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Hunting Pressure Observations?

jagermeister

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Ohio
What's everyone seeing out there as far as hunting pressure goes? Driving around doing inspections yesterday and today, I've been surprised by how few pumpkin people I've seen walking around. I even drove around the only public wildlife area in Medina County yesterday afternoon at 4:00 pm and only counted 3 parked vehicles. Seems to be pretty quiet around these parts this week...
 

DJK Frank 16

Senior Member
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9,358
133
Hardin County
Yesterday morning we didn't hear near as many shots as we usually do in our area during opening day. I seen probably 15-20 trucks all day long and we were out dark to dark in various areas of the county.
 

jagermeister

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Ohio
What I'm trying to decipher is whether we're hearing fewer shots due to fewer deer, or fewer hunters in the woods, or both.... Me thinks it's both is some areas, and simply fewer hunters in others. It just seems to me like more people are bumping their vacations up to bow season instead of gun season these days.
 

Shoulder Blade

Junior Member
195
0
I was on some AEP land with my buddy and saw no other hunters or deer after first light. Saw tons of flashlights and heard lots of cars. I tried a new spot but if I had been in my normal spot I would have a shot at a deer. I was on top of a ridge (I usually sit in the bottom). About 1pm i heard them running thru the water then bam
The guy below my buddy shot a lot.

Seemed like fewer deer or nobody was walking around. The leaves were really loud.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I spent the entire day in the woods and didn't see a single deer. Where I sat in the morning is the perfect gun spot and is a place we've seen 12-15 deer before. The best we could do was hear two deer. After lunch, we did our famous "Grandma's Drive" and it only produced 2 deer. We've pushed as many as 20 deer off that ridge in the past. I spent the afternoon still hunting at our farm and never saw so much as a tail. All in all, I heard less than half the number of shots I normally hear and after talking to a lot of people yesterday, the deer just aren't there and/or they weren't moving.

I truly believe it is an indicator of the low deer numbers. I still saw a massive amount of people along the roads, at the gas stations, and driving around. If there aren't any deer to shoot, it makes it hard to kill very many...
 

Curran

Senior Member
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7,971
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Central Ohio
It just seems to me like more people are bumping their vacations up to bow season instead of gun season these days.

I think that's probably a big part of it. I used to never miss opening day of gun, but this year was the first time in 5 years that I took vacation. We always took some time off during the rut, but it seems that our "deer camp" has definitely moved from the week after Thanksgiving back to the first or second week of November.

As far as shooting goes... It sounded pretty active where I was yesterday morning. I quit counting shots when I got to 50. That was by 9:00 or so.
 

nis1

Junior Member
203
52
I don't know where everyone is. I heard 3 shots opening morning. Saw a button the first morning and that was it.
 

hickslawns

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39,721
248
Ohio
Yesterday I saw the regular "once a yr" crowd out. Most called it quits by 9-10am. Today I put on 26 miles road scouting and trespasser patrol. I saw 2 guys in orange. Both were on the same property. Both were the 2 guys I hunt with. I guess most people just don't take the time off they used to or they don't have any vacation days. Maybe this weekend will be different. My 2 buddies that were out are also self employed so they fall into the same category as me. We are out hunting when we should be working at certain times of the year but there are no ramifications if we don't show up. Lmao
 

brock ratcliff

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I have never seen so few people out. It was like gun season was not even in. My buddy and I did not see another person on the properties we were on. At 3pm on the trip home (about 20 miles), I saw one truck parked that I believe belonged to a hunter. Very strange. I suspect our gun season is becoming dilluted. By that I mean people are bowhunting more, people do not take off the first day due to being able to hunt 4 weekend days with a shotgun, and of course muzzle loaders actually go bang when you pull the trigger so that is also a viable season now. Once upon a time not so long ago people had about 6 days to kill a deer. Only one of those days was on a weekend. Things are different now. Plenty of time to get it done. It's starting to remind me of a southern gun hunt around here. When you have a month and a half to rifle hunt (like TN for example), opening day is hardly noticeable. I think we are getting that way in Ohio.
 

jagermeister

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Ohio
I have never seen so few people out. It was like gun season was not even in. My buddy and I did not see another person on the properties we were on. At 3pm on the trip home (about 20 miles), I saw one truck parked that I believe belonged to a hunter. Very strange. I suspect our gun season is becoming dilluted. By that I mean people are bowhunting more, people do not take off the first day due to being able to hunt 4 weekend days with a shotgun, and of course muzzle loaders actually go bang when you pull the trigger so that is also a viable season now. Once upon a time not so long ago people had about 6 days to kill a deer. Only one of those days was on a weekend. Things are different now. Plenty of time to get it done. It's starting to remind me of a southern gun hunt around here. When you have a month and a half to rifle hunt (like TN for example), opening day is hardly noticeable. I think we are getting that way in Ohio.

That's my thinking as well. I really hope the ODOW asks the right questions in their hunter surveys to get a true grasp on overall hunter effort. The days of estimating herd size based on gun season results are definitely long gone... especially since the number of gun hunters doesn't appear to be what it used to be. This may also explain (at least partially) the inflated archery harvests so far this season.
 

