's 2009-10 hunting season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. This season's total surpasses the 2008-09 record total of 252,017.

"Ohio deer hunters had another great year and continue to play a vital role in managing Ohio’s deer herd. They’ve embraced regulation changes which increased the harvest of antlerless deer and they’ve donated a significant amount of venison to feed the less fortunate in Ohio through the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry program," said David M. Graham, chief of the Division of Wildlife.

Counties reporting the highest number of deer checked during the season were: Coshocton-9,635, Tuscarawas-9,009, Licking-8,571, Guernsey-8,289, Harrison-8,043, Muskingum-7,864, Knox-7,174, Holmes-6,211, Belmont-6,160, and Jefferson-5,888.

The deer-gun season resulted in the greatest portion of the overall harvest with 114,281 deer taken. Archery hunters took a total of 91,521 deer. Deer killed during the early muzzleloader season (491), at controlled hunts (690), youth-gun season (9,270), the extra deer-gun weekend (20,054), and the statewide muzzleloader season (25,007) added to the overall total.

The white-tailed deer is the most popular game animal in Ohio, frequently pursued by generations of hunters. Ohio ranks 8th nationally in annual hunting-related sales and 10th in the number of jobs associated with the hunting-related industry. Each year, hunting has an $859 million economic impact in Ohio through the sale of equipment, fuel, food, lodging and more.

Ohio's first modern day deer-gun season opened in 1943 in three counties, when hunters harvested 168 deer. In 1956, deer hunting was allowed in all 88 counties and hunters killed 3,911 deer during that one-week season.
Hunters were encouraged to kill more does this season and donate extra venison to organizations assisting Ohioans in need. The Division of Wildlife collaborated with Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) to help pay for the processing of donated venison. Hunters who gave their deer to food banks were not required to pay the processing cost as long as the deer were taken to participating processors. Counties being served by this program can be found online at http://fhfh.org/. Anyone interested in forming a chapter in an area not served should contact FHFH directly.

Open houses will be held on Saturday, March 6 in each of the state's five wildlife districts to provide the public an opportunity to view and discuss proposed hunting and trapping regulations with state wildlife officials. Directions to the open houses can be obtained by calling 1-800-WILDLIFE or visiting wildohio.com .

A statewide hearing on all the proposed rules will be held at 9 a.m., Thursday, March 4 at the wildlife division's District One Office, located at 1500 Dublin Road in Columbus. After considering public input, the Ohio Wildlife Council will vote on the proposed rules and season dates during its April 7 meeting.

The Department of Natural Resources ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR web site at www.ohiodnr.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Following is a list of deer checked by hunters during the four-month deer-hunting season. Numbers for 2008-09 are listed in parentheses ( ).

Adams – 4,489 (4,231); Allen –1,002 (846); Ashland –3,424 (3,329);

Ashtabula –5,298 (6,448); Athens –5,577 (5,326); Auglaize –813 (776);

Belmont –6,160 (5,833); Brown –3,350 (3,632); Butler –1,757 (1,569);

Carroll –5,809 (5,997); Champaign –1,837 (1,718); Clark –975 (897);

Clermont –3,774 (3,439); Clinton –1,114 (1,049); Columbiana –4,764 (4,694);

Coshocton –9,635 (9,564); Crawford –1,360 (1,248); Cuyahoga –635 (681);

Darke –861 (775); Defiance –1,593 (1,540); Delaware –2,296 (2,147);

Erie –1,036 (1,020); Fairfield –3,324 (3,009); Fayette –447 (377);

Franklin –1,065 (893); Fulton –786 (830); Gallia –3,998 (4,055);

Geauga- 2,545 (2,762); Greene –1,155 (1,037); Guernsey –8,289 (7,916);

Hamilton –2,051 (1,717); Hancock –1,916 (1,546); Hardin –1,646 (1,288);

Harrison –8,043 (7,454); Henry –733 (746); Highland –3,554 (3,227);

Hocking –5,430 (4,921); Holmes –6,211 (6,320); Huron –2,561 (2,383);

