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Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
I live in that little handle or square or whatever in the bottom left corner of Knox County. 3 deer limit with no antlerless tags. Go 5 miles to the west and you can use antlerless tags and kill 4 deer (Delaware County). Go 5 miles to the north and you can only kill 2 deer with no antlerless tags. I'm in a strange little section of the state I guess.

I didn't care for early muzzleloader season so I'm not gonna miss that but I'm not real thrilled about them bringing back the bonus gun weekend.

Next year will be my daughter's first year deer hunting so we will probably be out for youth season. She is 7 so I'm ok with the weather being nicer and hopefully we can get her on a doe or button buck. Doubt there will be very many nice bucks killed that week.

Pretty drastic changes over the past few years season to season though that's for sure.
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
4,944
139
Overall I think its a decent move. I like that you can't kill 6 does in the SE counties or whatever the hell it was a few years back.
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
I would say the approved proposals are always approved in the end. Do you think these clowns will work up proposals and then not approve them? No way.

These are just proposals, nothing set in stone yet? Let's hope. Bag limits I really don't have an issue with, but don't mess with the kids youth season...its only 2 days to begin with. Give the kids a good chance at a good buck....because it's not gonna happen on Oct. 11th !
 
Makes me wonder if they're taking youth season ideas from Michigan's playbook by moving it forward. I'd say they are thinking they will get more participation since weather will be much warmer, not to mention it gives much more time between gun seasons. That will really rile up the troops though who wait til the first of November to start hunting their target buck when he might already be dead by then. On the number of tags, so glad to see 2 for Meigs. Just means more "family" members will be checking in deer, oh I meant hunting.
 

Boone

*Supporting Member*
833
96
N.E. O-H-I-O
Ohio Wildlife Council
Receives 2015-2016
Deer Hunting Proposals

