Kentucky’s successful call for an open season on sandhill cranes this year isn’t causing much of a worry ripple in the brow of Ohio wildlife biologists.
However, should Tennessee ever decide to let hunters swing on the migratory cranes, well, that could be a different story.
With a population of only around 100 sandhill cranes that either nest or else hatch in the state, Ohio hardly is in a position to declare a season of its own on the crane species.
“I’m not worried, to tell you the truth,” said Dave Sherman, wildlife biologist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
Sherman is in charge of the agency’s sandhill crane management team.
“If the cranes migrate the same way they did last year it won’t matter. The four birds that we fitted with radio telemetry all had migrated through Kentucky by December 14, and Kentucky won’t start their season until December 15,” Sherman said.
While that is seemingly a tight window, Sherman said it isn’t really since Ohio-bred cranes typically do little more than a fly-by over Kentucky.
“My real concern would be if Tennessee had a season. Had Tennessee opened a season this year our birds would have been migrating through that state at the time of the (proposed) hunt,” Sherman said. “And we had one bird that over-wintered there on a refuge.”
Sherman did say as well that Ohio has at least two more years of data collection before Tennessee again considers an open season.
And any such season must not only meet state requirements it also must pass muster from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since the sandhill crane is considered a migratory species.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-herald.com
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Environmentalists cautious about Mustine's departure as ODNR head
The Ohio Environmental Council, one of state’s leading pro-environmental organizations, is not surprised that David Mustine is leaving Ohio's top natural resources post for one more closely aligned with his pro-oil development background.
It was announced today by Gov. John Kasich that Mustine is no longer the director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Instead, Mustine is being placed in a newly created position with JobsOhio to oversee energy development efforts.
It was a natural move, says Jack Shaner, spokesman for the Council, and who stopped well short of saying that Mustine is simply the same fox but who will be guarding a different hen house.
“Governor Kasich apparently continues to emphasize oil and gas as part of his energy policy and how important he believes it is to Ohio’s future,” Shaner said. “He clearly has a well seasoned man in charge there.”
Shaner said also that he has no feelings one way or the other about Mustine’s new role, noting that Kasich has long made it known “that he’ll drill whenever and wherever he can.”
“Our sense was that David Mustine was intensely concerned about oil and gas and left everything else to others so this could be an appropriate move,” Shaner said.
“We wish David Mustine the best of success.”
As far as Scott Zody being appointed as the Natural Resources Department’s interim director, that “is a good move,” says Shaner.
Zody had been the Natural Resources Department’s assistant director until his step up was announced today.
“Scott is well seasoned and should help move the department forward,” Shaner said. “It looks like it is steady as she goes without any big policy changes.”
Even so, says Shaner, policy trumps politician or bureaucrat. Whoever is in charge of an agency overseeing the state’s natural wealth will play back bencher to issues of environmental importance, Shaner says.
“We certainly butted heads over drilling on state park lands since that was a poor policy choice,” Shaner said of the position taken by Mustine and by proxy, Zody.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
It was announced today by Gov. John Kasich that Mustine is no longer the director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Instead, Mustine is being placed in a newly created position with JobsOhio to oversee energy development efforts.
It was a natural move, says Jack Shaner, spokesman for the Council, and who stopped well short of saying that Mustine is simply the same fox but who will be guarding a different hen house.
“Governor Kasich apparently continues to emphasize oil and gas as part of his energy policy and how important he believes it is to Ohio’s future,” Shaner said. “He clearly has a well seasoned man in charge there.”
Shaner said also that he has no feelings one way or the other about Mustine’s new role, noting that Kasich has long made it known “that he’ll drill whenever and wherever he can.”
“Our sense was that David Mustine was intensely concerned about oil and gas and left everything else to others so this could be an appropriate move,” Shaner said.
“We wish David Mustine the best of success.”
As far as Scott Zody being appointed as the Natural Resources Department’s interim director, that “is a good move,” says Shaner.
Zody had been the Natural Resources Department’s assistant director until his step up was announced today.
“Scott is well seasoned and should help move the department forward,” Shaner said. “It looks like it is steady as she goes without any big policy changes.”
Even so, says Shaner, policy trumps politician or bureaucrat. Whoever is in charge of an agency overseeing the state’s natural wealth will play back bencher to issues of environmental importance, Shaner says.
“We certainly butted heads over drilling on state park lands since that was a poor policy choice,” Shaner said of the position taken by Mustine and by proxy, Zody.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
Mustine gone as ODNR head, replaced by appointed career official
It didn't take long for fossil fuel expert David Mustine to move out of his post as the director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Today, Gov. John R. Kasich announced that Mustine will jump over to JobsOhio where he will - in the words of the state's official press release - "oversee energy development" in the state.