Boone

*Supporting Member*
833
96
N.E. O-H-I-O
Here are yesterday's stats:

COLUMBUS, OH – Hunters checked 29,297 white-tailed deer on Monday, Nov. 26, the opening day of Ohio’s deer-gun season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.
Monday’s total represents a 24.1 percent increase from 2011, when rain-soaked hunters harvested 23,600 deer.
Counties reporting the highest numbers of deer checked in 2012: Coshocton (1,199), Muskingum (1,102), Tuscarawas (1,091), Guernsey (858), Harrison (845), Knox (830), Ashtabula (816), Licking (805), Carroll (776) and Washington (747). The top three counties were unchanged from 2011.
The deer-gun season remains open through Sunday, Dec. 2. It will reopen for an additional two days, Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 15-16. Approximately 420,000 hunters are expected to participate in this year’s season, including many out-of-state hunters. Find more information about deer hunting in Ohio’s 2012-2013 Hunting and Trapping Regulations or at wildohio.com.
The white-tailed deer is the most popular game animal in Ohio, frequently pursued by generations of hunters. Ohio ranks eighth nationally in annual hunting-related sales and 10th in the number of jobs associated with hunting-related industries. Hunting has an $859 million economic impact in Ohio through the sale of equipment, fuel, food, lodging and more.
Hunters are encouraged to donate any extra venison to organizations assisting Ohioans in need. ODNR Division of Wildlife is collaborating with Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) to help pay for the processing of donated venison. Hunters who donate deer are not required to pay the processing cost as long as the deer are taken to a participating processor. To see which counties are involved in this program, go to fhfh.org.
ODNR ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR website at ohiodnr.com.
- 30 -
Editor’s Note: A list of white-tailed deer checked by hunters during opening day of the 2012 deer-gun hunting season is shown below. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2012, and the 2011 numbers are in parentheses.
Adams: 478 (395); Allen: 122 (67); Ashland: 497 (330); Ashtabula: 816 (609); Athens: 602 (505); Auglaize: 107 (50); Belmont: 674 (629); Brown: 334 (244); Butler: 100 (31); Carroll: 776 (620); Champaign: 163 (112); Clark: 61 (43); Clermont: 268 (150); Clinton: 115 (61); Columbiana: 603 (485); Coshocton: 1,199 (1,197); Crawford: 164 (118); Cuyahoga: 5 (4); Darke: 91 (37); Defiance: 340 (261); Delaware: 175 (120); Erie: 61 (24); Fairfield: 325 (298); Fayette: 35 (21); Franklin: 53 (35); Fulton: 151 (109); Gallia: 523 (465); Geauga: 157 (153); Greene: 98 (40); Guernsey: 858 (816); Hamilton: 59 (18); Hancock: 174 (105); Hardin: 148 (104); Harrison: 845 (882); Henry: 123 (78); Highland: 448 (299); Hocking: 664 (602); Holmes: 739 (617); Huron: 381 (284); Jackson: 463 (402); Jefferson: 649 (546); Knox: 830 (719); Lake: 55 (38); Lawrence: 342 (382); Licking: 805 (616); Logan: 234 (162); Lorain: 202 (167); Lucas: 26 (34); Madison: 39 (35); Mahoning: 242 (101); Marion: 111 (66); Medina: 202 (110); Meigs: 527 (499); Mercer: 100 (51); Miami: 54 (22); Monroe: 536 (532); Montgomery: 42 (16); Morgan: 587 (458); Morrow: 280 (178); Muskingum: 1,102 (964); Noble: 568 (584); Ottawa: 24 (18); Paulding: 191 (128); Perry: 587 (477); Pickaway: 168 (124); Pike: 294 (246); Portage: 189 (144); Preble: 82 (46); Putnam: 108 (46); Richland: 471 (434); Ross: 495 (385); Sandusky: 70 (58); Scioto: 303 (278); Seneca: 254 (148); Shelby: 155 (87); Stark: 253 (153); Summit: 43 (22); Trumbull: 471 (315); Tuscarawas: 1,091 (896); Union: 119 (76); Van Wert: 76 (45); Vinton: 544 (468); Warren: 129 (66); Washington: 747 (503); Wayne: 245 (167); Williams: 354 (299); Wood: 67 (47); Wyandot: 239 (224). Total: 29,297 (23,600).
For more information, contact:
John Windau, ODNR Division of Wildlife
419-429-8359
Jason Fallon, ODNR Office of Communications
614-265-6860
 

jagermeister

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Ohio
Wow... That surprises me. I mean, I know the weather has been absolutely perfect, but I just haven't seen anyone hunting.
 

brock ratcliff

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Going strictly on memory here, but it seems last year's totals for opening day were off 40 percent from the year before (2010). So with perfect weather, we are still down 20 percent from 2010. Feel free to correct me. As I said, completely from memory and I may be wrong. No ambition to actually check. :)
 

Boone

*Supporting Member*
833
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N.E. O-H-I-O
I know last year I stayed home because of the weather and hunted Friday through the weekend. Yesterday in the southeast I saw more hunters than what I consider normal for the area I hunted. Didn't hear as many shots though, excluding the seven shot barrage from someone on another hill. He unloaded 5 shots, reloaded and shot two more.:smiley_depressive:
 

Boone

*Supporting Member*
833
96
N.E. O-H-I-O
Going strictly on memory here, but it seems last year's totals for opening day were off 40 percent from the year before (2010). So with perfect weather, we are still down 20 percent from 2010. Feel free to correct me. As I said, completely from memory and I may be wrong. No ambition to actually check. :)

I don't have time to look them up either, but this week looks perfect weather-wise, so the final stats next week should give a good indication of the size of the herd or lack thereof.
 

brock ratcliff

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2010 - 33,607. 2011 - 23,600. 2012 - 29, 297. Keep in mind that not allowing anterless tags to be used should have cut back on the number of deer harvested this gun season. I think that is a great move by the DOW, and is a small step in the right direction. Still, I'd like to see more restirctive regulations, at least in my neck of the woods.