COLUMBUS, OH - A reduction in bag limits and antlerless permit use, as well as a shift in the youth season during the 2015-2016 hunting seasons, were among regulations proposed to the Ohio Wildlife Council at its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 11, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
Among the proposals:
• Reduce bag limits in the majority of counties, and remove antlerless permits in all but 10 counties. No county has a proposed bag limit increase.
• Reduce the statewide bag limit of deer from nine to six.
• Suspend the antlerless-only muzzleloader weekend.
• Offer two days of deer-gun hunting Dec. 26-27, 2015.
• Move youth-gun hunting to the Saturday and Sunday formerly occupied by the antlerless-only muzzleloader weekend.
• Add one straight-walled cartridge rifle, the .450 Marlin, to the existing list of legal hunting rifles during the deer-gun and youth deer-gun seasons.
Deer regulations have been trending toward reduced bag limits and restricted use of antlerless permits in recent years. Proposals to reduce bag limits and adjust hunting seasons work to stabilize deer populations.
Deer population goals will be revised this summer through a random survey of hunters and landowners. Participants in the survey will have the opportunity to provide input about the future of deer management in Ohio.
Overview of proposed hunting seasons for 2015-2016:
• Deer archery: Sept. 26, 2015-Feb. 7, 2016
• Youth deer gun: Oct. 10-11, 2015
• Deer gun: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2015; Dec. 26-27, 2015
• Deer muzzleloader: Jan. 2-5, 2016
Proposed county bag limits:
No more than two either-sex deer permits: Athens, Auglaize, Belmont, Butler, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Coshocton, Darke, Erie, Fairfield, Fayette, Gallia, Geauga, Greene, Guernsey, Hancock, Harrison, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Madison, Meigs, Mercer, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Ottawa, Perry, Pickaway, Preble, Sandusky, Shelby, Tuscarawas, Van Wert, Vinton, Warren, Washington and Wood. It was proposed that antlerless permits are not valid in these counties.
No more than three either-sex deer permits: Adams, Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula, Brown, Clermont, Columbiana, Crawford, Defiance, Fulton, Hardin, Henry, Highland, Holmes, Huron, Knox, Licking, Logan, Mahoning, Marion, Medina, Paulding, Pike, Putnam, Richland, Ross, Scioto, Seneca, Trumbull, Union, Wayne, Williams and Wyandot. It was proposed that antlerless permits are not valid in these counties.
No more than three either-sex permits, or two either-sex permits and one antlerless permit: Lake, Lorain, Portage and Stark.
No more than four either-sex permits, or three either-sex permits and one antlerless permit: Cuyahoga, Delaware, Franklin, Hamilton, Lucas and Summit.
The statewide bag limit was proposed to be six deer, a reduction from the statewide limit of nine deer last season. Only one deer may be antlered, and a hunter cannot exceed a county bag limit. Antlerless permits may be used from Sept. 26 through Nov. 29, 2015.
It was proposed that small game hunting seasons will continue during the second gun weekend, Dec. 26-27, 2015. Also on Wednesday, the ringed-neck pheasant and chukar hunting seasons were proposed to be extended one week to Jan. 10, 2016.
The Ohio Wildlife Council will vote on all proposals after receiving public input. Open houses to receive public comments about hunting, trapping and fishing regulations and wildlife issues will be held on Saturday, March 7. Open houses will be held at the ODNR Division of Wildlife District One, District Two, District Three and District Four offices and the Greene County Fish and Game Association clubhouse in Xenia. Directions to the open houses can be found at wildohio.gov or by calling 800-WILDLIFE (945-3543).
Open houses give the public an opportunity to view and discuss proposed fishing, hunting and trapping regulations with the ODNR Division of Wildlife officials. For Ohioans who are unable to attend an open house, comments will be accepted online at wildohio.gov. The online form will be available until Sunday, March 8.
A statewide hearing on all of the proposed rules will be held at the ODNR Division of Wildlife’s District One office on Thursday, March 19, at 9 a.m. The office is located at 1500 Dublin Road, Columbus, Ohio 43215.
The Ohio Wildlife Council is an eight-member board that approves all of the ODNR Division of Wildlife proposed rules and regulations. The council will vote on the proposed rules and season dates during its meeting on Wednesday, April 8, after considering public input. Small game and wild turkey hunting season dates were proposed at the January council meeting and will also be voted on by the council on April 8.
Council meetings are open to the public. Individuals who want to provide comments on a topic that is currently being considered by council are asked to preregister at least two days prior to the meeting by calling 614-265-6304. All comments are required to be three minutes or less.
ODNR ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR website at ohiodnr.gov.
- 30 -
Editor’s Note: Attached is the proposed 2015-2016 Ohio deer bag limits map with season dates.
For more information, contact:
John Windau, ODNR Division of Wildlife
419-429-8359
Matt Eiselstein, ODNR Office of Communications
614-265-6860
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Reduce bag limits and increase opportunity… Thats one way to kill more deer.

Somebody gets it.

That's all this was designed to do.

Move that small subset of kids to the October lull, put our adults back in December with an extra gun season so they can kill more.

Pretend to do do something to "pull back" the slaughter by lowering tags. But really it doesn't matter.

Pretend to do something to "pull back" the slaughter by eliminating $15 tags. Really it's a revenue move and doesn't impact harvest.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
Somebody gets it.

That's all this was designed to do.

Move that small subset of kids to the October lull, put our adults back in December with an extra gun season so they can kill more.

Pretend to do do something to "pull back" the slaughter by lowering tags. But really it doesn't matter.

Pretend to do something to "pull back" the slaughter by eliminating $15 tags. Really it's a revenue move and doesn't impact harvest.

I don't completely disagree with you Joe... But in regards to the antlerless tags... If you're saying the elimination of the $15 tags is merely "pretending to pull back the slaughter," then you can't argue that their origination had anything to do with starting the slaughter in the first place. You know that's not true so therefore your latter statement must also be false.

And I guess I'm the minority here but I'm glad the bonus gun season is back. I always really enjoyed that extra 2 days to tote my slug gun around the woods.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
I don't completely disagree with you Joe... But in regards to the antlerless tags... If you're saying the elimination of the $15 tags is merely "pretending to pull back the slaughter," then you can't argue that their origination had anything to do with starting the slaughter in the first place. You know that's not true so therefore your latter statement must also be false.

