I like wildlife as well as anyone else but as a farmer they eat my crop and run up my insurance and liability cost. The amount taken Monday is good evidence there are way to many deer in Ohio.
Monday was a good day to hunt deer according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. Hunters took over 37,000 white tailed deer. The deer-gun season remains open through Sunday, December 5, and then reopens for two days on Saturday and Sunday, December 18-19.
The preliminary figures from deer check stations throughout the state show an increase of 12.5 percent from last year's opening day total of 33,607.
Counties reporting the highest numbers of deer checked on Monday included: Tuscarawas - 1,806; Coshocton - 1,536; Harrison - 1,439; Guernsey - 1,406; Holmes - 1,312; Licking - 1,259; Washington - 1,192; Ashtabula - 983; Muskingum - 930; and Athens - 886.
Combining the results of Monday's harvest with those from the early muzzleloader season, the first six weeks of archery season and the recent youth deer-gun season, a preliminary total of 97,371 deer have been killed so far this deer hunting season. That number compares to 97,371 harvested last year at this time. In all, hunters took a total of 261,314 deer during all of last year's hunting seasons.
Approximately 420,000 hunters are expected to participate in the statewide deer-gun season. Ohio's deer population was estimated to be 750,000 prior to the start of the fall hunting seasons.
The white-tailed deer is the most popular game animal in Ohio, frequently pursued by generations of hunters. Ohio ranks 8th nationally in annual hunting-related sales and 10th in the number of jobs associated with the hunting-related industry. Each year, hunting has an $859 million economic impact in Ohio through the sale of equipment, fuel, food, lodging and more.
Division of Wildlife Chief Dave Graham has challenged all deer hunters to make this year special for Ohio's hungry by labeling Saturday, Dec. 4, as Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry Day. Last year, hunters showed they cared by donating nearly 467,000 meals to Ohioans in need.
Hunters who give their deer to a food bank are not required to pay the processing cost as long as the deer are taken to a participating processor and funding for the effort lasts. Counties being served by this program can be found online at www.fhfh.org.
The following is a list of the number of deer checked and tagged by hunters during the first day of deer-gun hunting season. The number taken during the 2009 season is marked in ( ): 2010 (2009)
Adams –502(481); Allen –90(118); Ashland –793(619); Ashtabula –983(836); Athens –886(925); Auglaize –87(80); Belmont –844(640); Brown –364(240); Butler –121(89); Carroll –680(691); Champaign –150 (232); Clark –100(87); Clermont –420(297); Clinton –191(186); Columbiana –851(628); Coshocton –1,536(1,353); Crawford –306(288); Cuyahoga –30(25); Darke –68(55); Defiance –425(293); Delaware –199(179); Erie –96(112); Fairfield –499(609); Fayette –37(74); Franklin –62(68); Fulton –188(123); Gallia –607(455); Geauga –268(188); Greene –64(63); Guernsey –1,406(1,284); Hamilton –99(72); Hancock –119(153); Hardin –198(169); Harrison –1,439(1,374); Henry –203(88); Highland –490(543); Hocking –703(793); Holmes –1,312(1,165); Huron –477(367); Jackson –720(776); Jefferson –774(767); Knox –700(761); Lake –83(63); Lawrence –406(320); Licking –1,259(1,182); Logan –333(255); Lorain –233(210); Lucas –72(76); Madison –55(42); Mahoning –307(238); Marion –114(96); Medina –200(146); Meigs –717(569); Mercer –98(79); Miami –37(35); Monroe –638(670); Montgomery –52(37); Morgan –610(579); Morrow –354 (260); Muskingum –930(799); Noble –741(745); Ottawa –19(12); Paulding –322(140); Perry –681(631); Pickaway –149(188); Pike –211(300); Portage –177(122); Preble –60(39); Putnam –242(196); Richland –449(404); Ross –734(638); Sandusky –43(67); Scioto –450(249); Seneca –341(255); Shelby –165(141); Stark –602(487); Summit –88(62); Trumbull –639(572); Tuscarawas –1,806(1,763); Union –165(125); Van Wert –125(55); Vinton –629(548); Warren –172(117); Washington –1,192(1,010); Wayne –285(220); Williams –364(253); Wood –138(99); Wyandot –231(167); TOTAL: 37,805(33,607)
I saw a big one in a bed of a famililar looking Chevy at Brown's Monday. Reminded me of the one my friends from Michigan took here November 23, 2008, but larger. I wonder if that was the big one we have been seeing all year? That deer filled the bed and his antlers were almost as wide as the truck.
I like the venison program, that is a good deal.
Ed Winkle
I realize every time I see a deer near the road that they are a hazard to drivers everywhere, especially at night. Thank goodness there are hunters who really love what they do!
ReplyDeleteI have eaten deer meat in several forms now and love it BUT for the life of me I could never pull the trigger of a gun pointed at such a cute deer as they do. I just could not do it if my life depended upon it! I’d have to give up meat altogether if I had to kill a warm blooded animal for food.
I hit an Opossum crossing the road last evening on the way to choir practice and almost couldn't continue on with the tears in my eyes. Imagine that a 220 pound gray haired man crying in his car on the side of the road because he hit and killed a nasty, ugly opossum!
A deer was evidently wounded a week or so ago and crawled onto our land. It must have died out in the woods back of our house about 3 weeks ago. How do I know this? The smell was horrible for about a week to 10 days!
I can't imagine the tears that would come if I actually shot and killed something so beautiful as Bambi's Mom or Dad and see that poor fawn grow up without his parent to provide security and food :-)
So I agree Ed! Go Hunters Go BUT just don’t show me your trophies. Sorry! You can take the city boy to the country but evidently cannot take the city out of the boy.
Ralph
I understand, Ralph, You don't see me hunting, do you?
ReplyDeleteI am sitting right here in deerland and I don't hunt. I feed. I feed those big bold deer.
You should have seen Sable take off chasing four big ones across the road and LuAnn yelling for Sable to stay!
Stay, yeah right. That is not her innate nature but she has been trained well. But she did break off trail and came right back to the house for lots of reward.
You did a great job writing while we were gone, just like I imagined! I am forever thankful for it.
Ed
Too many deer up here in SAsk. too. We don't seem to see as many hunters as years ago and I hear we don't get as many U.S. visitors as we used to. I see deer tracks in my yard every morning. So far they don't do much damage here but some areas refer to them as "rats with antlers" for the damage they do to hay stacks.
ReplyDeleteI don't hunt them either, although its tempting.
Are your populations big enough for disease problems Ralph? If we don't get them Mother Nature will.
ReplyDeleteEd there was Chronic Wasting Disease supposed to be found in some of the wild deer here and it caused some real problems for the few farms that were raising elk. I think some herds had to be destroyed. I don't know where we stand now but I assume the deer are still good to eat.
ReplyDelete