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

2020-2021 Proposed White-Tailed Deer Bag Limits

Wildlife

Denny
Supporting Member
5,248
191
Ross County, Ohio
Were there any official estimates of how many deer actually died from EHD in the recent past years that hit the state fairly hard, and can anyone recall what years they were?

I do recall that the 'Paint Creek' area had it fairly bad a few years back, but I never heard just how many deer were actually found dead from the decease.

Could it have been bad enough that the state is trying to recover the herd from the impact of EHD as well?

Just wondering...
 
Last edited:

Bigcountry40

Member
4,555
127
The places I hunt in Wood are pretty good. I hunt 4 different farms and all of them have good populations.
I'm going to guess most hunters in NW ohio dont have 4 different farms to hunt in the same county that have a healthy herd. My two buddies who are in 50's and 70's killed 3 or 4 -sometimes more- (all legal ,including family members) every year on a farm in Seneca county for about 3 years straight. That are area went from having a healthy population to being a ghost town. Both my buddies are like "I wonder what happened to all the deer?" "Must be coyotes" Noooo, you cant kill 4 plus deer a person (again I mean a person family)every year from a NW ohio woods, we just to don't have numbers, cover, etc.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Chass

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Were there any official estimates of how many deer actually died from EHD in the recent past years that hit the state fairly hard, and can anyone recall what years they were?

I do recall that the 'Paint Creek' area had it fairly bad a few years back, but I never heard just how many deer where actually found dead from the decease.

Could it have been bad enough that the state is trying to recover the herd from the impact of EHD as well?

Just wondering...


Easy answer. There aren't any with solid data. They'll list counties with reports and a very inaccurate low count. The reality is it's nowhere near the system that Kentucky has.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Weird that the southern counties that were a 3 deer are now 2 when we probably have the most deer in the state and I'd also venture to guess has the lowest hunters per square mile density in the state as well since we have the larger tracts of land. Doesnt really bother me since I only take two a year myself and feel that is a good number for the entire state. Just odd

What rock in what county are you living under? We all know it's a statistically insignificant number of people killing 3 deer in those counties, and Telecheck still makes is easy to cheat, so this change won't help us. I'm happy to see it for Washington County.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jagermeister

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Also, remember guys, just because they say you can, doesn't mean you should. That is exactly what allowed them to reduce the population the first time. If they raised the limit in a county they did so for one of two reasons, either they want the population reduced, or they want it to stop growing. It should be an individual judgment call based on the population in the area you're hunting and your opinion of surrounding pressure and population.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
@Jackalope Care to speculate as to why Ohio doesn't have such a system?

They have little interest in understanding the true impact of predation and disease. By far the biggest thing they pay attention to is complaints from the farm union, and the number of deer vehicle accidents. If those two are low then the population is ok, if they're bitching then it needs to be reduced so bump the limits, add seasons, make tags cheap etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: finelyshedded

Wildlife

Denny
Supporting Member
5,248
191
Ross County, Ohio
They have little interest in understanding the true impact of predation and disease. By far the biggest thing they pay attention to is complaints from the farm union, and the number of deer vehicle accidents. If those two are low then the population is ok, if they're bitching then it needs to be reduced so bump the limits, add seasons, make tags cheap etc.

Got it, thanks!
 

Bigcountry40

Member
4,555
127
Also, remember guys, just because they say you can, doesn't mean you should. That is exactly what allowed them to reduce the population the first time. If they raised the limit in a county they did so for one of two reasons, either they want the population reduced, or they want it to stop growing. It should be an individual judgment call based on the population in the area you're hunting and your opinion of surrounding pressure and population.
Nah, hunters will say "we as a collective group need to manage our herd better" same guy "oh, I needed 6 deer, I was out of summer sausage and sticks so thats three and the other 3 feed my family, but I passed on bucks with potential so I'm doing my part to manage" self justification, this is literally what happens at our deer deer camp in eastern ohio each year. What ever the county limit is, is getting killed with a grand total of 6 statewide.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Mike and tracker 6

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
What rock in what county are you living under? We all know it's a statistically insignificant number of people killing 3 deer in those counties, and Telecheck still makes is easy to cheat, so this change won't help us. I'm happy to see it for Washington County.

