Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

More about deer numbers...

Beentown

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,740
154
Sunbury, OH
Questions beg answers for this year's Ohio deer harvest



Ohio's chief deer management biologist admits the state currently has more questions than answers regarding this year's to-date white-tail harvest.

That being said, however, the objective of establishing a more stable deer herd appears on track, says the Ohio Division of Wildlife official.

Thus, the on-going effort to seek an overall reduction in the state's deer herd through a newly established county-by-county strategy is beginning to pay off, says Mike Tonkovich, the Wildlife Division's deer management administrator.


“It's been seven years of hard work,” Tonkovich says.

Much of what will accumulate in terms of deer harvest has all ready occurred, Tonkovich says, due to conclusion of the statewide general firearms deer-hunting season. This season wrapped up Sunday with a preliminary 75,408 deer killed, or a 13.29 percent decline from the 2012 firearms deer-hunting season kill of 86,963 deer.

Wildlife Division officials first forecast a firearms season deer kill of 80,000 to 90,000 animals, a bracket that was not achieved.

At this point Ohio hunters traditionally have taken around 75 percent of the all-seasons' kill of deer. What remains now is the statewide muzzle-loading deer-hunting season and set for January 4 through 7. Meanwhile, the statewide archery deer-hunting season extends through February 2.

No doubt, says Tonkovich, “there are fewer deer on the landscape.”

Which is a good thing, Tonkovich quickly added.

“We must thing positively,” he said.

Pluses include fewer deer damage complaints from farmers along with a shrinking number of deer-motor vehicle accidents, Tonkovich says, noting as well that any deer management plan must embrace strategies that take these matters to serious heart.

Likewise, says Tonkovich, the Wildlife Division is now striving to manage deer on a county-by-county basis rather than with a format that combines blocks of counties.

A boots-on-the-ground translation for such a management plan zeros in on the removal of fawn-producing does. So far this year Ohio's deer hunters have taken about 1.5 percent more of this white-tail segment than they did last year, Tonkovich says.

While that number may at first blush appear insignificant it is equally important to remember the new county-by-county strategy seeks a reduction in antlerless numbers as the best method of cutting back on the herd size.

Consequently, when asked if Ohio's deer hunters are killing off too many does Tonkovich quickly says “no” but follows up with a qualifying caveat.

“There's no blanket statement that can be made regarding whether we need to cut back on he doe harvest,” Tonkovich said.

The reason being is because while some counties may have achieved stability in herd size (which is probable) other counties still have a ways to go (which is likely), Tonkovich says.

No better illustration for this exists than in extreme Northeast Ohio.

Here, Ashtabula County gun hunters killed 2,334 deer during the seven day firearms season. That figure represents a 13.74 percent increase from its 2012 firearms deer-hunting season total of 2,052 animals.

Not lost either is that Ashtabula County's immediate neighbor to the south, Trumbull County, saw a rise in its firearms season kill as well though not by a similar double-digit figure. This gun season Trumbull County deer hunters killed 1,298 deer, a 4.93 increase from the county' 2012 gun season total of 1,237 animals.

If anything, says Tonkovich, even more antlerless deer need to be removed from these two counties.

“There's not much more we can throw at the them,” Tonkovich says as to the all ready liberalized ground rules for killing deer in Ashtabula and Trumbull counties. “But these two counties do have me scratching my head.”

And just as perplexing is the monstrously steep drop-off in the firearms deer-hunting season kill in Lake County, which abuts Ashtabula County.

Lake County deer hunters killed 126 deer during the just-concluded firearms deer-hunting season. That figure represents a humongous drop of 39.13 percent from its 2012 gun season kill of 207 animals. Only three other counties saw percentage drops greater than that experienced in Lake County.

Presently any number of as-yet unkown factors may be at play here, Tonkovich notes.

Among them is the abandonment of the previous Urban Deer-Hunting zones, one of which included all of Lake County. In these zones a hunter could use an antlerless-only permit throughout the entire year, a stipulation that was erased for this season, among other changes.

“That could be part of it but I don't want to overstate the case,” Tonkovich said.

Along these same lines Tonkovich noted declines in several other counties which also were enfolded into one of the state's several former Urban Deer zones.

Tonkovich pointed to Franklin County (Columbus) which saw its gun season deer harvest plummet 35.8 percent while Hamilton County's (Cincinnati) gun season harvest fell 17.21 percent.

Yet Tonkovich is reluctant to suggest any course correction for the 2014-15 deer-hunting season at this stage of the game.

Only when the final volley of muzzle-loading bullets are fired and the last of the arrows launched will he and the rest of the Wildlife Division's biologists have the necessary data to make recommendations.

For now, Ohio's deer hunters should dress warmly, check to ensure their required documentation is in order and head into the field and forest in search of the deer that got away during the gun season.

“The muzzle-loader season could be excellent or it could be a bust,” Tonkovich says. “It all depends on the weather.”

Plus the ability of the state's wildlife biologists to properly interpret the numbers and then crunch the data needed to best manage the state's deer herd for all interested parties.


- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
Interesting read. If I were mistakenly thinking there was an endless supply of deer, I too would be scratching my head as to why there were less deer killed. However, if I were him and I had actually been keeping track of living deer vs deer killed, I would not be surprised that the kill was lower - I would know there were less to kill. Maybe they will start trying to manage living deer...
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
“The muzzle-loader season could be excellent or it could be a bust,” Tonkovich says. “It all depends on the weather.”

Hahahahahaha we had friggin 30 degrees and most of the state had snow on Opening Morning and we're back to blaming it on the weather.
 

Beentown

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,740
154
Sunbury, OH
They highlighted the drop in counties where the 'urban' units used to be but couldn't figure out the increase of tags filled in surrounding counties. BS as he is smarter than that. People in surrounding counties used to use the reduced tags and claim they were 'urban' deer.
 

LonewolfNopack

Junior Member
1,503
127
The woods
He mentioned crop damage and vehicle collisions as primary concerns when managing a deer herd. Not once did he mention anything about hunter attitude or opinion. Obviously this is not surprise to anyone that knows what is going on, he simply doesn't care.
 

Beentown

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,740
154
Sunbury, OH
He mentioned crop damage and vehicle collisions as primary concerns when managing a deer herd. Not once did he mention anything about hunter attitude or opinion. Obviously this is not surprise to anyone that knows what is going on, he simply doesn't care.

We are TOO dumb TOO realize....he said so.
 

huntn2

Senior Member
6,090
157
Hudson, OH
I like the references to Ashtabula being up which is exactly where I hunt and have witnessed the decline 1st hand. It is also where other locals have vocalized there similar experiences as mine. Where folks can't even get various doe groups on camera over corn.

I would like to know the breakdown of resident vs non resident harvest for Ashtabula. It is a very accessible county for PA and NY hunters.

The landowner reported it being very quiet Friday in our area and it seemed like bow season on Saturday and Sunday from a shooting perspective.
 

CritterGitterToo

Junior Member
375
58
Central Ohio
Wait, was he quoted as saying there are fewer deer on the landscape? How does he know?

I mean, we didn't really add an opportunity this year. If they would have kept bonus weekend and then added early muzzy that would have been an opportunity addition. If they did that, the harvest would be close to last year, and he'd be telling us about how we need to shoot more doe. That's the way it was for about 8 or 9 years.

The bottom line is that conservation is on us as hunters. We need to educate others and change the behavior and attitude toward the harvest of doe.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Can I go on record now saying I'd assume he didn't join us at camp next year?

I couldn't finish reading the article. I wanted to vomit on my computer, then choke it out...
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
Can I go on record now saying I'd assume he didn't join us at camp next year?

I couldn't finish reading the article. I wanted to vomit on my computer, then choke it out...

I respect the man for coming the last two years. Mrex had told him we were going to be a tough crowd, yet he showed. I'm sure he's been to less hospitable environments. I don't know what would be gained from another sit-down, honestly. The man stated the DOW's position about as clearly as he could last year. It's evident, we aren't all on the same team, different perspectives completely. If the herd rebounds to a point that we actually need to get aggressive in culling, I know I'll be a little hesitant to listen to the DOW. Conversely, if my landowners were ever to start losing a great deal due to deer damage, I wouldn't wait for the DOW to tell me it's ok to help them out. Tonk himself said it best, we know what's going on in our areas a lot better than the DOW does. To me, that's the most damaging thing to come out of all this... I have a lot less faith in the DOW than I ever did.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Mike wanted to show us the man behind the mask. It didn't do anything to win him favor with me. I still think he's in on the whole charade and that whether he's 100% responsible or not, he is facilitating the destruction of our deer herd and the fleecing of the very hunters who pay his salary.
 

Buckmaster

Senior Member
14,362
191
Portage
I got skunked on 24 deer hunts this year. Typically its 2-3 times per year historically. Something is up.

My hunt club comprised of 3,500 acres and 292 members is discussing proactive measures for next year.

We already have a 4 point on one side antler restriction for the past 3 years. We may step it up in 2014 taking no does. It's in the talks right now and will go under vote in the months ahead.

We'll rebuild our own herd.
 

Schu72

Well-Known Member
3,864
113
Streetsboro
I got skunked on 24 deer hunts this year. Typically its 2-3 times per year historically. Something is up.

My hunt club comprised of 3,500 acres and 292 members is discussing proactive measures for next year.

We already have a 4 point on one side antler restriction for the past 3 years. We may step it up in 2014 taking no does. It's in the talks right now and will go under vote in the months ahead.

We'll rebuild our own herd.

Is this a co-op including your land, or a seperate club?
 

cotty16

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
I went and checked the book at our hunt club yesterday. 14 deer were killed during the whole week. There are 300 members. I remember when there were 64 deer killed during the week.
Of those deer, 5 were bucks.

During archery and the muzzy weekend, there were 3 doe and 4 bucks taken from opening day until Monday of gun week.

So, in a 300 member club with close to 6,000 acres to hunt, there have been 21 deer taken in over 2 months of hunting.

Red flag!!!