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Hunt Ohio Farms program discontinued

Ohiosam

*Supporting Member*
11,708
191
Mahoning Co.
COLUMBUS, OH – The HuntOhioFarms.com website will be discontinued due to lower than anticipated participation from Ohio’s farming community, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Wildlife.

The HuntOhioFarms.com website was launched in August 2009 in order to educate Ohioans on crop damage by deer, while at the same time increasing awareness of hunting opportunities. This was a joint effort between the Ohio Farm Bureau (OFB) and the ODNR Division of Wildlife.

After the first year, more than 9,000 hunters had enrolled with 83 landowners signing on in the four-county test area. The OFB and the Division of Wildlife agreed to expand the program to 38 counties across southeast Ohio in 2010. Despite direct mailings by the Division of Wildlife and marketing efforts by the OFB, an insufficient number of landowners signed up for the program. At the end of year two, an additional 5,000 hunters had enrolled with only 40 additional farms.

Access to private lands for hunting is integral to managing local deer populations and minimizing agricultural damage. The Division of Wildlife will continue to work with the OFB, as in the past, to find practical solutions to deer crop damage using deer hunting and other means as needed.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Could have told you that Day 1.. lol....

The only way to make it happen will be to tack it onto something existing...

In South Dakota.. You want CRP money from the state? Then you allow Y number of hunters..

Or You're requesting YY number of crop damage permits... Here they are. And here is a list of the hunters you can choose to fill them..

You want CRP money or nuisance permits but not allow hunting by people you select from this database... Well, Happy farming. I can't help you here.
 
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Beentown

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,740
154
Sunbury, OH
Yeah I was wondering the same thing about how that would work unless the State was using something else as leverage also.

I don't know any farmers that would sign up for it. Farmers are generally good people but very protective of their land. They don't want strangers on the property.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
Could have told you that Day 1.. lol....

The only way to make it happen will be to tack it onto something existing...

In South Dakota.. You want CRP money from the state? Then you allow Y number of hunters..

Or You're requesting YY number of crop damage permits... Here they are. And here is a list of the hunters you can choose to fill them..

You want CRP money or nuisance permits but not allow hunting by people you select from this database... Well, Happy farming. I can't help you here.

Right on! Finally, something that I agree with 100% :smiley_clap: lmao

I signed up and, as naive as can be, I typed up this well-thought-out biography about myself for the farmers to see. I applied for 3 different counties and never heard a word from anyone... Not one single landowner contacted me. What a joke.
 

Ohiosam

*Supporting Member*
11,708
191
Mahoning Co.
Most landowners don't have to advertise for hunters. I never thought it had much chance of working. Now if the state would financially reward landowners for joining a program like that it might work, but we all know the ODNR likes to keep our money.
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
Most landowners don't have to advertise for hunters. I never thought it had much chance of working. Now if the state would financially reward landowners for joining a program like that it might work, but we all know the ODNR likes to keep our money.

its easy..no crop damage permits without open hunting...pretty simple..your either part of the problem or part of the solution...
as joe said...in other breaking news water is now considered wet
 

Ohiosam

*Supporting Member*
11,708
191
Mahoning Co.
its easy..no crop damage permits without open hunting...pretty simple..your either part of the problem or part of the solution...
as joe said...in other breaking news water is now considered wet

Only 1400 landowners got permits for the 2010-11 season, an insignificant percentage of all landowners in the state. What I was talking about was rewarding landowners for allowing hunting. In Wyoming if you kill a deer the landowner gets part of the tag which he redeems for some money. Or maybe the state could lease some hunting rights or some other creative way but the ODNR will never spend money that way.
 
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Beentown

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
15,740
154
Sunbury, OH
Make them start farming again instead of giving them money.

Most would poo if they knew how much subsidy there is.

Recipients of Subsidies from farms in United States totaled $261,927,000,000 in from 1995-2010.

Ohio farmers received $6,928,674,164

BAM. lol
 

Ohiosam

*Supporting Member*
11,708
191
Mahoning Co.
Beentown, don't forget that part that money ( over 10%) went to pay for CRP. Around here most of CRP land is owned by non-farming landowners. A good bit is done specifically for wildlife habitat.
 

Hunter II

Junior Member
604
127
The Kansas Division of Wildlife leases over a million acres of land each year for public hunting access. Ohio should run this past the farm bureau.
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
Only 1400 landowners got permits for the 2010-11 season, an insignificant percentage of all landowners in the state. What I was talking about was rewarding landowners for allowing hunting. In Wyoming if you kill a deer the landowner gets part of the tag which he redeems for some money. Or maybe the state could lease some hunting rights or some other creative way but the ODNR will never spend money that way.
Problem with that sam is if each of those farmers only owns 100 acres....thats 140K acres that are opened up to hunting. I will take that any day. they can and will also benefit from increased yields so to answer their question, they are getting paid..
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
The Kansas Division of Wildlife leases over a million acres of land each year for public hunting access. Ohio should run this past the farm bureau.