For at least the short term Mustine will be replaced by current ODNR Assistant Director Scott Zody, who will assume responsibilities as interim director.
Mustine was named by Kasich to head the Natural Resources Department shortly after he took office as governor. Environmentalists have been concerned about Mustine's long ties with the energy-extracting and -development industry.
“I’m grateful that Scott has agreed to step up and lead ODNR as a permanent leadership decision is being finalized," Kasich says in the media release. "His longtime service with the Department has earned him respect within the natural resources community and his experience will allow him to be a steady hand. While
"I’m going to miss David's at cabinet meetings, I’m very excited about his new opportunity helping to shepherd Ohio’s emerging energy potential. The newly-announced shale gas finds in Eastern Ohio could transform that part of the state for the next century and provide Ohio job-creators with low-cost, reliable sources of energy. David’s energy, experience and expertise will be a huge benefit to the people of Ohio,” said Kasich.
Zody has spent more than half of his 20-year public career with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Prior to being named Assistant Director in 2011, Zody served ODNR in a number of pivotal roles, including Deputy Director for Recreation and Resource Management, and as Legislative Liaison, the Governor's announcement says.
Zody also has worked for the Fairfield County Board of Commissioners as the County Manager, the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation and the Legislative Service Commission.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
Today, Gov. John R. Kasich announced that Mustine will jump over to JobsOhio where he will - in the words of the state's official press release - "oversee energy development" in the state.
For at least the short term Mustine will be replaced by current ODNR Assistant Director Scott Zody, who will assume responsibilities as interim director.
Mustine was named by Kasich to head the Natural Resources Department shortly after he took office as governor. Environmentalists have been concerned about Mustine's long ties with the energy-extracting and -development industry.
“I’m grateful that Scott has agreed to step up and lead ODNR as a permanent leadership decision is being finalized," Kasich says in the media release. "His longtime service with the Department has earned him respect within the natural resources community and his experience will allow him to be a steady hand. While
"I’m going to miss David's at cabinet meetings, I’m very excited about his new opportunity helping to shepherd Ohio’s emerging energy potential. The newly-announced shale gas finds in Eastern Ohio could transform that part of the state for the next century and provide Ohio job-creators with low-cost, reliable sources of energy. David’s energy, experience and expertise will be a huge benefit to the people of Ohio,” said Kasich.
Zody has spent more than half of his 20-year public career with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Prior to being named Assistant Director in 2011, Zody served ODNR in a number of pivotal roles, including Deputy Director for Recreation and Resource Management, and as Legislative Liaison, the Governor's announcement says.
Zody also has worked for the Fairfield County Board of Commissioners as the County Manager, the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation and the Legislative Service Commission.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
Wicked weather could hurt weekend's PerchFest participation and catch
Several day's worth of nasty weather is almost certain to negatively impact this weekend’s up-coming Lake County PerchFest.
This annual event is hosted by the Lake County Visitors Bureau and the venue is Lake Metroparks’ Fairport Harbor Lakefront Park.
Coupled with the land-based entertainment and food serving is a two-day Lake Erie yellow perch-fishing derby.
When the weather is tame and the fish are biting the contest can attract upwards of 300 participants.
That may not be the case this year as the winds have howled over Lake Erie’s surface since Sunday and won’t relent until possibly Thursday. Rain is also in the forecast through Sunday: The final day of the two-day PerchFest contest.
“We’re going to have to go out and use the fish finder for sure,” said Marv DeGreen of Huntsburg Township and a Lake Erie charter captain. “I just wish these fish finders could tell us which fish are hungry.”
At least, says DeGreen, the “perch didn’t jump out of the water” when the storm front pushed through and kicked up the waves to six feet.
Following a blow of this kind, DeGreen says also, it is an angler’s chief aim to avoid the inshore muddy water, likely locating the boat north of the region’s fabled “hump,” off the Mentor Lagoons.
“The perch should be in deeper water, maybe 60 to 62 feet, but I don’t have any idea how bad it’s going to be since the lake has been rolling for several days now,” DeGreen said.
A tip, DeGreen says, is to utilize a new web site that forecasts in near real time the wind speeds on Lake Erie. It is located at www.windfinder.com.
“At least this gets you thinking about bow hunting,” DeGreen said of this week’s autumn-like weather.
Kevin Kayle, manager of the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Fairport Harbor Fisheries Research Station, says also that PerchFest participants will have their work cut out for them.
“Some of the low oxygen levels have gotten more oxygen so the fish may have come up in the water column while the winds could set up currents that move water masses and possibly contribute to scattering the fish,” Kayle said. "It’s not a fun time to look for fish.”