C'mon Jesse. That was a little harsh. What i see in southern counties, what you see, and what Chass sees could be three different things.

I do agree Telecheck makes it easier for a person to scam the system/cheat.
 

Chass

Active Member
2,172
52
The Hills
What rock in what county are you living under? We all know it's a statistically insignificant number of people killing 3 deer in those counties, and Telecheck still makes is easy to cheat, so this change won't help us. I'm happy to see it for Washington County.
Jackson, but I live on top the rocks. It seems your rock isnt well lit though, cause you're reading a different post, your reply has nothing to do with what I said and I believe I also mentioned it doesnt affect me and I'd be fine with the reduction across the board. The telecheck cheating is total bs though. Are you saying we could save lives by making a law where you have to go to a FFL to sell/trade firearms or do lawbreakers not give two shits about the law? How is it easier to not pick up the phone and make a call to report a harvest than it is to just drive right on by the gas station. I've yet to run across a DNR roadblock checking vehicles.
 

loose_is_fast

Junior Member
618
108
McClure
I'm going to guess most hunters in NW ohio dont have 4 different farms to hunt in the same county that have a healthy herd. My two buddies who are in 50's and 70's killed 3 or 4 -sometimes more- (all legal ,including family members) every year on a farm in Seneca county for about 3 years straight. That are area went from having a healthy population to being a ghost town. Both my buddies are like "I wonder what happened to all the deer?" "Must be coyotes" Noooo, you cant kill 4 plus deer a person (again I mean a person family)every year from a NW ohio woods, we just to don't have numbers, cover, etc.

I agree totally, with that statement. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. I won't kill more than 1 doe per property. That being said if I harvest 3 deer in Wood county from different properties that should not make much of an impact.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Jackson, but I live on top the rocks. It seems your rock isnt well lit though, cause you're reading a different post, your reply has nothing to do with what I said and I believe I also mentioned it doesnt affect me and I'd be fine with the reduction across the board. The telecheck cheating is total bs though. Are you saying we could save lives by making a law where you have to go to a FFL to sell/trade firearms or do lawbreakers not give two shits about the law? How is it easier to not pick up the phone and make a call to report a harvest than it is to just drive right on by the gas station. I've yet to run across a DNR roadblock checking vehicles.

It would have been helpful if I had I directly correlated my response to your post. Let's start over...

Weird that the southern counties that were a 3 deer are now 2 when we probably have the most deer in the state and I'd also venture to guess has the lowest hunters per square mile density in the state as well since we have the larger tracts of land. Doesnt really bother me since I only take two a year myself and feel that is a good number for the entire state. Just odd

My rock is fairly well illuminated by 20 years of anecdotal experience throughout the region and I respectfully disagree with this statement. There are certain variables that make Washington County (and our sister riverside counties) different from Jackson, like proximity to WV, which makes our herd susceptible to an increased level of hunting pressure than what's seen in Jackson County. There are also larger chunks of leasehold lands in Jackson (Mead, Scioto, etc.) than what's found in other counties. To say we have the "most deer" in the state is a gross overestimation in my estimation. Reasonable minds can differ, however.

Are you saying we could save lives by making a law where you have to go to a FFL to sell/trade firearms or do lawbreakers not give two shits about the law? How is it easier to not pick up the phone and make a call to report a harvest than it is to just drive right on by the gas station. I've yet to run across a DNR roadblock checking vehicles.

I've debated this ad nauseam on here and should have separated that statement from my "rock" question as it was intended to be taken as a separate thought. I, along with many others here, content Telecheck doesn't make it easier to cheat, but provides more opportunity to by being able to print duplicate tags. To your point about roadblocks, is the DNR going door-to-door verifying what's in your freezer matches your Telecheck activity? I believe it's easy to forget and ignore calling in versus taking it in and anecdotally, people liked and respected the old system more. It's merely opinion and I'm not framing this from an "ease" perspective.
 

Bowkills

Well-Known Member
2,577
85
Nw oh
i live and hunt nw oh vw county running contenteder for one of the lowest deer populations in the state. As long as we stay two I believe it will sustain fine. A warden told me years ago we couldn't support 2 kills but I think there is fewer hunters and there seems to be a rebounding herd since reduction. I still think they play a hell of a game of drunken darts with the Ohio county map to get bags limits.