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Proposed changes.

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
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So basically they brought back bonus gun but set it on a Monday / Tuesday instead of a weekend.

So we will have youth season the weekend before thanksgiving.

One week of bowhunting.

One week of gun hunting.

Three weeks of bow hunting.

Two days of gun season.

One week of bowhunting.

Four days of gun hunting.

Three weeks of bow hunting till close.


I sure wish they would just consolidate these gun seasons into a shorter timeframe and not sprinkle them over 100 days. The deer don't have enough time to calm back down for decent bowhunting before the guns bark again. Really the only thing this accomplishes is buck will bucks go nocturnal by thanksgiving and stay that way for the rest of the season.
 

Schu72

Well-Known Member
3,864
113
Streetsboro
Joe...the ODNR has a boner for "opening days". Other states do this as well. A number of other midwest states have multiple 3 day gun seasons, so there are multiple "openers".
 

Bigcountry40

Member
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127
In all seriousness, how many guys can get the second gun opener off with normal jobs? Most jobs make you take an entire week off if you take one day, most guys take regular gun off and most guys only get one week vacation. Why not have it on the weekend?

And I hate how late muzzle loader is, I only hunt bucks if I have buck tag b/c of pregnant does, I think they should make muzzle loader antler only if they are going to have the season so late.
 
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bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
In all seriousness, how many guys can get the second gun opener off with normal jobs? Most jobs make you take an entire week off if you take one day, most guys take regular gun off and most guys only get one week vacation. Why not have it on the weekend?

And I hate how late muzzle loader is, I only hunt bucks if I have buck tag b/c of pregnant does, I think they should make muzzle loader antler only if they are going to have the season so late.

Not to argue semantics, but I've never heard this before. It is less the ability to take two days off and more than most people are out of vacation by that point. I have 20 days of vacation that I'm free to take whenever I want, however I want as long as I give 24 hours notice and even I'll not take those two days off. Frankly if we have to live with those two days, I'd rather it be like this to cut back on the number of hunters in the woods. It'll help the deer.
 

Bigslam51

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Supporting Member
25,778
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Stark County
Like Jesse said, its probably best that the 2 day gun is during the week. There's one whole week of gun, if someone that wants meat can't kill a deer with a gun in one week then there's something wrong with them.
 

Boarhead

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
Like Jesse said, its probably best that the 2 day gun is during the week. There's one whole week of gun, if someone that wants meat can't kill a deer with a gun in one week then there's something wrong with them.
Unless they are in an area with very few deer Chad. I know one buddy that hunted 8 days without seeing one deer in his area.
That would suck.
 

Schu72

Well-Known Member
3,864
113
Streetsboro
If the deer numbers are that low, the best thing you can do is let the any deer you see walk. Adding more hunting days isn't the answer.
 

Carpn

*Supporting Member*
2,234
87
Wooster
I see alot of ya'll talking about pregnant does ? I guess I don't get it . Most does are pregnant in first gun , so what difference does it make if she's shot in Nov or in January/feb? Still pregnant either way Heck, whats the difference if she's shot in early Oct ? She would have been pregnant so the outcome is entirely the same in the end .
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
I see alot of ya'll talking about pregnant does ? I guess I don't get it . Most does are pregnant in first gun , so what difference does it make if she's shot in Nov or in January/feb? Still pregnant either way Heck, whats the difference if she's shot in early Oct ? She would have been pregnant so the outcome is entirely the same in the end .

I don't get it either. A doe is still a doe if she's has been breed or not breed. The only difference is if the doe lives there's a chance of 1.7 fawns on the average. So in my mind shooting a doe at any time just reduces the herd in later years.
 

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,778
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Stark County
Unless they are in an area with very few deer Chad. I know one buddy that hunted 8 days without seeing one deer in his area.
That would suck.

That is true. If I didn't have a couple good properties to hunt then I'd probably wouldn't see shit either. I did hunt one of my spots this year 4 times and only saw a doe and yearling.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
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If the deer numbers are that low, the best thing you can do is let the any deer you see walk. Adding more hunting days isn't the answer.

That's not how it works though.. Hunters kill deer not manage the population. You could take the majority of hunters out there and if they saw a deer on that 8th day they would have shot it. Odds are they quit at 8 days because they had to. Not because they decided to let the few deer still there stay alive. If they had 20 days available they would have gone 20 days and still shot the first one they saw. This is what we mean when we talk about opportunity not tags being the culprit to the decline. If the DNR wants more deer killed from an already small population all they have to do is add opportunity. This is also why reducing tag numbers is just for show. If left to our own devices we would eventually eradicate deer in ohio. That's our role as hunters, that's why we created a DNR. Too bad they sold us out.
 

JZurn

Junior Member
13
0
Ohio
For selfish reason I am glad they kept youth season in mid-November, as it keeps it away from HS football season (unless you are deep into playoffs)
 

Bigcountry40

Member
4,555
127
Not to argue semantics, but I've never heard this before. It is less the ability to take two days off and more than most people are out of vacation by that point. I have 20 days of vacation that I'm free to take whenever I want, however I want as long as I give 24 hours notice and even I'll not take those two days off. Frankly if we have to live with those two days, I'd rather it be like this to cut back on the number of hunters in the woods. It'll help the deer.

I agree completely I was trying to point out that ODNR was changing the date to help hunters get into the woods, but I think they may have actually done the opposite of this.
 

Jackalope

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Staff member
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I agree completely I was trying to point out that ODNR was changing the date to help hunters get into the woods, but I think they may have actually done the opposite of this.

They did. Just goes to show you how out of touch they are. How many people would be traveling, vs how many people can't take vacation. I would think the number of people unable to take off work Would far outnumber the ones who "may" be traveling.

Either they're that dense. Or they just believe we're a bunch of hicks with no jobs.
 

yotehunter

Member
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spencerville oh
I see alot of ya'll talking about pregnant does ? I guess I don't get it . Most does are pregnant in first gun , so what difference does it make if she's shot in Nov or in January/feb? Still pregnant either way Heck, whats the difference if she's shot in early Oct ? She would have been pregnant so the outcome is entirely the same in the end .
This is true. It wouldn't make a difference.
 

hickslawns

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Ohio
They did. Just goes to show you how out of touch they are. How many people would be traveling, vs how many people can't take vacation. I would think the number of people unable to take off work Would far outnumber the ones who "may" be traveling.

Either they're that dense. Or they just believe we're a bunch of hicks with no jobs.

I take offense to that.