Ho-chee-mamma, Ohio’s muzzle-loading hunters experienced a combined hang-fire during the recently concluded four-day season set aside just for their type of deer-hunting implements.
For the muzzle-loading season that ran Jan. 8 to 11, hunters killed 17,108 deer. In 2010, a preliminary total of 24,078 deer was shot during the same four-day season, says the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
This divide in the deer harvest represents about a 30-percent decline. Prior to the start of the muzzle-loading season, Wildlife Division officials believed that participating hunters may wind up shooting between 25,000 and 27,000 deer - a belief that missed the target by up to 10,000 animals.
In all probability it was the generally poor weather throughout the state that brought about the sharp decline. Abundant snow showers, bitter cold and breezy conditions almost certainly were the factors that dimmed the reflection in this year’s muzzle-loading season deer kill when compared with that of last year, which also saw poor weather. Just not as much and not nearly as bad.
Counties reporting the highest number of deer checked in during the muzzle-loader season included: Tuscarawas - 914, Harrison - 761, Licking -6 71, Guernsey - 665, Washington - 527, Coshocton - 464, Athens - 449, Ross - 438, Meigs - 433 and Belmont - 432.
A total of 227,469 deer have been harvested so far this season when combining the gun seasons, early and statewide muzzle-loading seasons, and the first nine weeks of the archery season. Hunters took a total of 261,314 deer during all of last year’s hunting seasons.
Ohio’s archery deer-hunting season extends until Feb. 6 and represents one of the nations’ longest such hunt. However, the number of deer taken after the conclusion of the muzzle-loading season only amounts to a few thousand animals. Thus, in all liklihood Ohio hunters will kill fewer deer than they did during the 2009-2010 combined seasons.
The following is a list of deer checked and tagged by hunters during the statewide muzzle-loading deer-hunting season. The number taken during the 2010 muzzle-loading deer-hunting season is in parentheses:
Adams – 245 (326); Allen -44 (83); Ashland - 327 (603); Ashtabula – 283 (293); Athens –449 (816); Auglaize – 26 (31); Belmont – 432 (735); Brown – 137 (232); Butler – 84 (156); Carroll – 227 (300); Champaign – 144 (80); Clark – 73 (117); Clermont – 222 (310); Clinton – 106 (117); Columbiana – 386 (510); Coshocton – 464 (692); Crawford – 119 (135); Cuyahoga – 39 (32); Darke –23 (43); Defiance – 124 (104); Delaware – 85 (127); Erie – 62 (94); Fairfield – 232 (417); Fayette – 15 (11); Franklin – 51 (109); Fulton – 60 (46); Gallia – 247 (312); Geauga – 130 (114); Greene – 35 (72); Guernsey – 665 (1,000); Hamilton – 106 (106); Hancock – 71 (66); Hardin – 72 (100); Harrison – 761 (1,025); Henry – 31 (29); Highland – 286 (367); Hocking – 286 (510); Holmes – 359 (407); Huron – 160 (146); Jackson –312 (583); Jefferson – 357 (616); Knox – 392 (503); Lake – 35 (45); Lawrence – 238 (317); Licking – 671 (679); Logan – 139 (187); Lorain – 161 (209); Lucas – 23 (49); Madison – 42 (53); Mahoning – 157 (208); Marion – 35 (42); Medina – 119 (163); Meigs – 433 (645); Mercer – 9 (35); Miami – 16 (33); Monroe – 385(498); Montgomery – 64 (65); Morgan – 283 (439); Morrow – 106 (162); Muskingum – 381(493); Noble – 304 (539); Ottawa – 8 (22); Paulding – 98 (86); Perry – 281 (521); Pickaway – 47 (105); Pike – 136 (182); Portage – 122 (147); Preble –47 (118); Putnam – 65 (67); Richland – 160 (147); Ross – 438 (487); Sandusky – 41 (49); Scioto – 224 (275); Seneca – 123 (178); Shelby – 81 (93); Stark – 288 (486); Summit – 89 (143); Trumbull – 285 (290); Tuscarawas – 914 (1,345); Union – 83 (73); Van Wert –60 (55); Vinton – 218 (364); Warren – 87 (182); Washington – 527 (937); Wayne – 99 (103); Williams – 104 (103); Wood – 59 (67); and Wyandot – 94 (117); Total – 17,108 (24,078).
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFRischkorn@News-Herald,com
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