I went to the one for District One. It wasn't crowded, but there was a good many people there and most all of them had something to say about deer and deer hunting. I didn't see anyone that I know or recognize.
First and foremost, I want to say that this was my first time attending one and I came away from it thinking of it as a very positive experience. I was able to speak to a biologist. I was able to voice my concerns. He was helpful, a good listener, and he emphasized with any hunters that primarily use public land in Ohio. Ohio ranks 48th among the 50 states in available public land. That's abysmal. Though, it's no easy task to fix that.
He did say they have looked into licensing for outfitters. If they move on that, he suspected they wouldn't have anything done for about 4-5 years out. He thinks that it would help, but it wouldn't necessarily raise a lot of money to aquire public land. It's an extremely complex and arduous task for a state agency to purchase land.
Now for the numbers. He gave me a run down on the county basis thing and said they have always done that, but used the zone thing to simplify the communication and regulation piece. He said they are going to do away with the zone thing so people get a better understanding of the goals. I asked specifically about Delaware County and they seem to estimate the population in the 7-8k range and the target is 2k. They are miles apart on this, and I pointed that out. I pointed to his graph back to 10 years ago and called that good hunting(not the best ever, but good hunting), and what we have had in the county the last 2 years has been abysmal. I gave him my stats for the year, and he emphasized, but didn't deter from the proposed regulations not going into affect. I didn't really expect him to as he can't change that, and I understand that. I found the land area size for Delaware county and it's 457 square miles. The target is to have 4.3 deer per square mile in this county. That seems ridiculous to me. He also informed me that the target has come from rural land owner surveys. They are different for each county. He informed me that the trend going forward is to seek more input about the target from hunters, wildlife preservation groups, and naturalists. Therefore, more people with an interest get a voice in regard to what the target should be. This is HUGE!
We talked about the early muzzy, and it being doe only. He doesn't think it will have a tremendous impact. He said the key is to get hunters to use that $15 doe tag and not let it expire. He explained that many hunters didn't hunt the bonus weekend due to having something else or lost interest. I said, "maybe it was a lack of deer sightings that discouraged them". He laughed and said he didn't think that was it.
I also asked a WO if I see a park rule being violated should I call the ranger or the WO. He said both. For expediency calling the Ranger first would be the best option, but never hurts to call the WO either.
So, I am encouraged by what I heard. I don't agree with all the proposals of the DOW on deer hunting. I think they have a fairly reasonable grasp on the population estimates, but I think their targets are what need modified significantly. I think more hunters should voice their concerns. The sky isn't falling, but I think there is a good bit of fog to get through before we reach a good point of balance.
First and foremost, I want to say that this was my first time attending one and I came away from it thinking of it as a very positive experience. I was able to speak to a biologist. I was able to voice my concerns. He was helpful, a good listener, and he emphasized with any hunters that primarily use public land in Ohio. Ohio ranks 48th among the 50 states in available public land. That's abysmal. Though, it's no easy task to fix that.
He did say they have looked into licensing for outfitters. If they move on that, he suspected they wouldn't have anything done for about 4-5 years out. He thinks that it would help, but it wouldn't necessarily raise a lot of money to aquire public land. It's an extremely complex and arduous task for a state agency to purchase land.
Now for the numbers. He gave me a run down on the county basis thing and said they have always done that, but used the zone thing to simplify the communication and regulation piece. He said they are going to do away with the zone thing so people get a better understanding of the goals. I asked specifically about Delaware County and they seem to estimate the population in the 7-8k range and the target is 2k. They are miles apart on this, and I pointed that out. I pointed to his graph back to 10 years ago and called that good hunting(not the best ever, but good hunting), and what we have had in the county the last 2 years has been abysmal. I gave him my stats for the year, and he emphasized, but didn't deter from the proposed regulations not going into affect. I didn't really expect him to as he can't change that, and I understand that. I found the land area size for Delaware county and it's 457 square miles. The target is to have 4.3 deer per square mile in this county. That seems ridiculous to me. He also informed me that the target has come from rural land owner surveys. They are different for each county. He informed me that the trend going forward is to seek more input about the target from hunters, wildlife preservation groups, and naturalists. Therefore, more people with an interest get a voice in regard to what the target should be. This is HUGE!
We talked about the early muzzy, and it being doe only. He doesn't think it will have a tremendous impact. He said the key is to get hunters to use that $15 doe tag and not let it expire. He explained that many hunters didn't hunt the bonus weekend due to having something else or lost interest. I said, "maybe it was a lack of deer sightings that discouraged them". He laughed and said he didn't think that was it.
I also asked a WO if I see a park rule being violated should I call the ranger or the WO. He said both. For expediency calling the Ranger first would be the best option, but never hurts to call the WO either.
So, I am encouraged by what I heard. I don't agree with all the proposals of the DOW on deer hunting. I think they have a fairly reasonable grasp on the population estimates, but I think their targets are what need modified significantly. I think more hunters should voice their concerns. The sky isn't falling, but I think there is a good bit of fog to get through before we reach a good point of balance.