In providing the deer kill statistics for the state’s
first-ever post-Christmas two-day firearms deer-hunting season the Ohio
Division of Wildlife had to make an apples-to-oranges comparison rather than a
more direct apples-to-apples examination.
Consequently, the Wildlife Division utilized the deer
kill from the 2012 two-day weekend firearms deer-hunting season. This season
was sandwiched between the general firearms deer-hunting season and Christmas
when 14,365 whitetails were shot. That figure represented approximately six
percent of the 2012 all-seasons’ deer kill.
This year’s December 28th and 29th
post-Christmas hunt yielded a deer kill of 9,447 animals; the translation of
which probably will mean this two-day hunt will account for just over five percent
of the projected all-seasons’ total deer kill, says , Clint McCoy, a Wildlife
Division white-tail deer management biologist.
In taking note of how many deer were shot during each of
the two days, McCoy also pointed out a rather interesting quirk: The second day
of the season actually well out-performed the first day in terms of the number
of animals taken.
For the Monday, December 28th season opener
hunters shot 3,739 deer while for the second day hunters bagged 5,708 animals;
a reversal of what is seen with nearly every other deer-hunting season, McCoy
said.
“That is certainly a unique situation, and it was
obviously weather driven,” McCoy said. “Pretty much everywhere in the state saw
lousy weather.”
Indeed, heavy doses of rain pummeled nearly every nook
and cranny of Ohio while in the northeast corner deer hunters saw a brew of
rain that was mixed with sleet as well as freezing rain.
McCoy commented too that with the addition of the season’s
second day totals the final figure comes pretty close to the 10,000 deer kill estimate
the Wildlife Division’s game biologists internally had speculated would be
taken.
As for the to-date deer kill, the weekly update – which includes
the results from the two-day “bonus” firearms deer-hunting season – the tally
records 165,361 animals as being taken up through December 29th.
By comparison the to-date deer kill up through December
22nd was 155,340 animals. Extrapolated further, 10,021 deer were thusly
taken between the two inclusive dates.
Broken down even more, subtracting the 9,447 deer taken
during the two-day “bonus” firearms deer-hunting season from the 10,021 deer
shot between December 22nd and December 29th reveals that
statewide, archers contributed just 574 additional animals during that
seven-day period.
Of another interesting element that McCoy pointed out is the
uptick in the to-date number of antlered bucks as having been shot. That figure
stands at 70,534 animals.
Placed alongside the mostly parallel 2014 to-date antlered
deer kill figure of 59,720 animals or even the 2013 to-date antlered deer
figure of 61,594 animals, and the 2015-2016 to-date antlered deer kill figure
of 70,534 animals becomes worthy of a follow-up look, McCoy says.
And the agency believes it has an answer for the antlered
deer kill growth, McCoy also says, commenting that antlered deer kill “is traditionally our best indicator of population size.”
“But such a huge bump this year has as much
to do with outside influences as the population itself: Poor mast crop
and early crop harvest made deer much more vulnerable to harvest, “
McCoy said.
In terms of what will happen during the up-coming
statewide muzzle-loading deer-hunting season – set for January 9th
through January 12th - McCoy declined to offer an opinion.
“You’ll have to use a crystal ball on that one,” McCoy
said.
For the record, the weather-tortured January 2015
muzzle-loading season saw a deer kill of just 13,724 animas while its 2014 twin
encountered a not-much-better deer kill of 16,464 animals, McCoy said.
“Those two previous muzzle-loader seasons saw really poor
weather,” McCoy said.
Here is the Ohio Division of Wildlife county-by-county list of all
white-tailed deer checked by hunters using firearms during the 2015 two-day
deer-gun hunting season. The first number following the county’s name shows the
harvest numbers for 2015, and the 2012 numbers are in parentheses.
Adams: 209 (267); Allen:
21 (78); Ashland: 142 (234); Ashtabula: 305 (372); Athens: 212 (279); Auglaize:
38 (90); Belmont: 216 (387); Brown: 162 (220); Butler: 51 (101); Carroll: 211
(375); Champaign: 41 (77); Clark: 21(63); Clermont: 95 (182); Clinton: 37 (63);
Columbiana: 196 (320); Coshocton: 349 (489); Crawford: 59 (102); Cuyahoga: 1
(6); Darke: 19 (66); Defiance: 74 (142); Delaware: 60 (102); Erie: 21 (41);
Fairfield: 85 (169); Fayette: 10 (16); Franklin: 24 (26); Fulton: 16 (58);
Gallia: 165 (230); Geauga: 77 (106); Greene: 21 (60); Guernsey: 263 (382);
Hamilton: 21 (47); Hancock: 34 (77); Hardin: 53 (89); Harrison: 228 (390);
Henry: 25 (64); Highland: 147 (239); Hocking: 203 (213); Holmes: 209 (286);
Huron: 107 (195); Jackson: 194 (235); Jefferson: 169 (312); Knox: 236 (356);
Lake: 21 (27); Lawrence: 147 (176); Licking: 236 (444); Logan: 86 (143);
Lorain: 98 (181); Lucas: 10 (20); Madison: 26 (45); Mahoning: 107 (102);
Marion: 55 (75); Medina: 83 (135); Meigs: 229 (259); Mercer: 18 (61); Miami: 37
(49); Monroe: 156 (203); Montgomery: 14 (23); Morgan: 181 (226); Morrow: 71
(133); Muskingum: 284 (474); Noble: 202 (235); Ottawa: 7 (9); Paulding: 34
(99); Perry: 181 (238); Pickaway: 38 (78); Pike: 140 (154); Portage: 88 (90);
Preble: 29 (86); Putnam: 19 (47); Richland: 150 (194); Ross: 185 (214);
Sandusky: 29 (54); Scioto: 164 (174); Seneca: 84 (139); Shelby: 34 (99); Stark:
124 (171); Summit: 26 (31); Trumbull: 166 (248); Tuscarawas: 296 (483); Union:
32 (81); Van Wert: 15 (64); Vinton: 201 (221); Warren: 44 (83); Washington: 210
(266); Wayne: 109 (115); Williams: 51 (123); Wood: 31 (70); Wyandot: 72 (117). Total: 9,447 (14,365).
By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
Jeff is the retired
News-Herald reporter who covered the earth sciences, the area's three
county park systems and the outdoors for the newspaper. During his 30 years
with The News-Herald Jeff was the recipient of more than 125 state, regional
and national journalism awards. He also is a columnist and features writer for
the Ohio Outdoor News, which is published every other week and details the
outdoors happenings in the state.
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