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AKRON, Ohio – Mike Tonkovich was a marked man at the first statewide Ohio Deer Summit on Saturday morning at the Ohio Division of Wildlife district office.
"If I'm hated equally by both hunters and farmers, then I must be doing my job," said Tonkovich, in charge of managing Ohio's white-tailed deer. The Buckeye State deer herd is shrinking by design, and Tonkovich's job was to explain to a full house of 90 sportsmen why that is a good thing.
Tonkovich said as deer numbers increased beyond carrying capacity, there was less for them to eat and fewer doe fawns reproduced. He preached quality deer over quantities of deer, and hit home with statistics from the Buckeye Big Buck Club, a trophy deer organization.
In the past, about 1 percent of Ohio's bucks grew antlers large enough to qualify for BBBC recognition. BBBC entries dropped about 50 percent by 2010, even though hunters had killed more deer. The size of antlers grown by yearling bucks also declined.
Whitetails Unlimited regional director Denny Malloy and the many WU members and sportsmen's club officials on hand insisted Ohio's deer herd is now too small. Malloy organized in impromptu deer summit a year ago in Yankee Lake, near Youngstown, to address the problem with wildlife officials.
The ODOW followed up with its inaugural Ohio Deer Summit on Saturday, a set of five meetings at its district offices around the state.
Malloy said Ohio's deer management plans are much like those in neighboring states, all of which have resulted in major declines in deer hunting success. Ohio's deer harvest has fallen from a record 261,260 in 2009-2010 to about 170,000 this year.
"We're seeing (wildlife agencies) creating new science and coming up with new management policies for deer," said Malloy. "They've created a new suit when the old suit had worked pretty well (for sportsmen). Maybe there's a problem with the new science."
Tonkovich said they'll take a fresh look at deer population goals again this spring, surveying both farmers and hunters this time around. In the past, only farmers had been consulted.
"Wildlife officials have to remember the wildlife agency works for us, the people who buy licenses and permits, not farmers," said Malloy.
The sharp decline in deer success has hurt the business of hunting, said Fritz Birkhimer, who owns Fritz's Taxidermy in Cortland.
"I quit a nursing career to become a taxidermist because that's what I love to do," said Birkhimer. "Now my wife and I worry about staying in a business. Our deer mounts have gone from 150 in 2013 to 100 in 2014. I'm active in the Ohio Taxidermy Association. Everyone I've talked to in the OTA said the number of mounts they've taken in are way down."
Birkhimer said many Ohio taxidermists also think the new ODOW electronic reporting system for deer is flawed, with many deer not being legally checked. Or, he said, some hunters erroneously report grandma or Aunt Jane killed the big buck they brought in to be mounted.
While most sportsmen hunt rural counties, where the big herds of deer used to be, a non-hunter complained about an overabundance in suburban areas where deer hunting is discouraged.
Jim Rymut of North Royalton wished hunters could take care of the crowd of deer on his 10 acres.
"There are deer everywhere (in southern Cuyahoga County)," said Rymut. "I've seen 20 or 30 deer on my property. Bowhunting is not allowed. Nor am I allowed to build a fence taller than four feet around my vegetable garden. That height doesn't keep out a hungry deer."
Bob McKinney, a landowner and farmer from Freeport in southeastern Ohio, was the rare hunter who agreed with Tonkovich. McKinney was also one of the few with prime hunting grounds.
"We need to kill six to 10 deer each year to keep the population in check, and some years as many as 13 deer," said McKinney. "I have 14 trail cameras set up. Because of the hunting pressure during the early archery and black powder rifle seasons, I can tell you that 90 percent of the deer are nocturnal by the time the gun season rolls around."
AKRON, Ohio – Mike Tonkovich was a marked man at the first statewide Ohio Deer Summit on Saturday morning at the Ohio Division of Wildlife district office.
"If I'm hated equally by both hunters and farmers, then I must be doing my job," said Tonkovich, in charge of managing Ohio's white-tailed deer. The Buckeye State deer herd is shrinking by design, and Tonkovich's job was to explain to a full house of 90 sportsmen why that is a good thing.
Tonkovich said as deer numbers increased beyond carrying capacity, there was less for them to eat and fewer doe fawns reproduced. He preached quality deer over quantities of deer, and hit home with statistics from the Buckeye Big Buck Club, a trophy deer organization.
In the past, about 1 percent of Ohio's bucks grew antlers large enough to qualify for BBBC recognition. BBBC entries dropped about 50 percent by 2010, even though hunters had killed more deer. The size of antlers grown by yearling bucks also declined.
Whitetails Unlimited regional director Denny Malloy and the many WU members and sportsmen's club officials on hand insisted Ohio's deer herd is now too small. Malloy organized in impromptu deer summit a year ago in Yankee Lake, near Youngstown, to address the problem with wildlife officials.
The ODOW followed up with its inaugural Ohio Deer Summit on Saturday, a set of five meetings at its district offices around the state.
Malloy said Ohio's deer management plans are much like those in neighboring states, all of which have resulted in major declines in deer hunting success. Ohio's deer harvest has fallen from a record 261,260 in 2009-2010 to about 170,000 this year.
"We're seeing (wildlife agencies) creating new science and coming up with new management policies for deer," said Malloy. "They've created a new suit when the old suit had worked pretty well (for sportsmen). Maybe there's a problem with the new science."
Tonkovich said they'll take a fresh look at deer population goals again this spring, surveying both farmers and hunters this time around. In the past, only farmers had been consulted.
"Wildlife officials have to remember the wildlife agency works for us, the people who buy licenses and permits, not farmers," said Malloy.
The sharp decline in deer success has hurt the business of hunting, said Fritz Birkhimer, who owns Fritz's Taxidermy in Cortland.
"I quit a nursing career to become a taxidermist because that's what I love to do," said Birkhimer. "Now my wife and I worry about staying in a business. Our deer mounts have gone from 150 in 2013 to 100 in 2014. I'm active in the Ohio Taxidermy Association. Everyone I've talked to in the OTA said the number of mounts they've taken in are way down."
Birkhimer said many Ohio taxidermists also think the new ODOW electronic reporting system for deer is flawed, with many deer not being legally checked. Or, he said, some hunters erroneously report grandma or Aunt Jane killed the big buck they brought in to be mounted.
While most sportsmen hunt rural counties, where the big herds of deer used to be, a non-hunter complained about an overabundance in suburban areas where deer hunting is discouraged.
Jim Rymut of North Royalton wished hunters could take care of the crowd of deer on his 10 acres.
"There are deer everywhere (in southern Cuyahoga County)," said Rymut. "I've seen 20 or 30 deer on my property. Bowhunting is not allowed. Nor am I allowed to build a fence taller than four feet around my vegetable garden. That height doesn't keep out a hungry deer."
Bob McKinney, a landowner and farmer from Freeport in southeastern Ohio, was the rare hunter who agreed with Tonkovich. McKinney was also one of the few with prime hunting grounds.
"We need to kill six to 10 deer each year to keep the population in check, and some years as many as 13 deer," said McKinney. "I have 14 trail cameras set up. Because of the hunting pressure during the early archery and black powder rifle seasons, I can tell you that 90 percent of the deer are nocturnal by the time the gun season rolls around."