Taking
the buck by the antlers, the owner of a five-store Northeast Ohio
outdoors supply company and a Whitetails Unlimited field
representative are seeking on-line deer management input from the
state’s white-tailed deer hunters.
Mike
Goshinski – owner of Ashland-based Fin Feather Fur Outfitters –
and Whitetails Unlimited field representative Denny Malloy have
constructed an on-line 26-question interrogative that seeks survey
participant’s thoughts on a variety of Ohio deer-management
matters.
The
strictly voluntary survey continues through February 24th with the
results being ready for presentation March 3rd at the annual Proposed
Ohio Game Law hearings in each of the state’s five wildlife
districts.
Whitetails
Unlimited is national non-governmental organization (NGO) with more
than 125,000 members and 500 chapters, including more than 12,500
members in 44 chapters in Ohio.
Goshinski
was
out of the office at press time and consequently was not available
for comment.
Among
the survey’s inquiring questions are hunters’ perception about
Ohio’s electronic-based telecheck game check-in system; whether the
number of deer being seen by hunters is growing, stable or shrinking;
whether other hunters are lying about their deer-hunting and
reporting successes; and if participants believe that the state’s
deer herd is being properly manged by the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
Ohio
Division of Wildlife chief Mike Miller said his agency will examine
closely the survey results, just as it does the thoughts,
impressions, and comments offered by any concerned individual or
constituency group – including, and perhaps, especially -
Whitetails Unlimited.
“The
survey was several years in the making after we began seeing how
former game-check stations were losing business, and after attending
numerous sportsmens’ club meetings with their disgruntled members,
and by fielding daily calls from concerned hunters,” Malloy
said.
Malloy says that Whitetails Unlimited is thus concerned that a loss of close to thirty-thousand licenses being sold in recent seasons may be the result of “less successful deer sightings and associated harvest.”
Also,
Malloy says he is curious as to what sportsmen think of the state’s
eight-year/$10.1 million telecheck game check-in system, and if
Ohio’s deer hunters believe it is encouraging fraud and abuse.
“After
years of speculation and debate, maybe its time we asked the deer
hunter his and her opinions and make them part of the process,”
Malloy said.
“We
need to survey sportsmen to understand more of the big picture. It
is easier to retain a hunter than to recruit one,” Malloy said as
well. “Every hoop a hunter has to jump through thins out our
numbers. Changes in tradition also cause hunters to lose interest in
protecting our sport.”
Malloy
said he does believes that Ohio needs “a balance of science,
sociology and economics to preserve our hunting traditions” but
that the state may now be experiencing push-back due to the ready
availability of multiple tags “for those with access and a
nationwide push towards bow-hunting and early season harvest.”
Noting
as well that Wisconsin
recently formed citizen advisory panels in every one
of its counties
to help construct
individual deer bag
limits and population goals, more
needs to be done by the Ohio Division of Wildlife to solicit deer
hunters here also, Malloy says.
“We
need to find out what will keep hunters hunting and buying licenses
if we are to preserve our traditions for our kids and
grandchildren,” Malloy
said.
For
its part the Wildlife Division
“welcomes
input from our constituents, and we
are
always looking for new ways to gather insight from the public,”
says
Wildlife Division chief Miller.
“Whitetails
Unlimited is an important conservation partner and a valuable part of
our Deer Stakeholder Group, which is currently working on the
direction of Ohio’s deer management plan. We are excited to see the
input their survey provides and will consider the responses,”
Miller
said.
To
participate in the strictly voluntary survey, log on to
http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07eez6d873jbp5olge/start.
Participants
who
complete the survey are eligible to win one of fifty
$20 Fin, Feather, Fur gift cards.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
No comments:
Post a Comment