And I guess I'm the minority here but I'm glad the bonus gun season is back. I always really enjoyed that extra 2 days to tote my slug gun around the woods.

"Pretending to pull back the slaughter" is in regard to public perception.

People see it get lowered and assume this means more deer will survive. Or this is the DNR giving in to hunters demands. Wrong.

The lower the deer population the less that needs to be killed to maintain the low level.


Not real numbers. Just easy math that displays the example.

If you have 600k deer you need to kill 200k to maintain the population.

If you have 300k you need to kill 100k to maintain the population.

100k less tags does not mean jack crap. They haven't pulled back the reins on the slaughter. Just less are required to maintain it.

Maybe that went from 200k tags designed to reduce the population to 120k tags that will maintain the population. The reality is a reduction in tags does not mean it's a good thing.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
I hate that the youth season has been moved...hate it. I am not in favor of the return of the added gun season. I too like to hunt with a gun, enjoy it to the fullest. However, I don't think any of the areas I hunt need the additional killed deer that will result. I wonder though, why in the world the DOW would want to move the youth season after its been in place for over a decade. I really liked it, unlike some narrow minded folks that thought it messed up "their" bowseason.
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
They can use the word reduce all they want. The proof of what to do is in their own research. They'd have to reduce opportunity.

Reducing bag limits virtually does nothing because a majority of the population only kills one deer. This is from the research they have shown us.

The opportunity has to be lessoned to make an impact and….
Overview of proposed hunting seasons for 2015-2016:
• Deer archery: Sept. 26, 2015-Feb. 7, 2016
• Youth deer gun: Oct. 10-11, 2015
• Deer gun: Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2015; Dec. 26-27, 2015
• Deer muzzleloader: Jan. 2-5, 2016
does not do that. In fact, I think it does the opposite.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
"Pretending to pull back the slaughter" is in regard to public perception.

People see it get lowered and assume this means more deer will survive. Or this is the DNR giving in to hunters demands. Wrong.

The lower the deer population the less that needs to be killed to maintain the low level.


Not real numbers. Just easy math that displays the example.

If you have 600k deer you need to kill 200k to maintain the population.

If you have 300k you need to kill 100k to maintain the population.

100k less tags does not mean jack crap. They haven't pulled back the reins on the slaughter. Just less are required to maintain it.

Maybe that went from 200k tags designed to reduce the population to 120k tags that will maintain the population. The reality is a reduction in tags does not mean it's a good thing.
But you can't sit there and act like they've done nothing at all. Doing away with $15 tags does away with some incentive to kill does. You can type out all the numbers you want... The fact remains, less incentive to kill does WILL result in more does that live to see another day. If that's not good enough, well, I don't know. I for one do not want to see us go to a 1 deer limit or a reduction in my opportunity to hunt. In my bubble, I'm pretty content with the deer hunting in Ohio. I killed 2 deer on private land and had multiple opportunities at public land deer in both NW and SE Ohio this season. It just amazes me. Guys here wanted to see something done to help the deer population rebound, and now, after viewing a proposal that came WAY out of left field, to your benefit mind you, and still all I read is rampant complaining. Even complaint about the youth season for crying out loud. Kids aren't (or shouldn't) be out there buck hunting. Youth season should be about the experience, an enjoyable experience, regardless of whether they kill a deer or not. Look at the weather the past two years... There's no questions sitting outside during youth season was less enjoyable than it would've been in October.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
The re-addition of the two day gun season does not demonstrate a "pulling back" of the reigns, Jim. It simply does not. I liked the youth season, even before I had participating youth. I think it was in a good time slot...but then again, I don't mind buying good gear for my kids to remain reasonably comfortable in inclement weather. Having hunted the early muzzy season for the last two years, I don't personally think setting up in woodlands full of leaves is the best experience for kids...but it matters little since we hunt for four months. I don't think it's the best move for kids that only get an opportunity to gun hunt, but who knows, maybe it will be looked on favorably by those folks.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
There are less die hard gun hunters nowadays. I don't think the bonus weekend will offset the deer that wouldve been killed with $15 tags. But maybe it will. I've been wrong once. Lol