Jackson –4,385 (4,157); Jefferson –5,888 (5,831); Knox –7,174(7,223);

Lake –852 (901); Lawrence –2,961(3,123); Licking –8,571(7,967);

Logan –2,514 (2,224); Lorain –2,603(2,466); Lucas –829 (855); Madison –659 (607); Mahoning –1,900 (1,808); Marion –925 (806); Medina –2,140 (2,047);

Meigs –4,824 (4,601); Mercer –683 (627); Miami –812 (769); Monroe –5,106 (5,120); Montgomery –640 (536); Morgan –4,130 (3,951); Morrow –2,342 (2,196);

Muskingum –7,864 (7,245); Noble –4,981 (4,596); Ottawa –411 (369);

Paulding –1,023 (926); Perry –4,556 (4,683); Pickaway –1,370 (1,131);

Pike –2,607 (2,620); Portage –2,916 (3,075); Preble –1,001 (851);

Putnam -786 (716); Richland –4,754 (4,542); Ross –4,358 (4,104);

Sandusky –850 (839); Scioto –3,030 (3,479); Seneca –2,254 (1,942);

Shelby –1,051(958); Stark –2,576 (2,199); Summit –1,454 (1,368);

Trumbull –3,584 (3,976); Tuscarawas –9,009 (8,814); Union –983 (863);

Van Wert –662 (611); Vinton –3,942 (3,337); Warren –1,674 (1,523);

Washington –5,201(5,440); Wayne –2,274 (2,234); Williams –1,985 (1,819);

Wood –962 (872); and Wyandot –1,945 (1,830)

Total –261,314 (252,017)

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Hunt Safe
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SAFE HUNTIN'

NEWBIE Age: 27 Number of posts: 14 Registration date: 2008-10-06 Reputation: 0

man and I thought the kill was down this year. At least thats what the ranger said at the check station during the first couple days of gun season

In my eyes and my opinion I think the harvest numbers were and are lower, I think that ODNR likes to make us feel like there was alot of deer out this this year. With the accorn production being almost nothing, and the weather during the opener of gun season, I would say they are wrong and think we are dumb.
My opinion, doesnt mean anything but thats how I think.

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SAFE HUNTIN'

NEWBIE Age: 27 Number of posts: 14 Registration date: 2008-10-06 Reputation: 0

I'm with you on that. During bow season I hunt a white oak patch. Usually I see deer coming through most of the time. Heck I dont think there were even enough acorns on the ground to draw them in. Gun season we hunt in Washington County. Its usually one of the top harvested counties. 8 guys hunted 5 days(M-F) and only shot to doe. They were both killed by the same guy on one drive. I didnt even have a opportunity to draw my gun all week. Yeah I think they tell us what they want us to hear. I dont know if you have read about the goose population. But they want to start letting farmers shot them in the spring with rifles. Heck you can only shot 2 during the season, why not up our limit and let "hunting" control the population. Just my 2 cents!!

Subject: more of my opinions,......... Thu 04 Mar 2010, 4:59 pm

I have a few stories of the past gun season, one will get you all thinking,
1st story: I was hunting on the 2nd day of gun season in the Wolf Creek Wildlife Area with my sons, at about 10:30 am we decided since we hadn't seen anything we would go eat and move to our afternoon area, where we had seen alot of deer during the later part of the day. When we were in route to the PM area we came accross about 30 to 40 mexican hunters,.. it looked like they were getting ready to attack the Alamo, no offense, but it was crazy, I pulled up and asked if anyone got a deer and they all started laughing,.. I was like "What's so funny"? They replied 2 deer! I was like You only got 2 deer out of all of you?! And they ALL said yup ! I asked if they had hunted the 1st day and they all said yes and no one got one then due to the weather. I was to say the least skepticle about our PM hunting area, becasue all these guys were only 2 miles south of where we were going.

When we got to the PM area, we sat in our stands (ground Stands), until almost dark,.. didn't see or hear NOTHING !!!!!!!!!

