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Division of Wildlife Open House

CritterGitterToo

Junior Member
375
58
Central Ohio
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.
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
4.3 is laughable..nobody would waste their time hunting with that population...
 

Curran

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,971
172
Central Ohio
4.3 is laughable..nobody would waste their time hunting with that population...

No kidding. I'm already thinking about starting to plan more out of state / DIY hunts in the future. Our population gets that low around here I wouldn't even bother buying an OH license anymore.

Time to start taking up golf I guess.
 

reo

Junior Member
484
68
N.E. Ohio
Their target of cutting out 2/3 to 3/4 of the population in any non-city type area is freaking scary.
 
Where are they getting their "target" number from...the Ohio Insurance Commission? ...the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation? You can bet a paycheck that they didn't just pull that number out of their ass. There's more to it than what we're being told and there's some monitary influence with it. :smiley_chinrub:

I missed getting to go to the Dist. 2 Office and wished I could've attended.
Did anyone hear any discussion about PCRs (Pistol Cartridge Rifles)?
Also, was there any talk about the "3 Rod Rule" for fishing, that was proposed?

Bowhunter57
 

CritterGitterToo

Junior Member
375
58
Central Ohio
Where are they getting their "target" number from...the Ohio Insurance Commission? ...the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation? You can bet a paycheck that they didn't just pull that number out of their ass. There's more to it than what we're being told and there's some monitary influence with it. :smiley_chinrub:

I missed getting to go to the Dist. 2 Office and wished I could've attended.
Did anyone hear any discussion about PCRs (Pistol Cartridge Rifles)?
Also, was there any talk about the "3 Rod Rule" for fishing, that was proposed?

Bowhunter57

I stated where they got the current target from, surveys of rural land owners. They did have surveys there for the rifle cartridge change, however that is not a proposed regulation change at this point. That's in the "collect information" stage of things. I voted no for that.
 

reo

Junior Member
484
68
N.E. Ohio
Where are they getting their "target" number from...the Ohio Insurance Commission? ...the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation? You can bet a paycheck that they didn't just pull that number out of their ass. There's more to it than what we're being told and there's some monitary influence with it. :smiley_chinrub:

I missed getting to go to the Dist. 2 Office and wished I could've attended.
Did anyone hear any discussion about PCRs (Pistol Cartridge Rifles)?
Also, was there any talk about the "3 Rod Rule" for fishing, that was proposed?

Bowhunter57

All of the proposed changes can be seen here. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/LawSubhome/ProposedRuleChanges/tabid/24075/Default.aspx#sportfishing
I do not see anything about the thee rod rule.
 

LonewolfNopack

Junior Member
1,503
127
The woods
Like Critter said, the target comes from farmers. They divided the state into three zones (something like farmland, forest land and intermediate) and surveyed farmers within those zones. The ODNR target is based off of these farmer surveys, taken over ten years ago. It is all completely outrageous. Hunters will quit hunting before we ever reach those goals. In some areas they already have. The sky isn't falling but it is time to find some new hobbies. Unless sitting in a stand and watching nothing but squirrels and leaves all day is your idea of fun.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
Wish I could have made it. Last year I went with Bowhunter57. I vented. They acted as if nothing were wrong. I tried to explain some of the consensus amongst my friends and locals I had talked to in regards to low deer numbers. They acted like I was out of my mind and there were deer behind every tree. Every person I bumped into at the open house was there to complain of low deer density. We were all blown off.

They are there to put on a show. They don't care what the hunters think.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
I did not go. I am done voicing my concerns on the matter. My input is not wanted, and according to them probably unfounded.... so screw 'em. They (ODOW) and I obviously have completely different goals when it comes to whitetails.
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
4 deer per sq. mile is just crazy. What the hell are they thinking

The math will catch up with them i promise. They are so deep in misinformation the only way out is to keep up the same routine..like wben someone decides to rob a bank ...you might as well go for broke. Under this philosophy, in would never see a deer all season because in my square mile, there are probabky 40 hunters.
 

huntn2

Senior Member
6,090
157
Hudson, OH
2.5 hunters per 1 deer.....cause that is sustainable. You will wipe out the hunters and the deer.

I love how areas such as Metro Parks and the CVNP have and can sustain > 100 deer per square mile and we can't do a thing to hunt those areas yet "huntable" areas have a target of less than 5.

He'll, I think I have read where carrying capacity is typically around 20 deer per square mile. So I don't get he target of 1/4 of that.
 
hickslawns said:
We were all blown off.

They are there to put on a show. They don't care what the hunters think.
They have their own agenda and I have no doubt that there's $ tied to it. They're gonna keep screwing it up until there aren't any deer to hunt....not that there's that many out there right now. :smiley_arrogant:


LonewolfNopack said:
Hunters will quit hunting before we ever reach those goals. In some areas they already have. The sky isn't falling but it is time to find some new hobbies.
It's already happening. I've quit going out groundhog hunting, due to coyotes killing them off and the rest of the time I end up talking with a Sheriff Deputy about "What are you doing here? I got a call that someone was out here with a rifle." No shit! It ain't worth it.

I've taken up kayak fishing to replace the g-hog hunting and it keeps me very well occupied. A great hobby and I've found a lot of places to explore/fish and there's plenty more out there. :smiley_bril:

Even so, I get the feeling that some day a GW is going to ask about the high powered rifle in the kayak. :smiley_crocodile: J/K
Bowhunter57
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
They have their own agenda and I have no doubt that there's $ tied to it. They're gonna keep screwing it up until there aren't any deer to hunt....not that there's that many out there right now. :smiley_arrogant:



It's already happening. I've quit going out groundhog hunting, due to coyotes killing them off and the rest of the time I end up talking with a Sheriff Deputy about "What are you doing here? I got a call that someone was out here with a rifle." No shit! It ain't worth it.

I've taken up kayak fishing to replace the g-hog hunting and it keeps me very well occupied. A great hobby and I've found a lot of places to explore/fish and there's plenty more out there. :smiley_bril:

Even so, I get the feeling that some day a GW is going to ask about the high powered rifle in the kayak. :smiley_crocodile: J/K
Bowhunter57

Id ask his ass to stop bothering you unless your breaking the law. I would answer no questions they ask unless the landowner has called. The have to have probable cause to question you. Just keep on doing what your doing.
 

Gern186

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,171
201
NW Ohio Tundra
Wish I could have made it. Last year I went with Bowhunter57. I vented. They acted as if nothing were wrong. I tried to explain some of the consensus amongst my friends and locals I had talked to in regards to low deer numbers. They acted like I was out of my mind and there were deer behind every tree. Every person I bumped into at the open house was there to complain of low deer density. We were all blown off.

They are there to put on a show. They don't care what the hunters think.

Same experience I had last time I went....they had their agenda already planned...it didn't matter what anybody from the public side had to say...
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Same experience I had last time I went....they had their agenda already planned...it didn't matter what anybody from the public side had to say...

Agreed... Waste of time. There is a reason they bust everyone in to individuals instead of a forum or town hall style. Then write your thoughts on a piece of paper and they'll be ignore in the order they were received.
 

Hedgelj

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,144
178
Mohicanish
I didn't go because our daughter was born on wednesday. Though it appears I missed very little.

One good thing haas come out of the odnr meetings that I think we should work on more. I met joe, heard about this site because I had blown off os b/c to me it was a bunch of bickering old hens. This forum is much better in terms of members, even though many of us were on there.