Not a bad idea. I've always stated when we discuss NR fee increases that I would like to see a portion of those increases be put towards more public land. Value the resources at a fair price (I am now a supporter of reciprocity) and use to increase in revenue to purchase land that benefits the sportsmen from OH and from out of state. It is a win-win...

As for this program not working, I am not surprised either. However, this is one concept that I envision working better when managed on a micro-level. If the GW in a county worked closely with the Farm Bureau in relation to the nuisance permits, I think it would be possible to make the concept work. I don't have the exact formula, but I see it as something better addressed on a more local scale...
 

Ohiosam

*Supporting Member*
11,708
191
Mahoning Co.
Milo, You are assuming that most of the 1400 aren't allowing at least some hunting and from what I know most do allow hunting but for a variety of reasons regular hunting isn't controlling the problem. Here are a few examples: the orchard I hunt, they probably let 15-20 different people join in their hunting between bow and gun and it doesn't seem to matter how many we kill come January deer flock to the orchard from miles around. 50-75 deer isn't unusual on a really cold night when there is snow cover. Or deer in the crops in the summer, by the time hunting season rolls around the damage has been done, the crop might be harvested or nearly harvested. Kinda like locking the barn door after the horse got out. Most farmers rent a good bit of their land and so they have no say who can hunt there, I know one guy that uses the permits on a rented farm because the landowner will only allow him to shoot deer. I know couple that own fields next to parks where hunting isn't allowed, the deer live in the woods and come to feed in the fields.

The crop damage permits are a tool that the ODNR can use for spot problems. They aren't handed out like candy, only a very small percentage of landowners even ask for them. In 2010 the number of complaints, issued permits and deer killed was the lowest it has been in several years. I have never met a farmer that enjoyed using them after the first few times,when the novelty wears off it just becomes another chore around the farm. Do some abuse it? I'm sure they do just like some abuse regular hunting seasons. That isn't an excuse to ban regular hunting and it isn't and excuse to end the damage permits.
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
Milo, You are assuming that most of the 1400 aren't allowing at least some hunting and from what I know most do allow hunting but for a variety of reasons regular hunting isn't controlling the problem. Here are a few examples: the orchard I hunt, they probably let 15-20 different people join in their hunting between bow and gun and it doesn't seem to matter how many we kill come January deer flock to the orchard from miles around. 50-75 deer isn't unusual on a really cold night when there is snow cover. Or deer in the crops in the summer, by the time hunting season rolls around the damage has been done, the crop might be harvested or nearly harvested. Kinda like locking the barn door after the horse got out. Most farmers rent a good bit of their land and so they have no say who can hunt there, I know one guy that uses the permits on a rented farm because the landowner will only allow him to shoot deer. I know couple that own fields next to parks where hunting isn't allowed, the deer live in the woods and come to feed in the fields.

The crop damage permits are a tool that the ODNR can use for spot problems. They aren't handed out like candy, only a very small percentage of landowners even ask for them. In 2010 the number of complaints, issued permits and deer killed was the lowest it has been in several years. I have never met a farmer that enjoyed using them after the first few times,when the novelty wears off it just becomes another chore around the farm. Do some abuse it? I'm sure they do just like some abuse regular hunting seasons. That isn't an excuse to ban regular hunting and it isn't and excuse to end the damage permits.

and your assumptions are also flawed when the average hunter only kills less than 2 deer a year. that one guy is going to kill his buck and MAYBE a doe..killing bucks in hunting season wont thin the herd. there should be reciprocity its still a monetary resource that can be tapped and let hunters do their job. if landowners want permits for their rented farms than they will have to play ball or ask less in rent for their acreage. pretty simple economics if you ask me. Its not too difficult to get permits sam..been a shooter for one farm once. get five and if ya need more just holler.
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
Not a bad idea. I've always stated when we discuss NR fee increases that I would like to see a portion of those increases be put towards more public land. Value the resources at a fair price (I am now a supporter of reciprocity) and use to increase in revenue to purchase land that benefits the sportsmen from OH and from out of state. It is a win-win...
.

Who wouldn't buy into that idea. The Kansas NR tags are in excess of $300. Raise the Ohio NR and use the increase to purchase or lease access to private lands.

I would personally be willing to have my license fees raised as a resident to go towards that same goal. I have property to hunt, the increased land availability wouldn't benefit me directly but I know it would help many others that don't have the opportunities I have.

I wish your idea would actually happen
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
As for this program not working, I am not surprised either. However, this is one concept that I envision working better when managed on a micro-level. If the GW in a county worked closely with the Farm Bureau in relation to the nuisance permits, I think it would be possible to make the concept work. I don't have the exact formula, but I see it as something better addressed on a more local scale...

Jesse- This might not ALWAYS be the case, but I do know from talking to our local WO that HE issues them. In the two instances he told me about they were being handled at the local level.