We hunted that Saturday,.and Sunday NOTHING again!! We hunted 4 different wildlife areas during that weekend and on the extention weekend we hunted one in Ross Co. again nothing. When we drove by a couple deer check in stations we saw very little deer checking in and those that we saw were all but 3 out of maybe 12 were harvested on PRIVATE property. 9 Deer taken out of 12 on private property and everytime we did see deer they were on private property. It was almost enough for me to give up on hunting completely.
Bow season was rough, I can't blame it on the ODNR or weather, it was my fault or better yet my jobs fault.

As for Goose hunting,.there are ALOT of Geese actually TOO many,..ODNR does need to do something about the over abundance of geese. They should probly consider maybe having a week or 2 of NO LIMIT goose hunting during the season.

There's alot more ODNR could probly do as well to make it more better for all deer hunters, but it is pointless to talk about because thats all it will amount to in the end. But I am sure they will find a way to up rates and regulations on us, whether we are able to harvest our deer or not.
Good luck out there all,..hope for an acorn crop this year !!!! Otherwise seek private property and get ready to PAY high prices to hunt it.

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Hunt Safe
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SAFE HUNTIN'

NEWBIE Age: 27 Number of posts: 14 Registration date: 2008-10-06 Reputation: 0

Wolvie, your right there is nothing we can do. I actually wrote a letter to the ODNR about their great ideas! They basically said that they can do what they want. I used to hunt aep land when I was in college and you think the mexicans were bad. You should have seen all the amish. They would pull up in a big van with of course someone else driving and pulling an enclosed trailer. I saw them at the check station before and they were packed tight. Scary place to hunt during gun season. As for the geese there are to many. Have a conservation time in the spring and let the hunters do their jobs. This is why we pay for the license. By the way if you know where I could scored some land to hunt with these over populated birds please let me know. Thanks

Unforunently my friend the only lands I know are PUBLIC, I have seen alot of geese building up in the Mackey Ford Wildlife area down the road from me.
There wasnt anything there last year at this time but I have counted at least over 100 birds. ODNR made part of this area a wetland so the birds are building up, turkeys were spotted there 3 weeks ago, about 12 of them. Deer population is strong on the AEP power property on Rt 23 to the Scioto River, which is all PRIVATE Property. As you can see where this is going,... if any of the ODNR or other PUBLIC WILDLIFE areas are to ever be successful areas in hunting and being able to harvest or even see anything, something has to be done. What I dont know we cant make private owners allow hunter on their lands, hell we cant even pay them, who can afford it?!

A new wildlife area opened this past season The O'Dowd Wildlife Area in or near Murray City (near Nelsonville), during the past gun season I would say that place was hunted out right then and there. The amount of hunters we saw camping and walking, you would have thought the city's were attack and these people were seeking new terriotories.
I aint kiddin ya,..it was just horriable.
But hey what ya gonna do? Poach? be an illegal hunter? I'll just have to reconsider collecting comic books again I guess.

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Hunt Safe
'N'
SAFE HUNTIN'

NEWBIE Age: 27 Number of posts: 14 Registration date: 2008-10-06 Reputation: 0

Hell 90% of ohio's land is privately owned. Who ever started leasing land should be kick in the you know where. Its hard enough for the average man to pay for all the license's and gear let alone lease land. Public land is good as long as you get there early and early in the year. Thats just my experience. I dont understand ODNR's thought process. They want to let farmers shoot geese out of season to help control the population. But during the season waterfowl hunters have to pay $54 just to be legal. Then they only let you shoot 2 a day. Thats a lot of work and time for 2 birds. But hey im not complaining its better than nothing.
As far a deer and everything else I just assume to say were I'm safe. We used to rabbit hunt a lot of public land until one of my dad's buddies dog got shot. Where we hunt now in Washington county for deer a lot of northerner's(doctors) came from cleveland/canton and bought most of the property. They post signs all over no hunting but dont think twice about coming on your land. O well what are you going to do?? I'm sure we can go on for days. I'll look in to Mackey ford never been there before. Thanks for the info.