Here's What I Know.......

I have had my best deer hunting over the years on public land.
I have harvested 3 mature bucks in 19 years, and they all came from public land in central Ohio.
I know the public land of Delaware, Marion and Morrow counties very well.
I know there aren't nearly as many deer as there was a few short years ago.
I know the hunting pressure out there this year has never been higher, but this was the first year I can remember that no out-of-state hunters showed up.
I know that Delaware State Park is bow hunting only, and it used to have hundreds of deer. Not anymore.
I know that Delaware State Park used to have a full-time ranger on site all year round. Not anymore.
I know that on Saturday of Muzzy season there was some asshat in there gun hunting (and I think he may have been using a shotgun).
I know I have been skunked on 20 hunts out there this year.
I know I am fed up with that place, and if I never hunt there again that would be just fine.
I know I do not have the resources to lease hunting land.
I know this may have been my last year deer hunting in Ohio, and I am sorely bitter about it.

I know deer hunting in Ohio was incredibly fun in the nineties and now it's just a big pain in the ass.

Ok, I can admit when I am being a bit dramatic. In all honesty, it was probably not my last hunting season. However, if I don't find some place that actually has a huntable population of deer within a reasonable drive from my home and doesn't have asshats crawling all over it, I won't buy a license or tag next year. I can't continue to support an agency that seems to be catering to a group other than outdoorsmen/outdoorswomen.

Milo and Brock are dead on. I have had access to some really good private ground here and there. I was granted access to 45 acres mostly wooded in Delaware County for one season. I saw a lot of deer in there. Also, if you have ever driven south on I-71 and saw the pond in the open field with L shaped woods to the west then you know the place. At dusk that field held a hundred deer or more. These days you don't ever see deer in that same field. I had access to 60 acres off St Rt 315 that backs up to a Nature Preserve. A buddy let me hunt there with him for a couple seasons, but then he moved away. I have had access to a couple properties in Crawford county. One is just east of Riley Reservoir. There was a LOT of deer in there when I first started hunting it. Now, it holds a couple deer at best. Last year and this year I hunted a farm up north of New Washington. I saw 24 deer on that farm last year. I saw none this year. Opening day of gun, I watched a party of 8 drive every property adjacent to us in every direction, and didn't see a single deer. Nothing! You can't say they went nocturnal. The reality is simple. If I want to find good deer hunting, I am going to have to drive an hour or more east or south. I have hunted hard all year. I have 125 hours logged in the stand this year. I also have logged another 30-35 acres of scouting. I know not to trounce all over the place or go storming through a bedding thicket. I have been doing this for 19 years. I didn't miss the acorn mast production. It's not because of crop rotation. It is certainly not for lack of effort (even though I have questioned my sanity many times this season after getting skunked for deer sightings on 20 trips afield).

It doesn't help to complain on a hunting forum. However, when others share in my frustration and can relate, then I feel I am part of the hunting community. To me, that is a big part of what a hunting forum is about. I know many of the members here feel the same way.