Keeping his fingers crossed is Bob Ulas, the Lake County Visitor Bureau’s executive director.
Recent PerchFest’s have been plagued with poor weather - that while has done little to stymie sales of perch dinners - has hampered sales of fishing derby permits.
“
They claim it may blow out and even dry out,” Ulas said, who remains optimistic.
“I’ve seen different reports but sometimes they are not on the mark. It is a challenge that we run through every year,” he said.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
This annual event is hosted by the Lake County Visitors Bureau and the venue is Lake Metroparks’ Fairport Harbor Lakefront Park.
Coupled with the land-based entertainment and food serving is a two-day Lake Erie yellow perch-fishing derby.
When the weather is tame and the fish are biting the contest can attract upwards of 300 participants.
That may not be the case this year as the winds have howled over Lake Erie’s surface since Sunday and won’t relent until possibly Thursday. Rain is also in the forecast through Sunday: The final day of the two-day PerchFest contest.
“We’re going to have to go out and use the fish finder for sure,” said Marv DeGreen of Huntsburg Township and a Lake Erie charter captain. “I just wish these fish finders could tell us which fish are hungry.”
At least, says DeGreen, the “perch didn’t jump out of the water” when the storm front pushed through and kicked up the waves to six feet.
Following a blow of this kind, DeGreen says also, it is an angler’s chief aim to avoid the inshore muddy water, likely locating the boat north of the region’s fabled “hump,” off the Mentor Lagoons.
“The perch should be in deeper water, maybe 60 to 62 feet, but I don’t have any idea how bad it’s going to be since the lake has been rolling for several days now,” DeGreen said.
A tip, DeGreen says, is to utilize a new web site that forecasts in near real time the wind speeds on Lake Erie. It is located at www.windfinder.com.
“At least this gets you thinking about bow hunting,” DeGreen said of this week’s autumn-like weather.
Kevin Kayle, manager of the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Fairport Harbor Fisheries Research Station, says also that PerchFest participants will have their work cut out for them.
“Some of the low oxygen levels have gotten more oxygen so the fish may have come up in the water column while the winds could set up currents that move water masses and possibly contribute to scattering the fish,” Kayle said. "It’s not a fun time to look for fish.”
Keeping his fingers crossed is Bob Ulas, the Lake County Visitor Bureau’s executive director.
Recent PerchFest’s have been plagued with poor weather - that while has done little to stymie sales of perch dinners - has hampered sales of fishing derby permits.
“
They claim it may blow out and even dry out,” Ulas said, who remains optimistic.
“I’ve seen different reports but sometimes they are not on the mark. It is a challenge that we run through every year,” he said.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Ohio hunt lottery has very long odds against being drawn
There will not be an opportunity for me to participate in a controlled deer hunt at either Ravenna Arsenal or Plum Brook this year.
Nor even the chance to sit in a goose-hunting blind at the Mosquito Creek Waterfowl Refuge for that matter.
Then again, I’m not alone. The odds of being drawn for one of the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s controlled deer or waterfowl hunt events are typically long and lean.
This, in spite of the fact that the Wildlife Division has found a way to constrict the number of questionable applicants. Instead of allowing anybody and everybody to apply for a permit the agency insisted that an applicant also possess a hunting license.
“In the past a lot of people would submit the names of family and friends as a way to increase their odds,” said Korey Brown, the Wildlife Division’s administrator for things like the special hunt drawings. “What we did by requiring a hunting license resulted in a reduction of applicants by about 30 percent. That made applying more fair.”
In all, Wildlife Division statistics note, 7,741 individuals applied for at least one deer-hunting lottery event.
On average, each individual applicant applied for 3.7 events, Brown’s statistic gathering says.
And while 64 individuals won permits for two different events, no one was selected for more than two events, Brown’s statistics say, too.
Also, a total of 26,081 events were applied for and which generated $78,243 in registration fees.
Some of the results point to how staggering were the odds stacked against an applicant. For the ever-popular NASA-Plumbrook Research Station controlled deer-hunting event, 5,543 applications were processed though only 159 permits were drawn. Those are 35-to-one odds.
And the Ravenna Arsenal deer-hunting event odds were not a whale of a lot better, either. Here, 5,052 applicants were processed with 270 permits drawn for odds of 19-to-one.
There were even worse odds. For the Ottawa adult deer hunt, 2,353 applications were processed though only 28 permits were drawn for odds of 84-to-one.
The Mercer adult archery deer hunt saw 688 applications received but only six permits drawn for odds of 115-to-one.
Even the special Salt Fork youth deer gun hunts saw restrictive odds with 397 applications processed with 150 permits drawn for odds of three-to-one.
And the chances for being drawn for a waterfowl hunt permit went against the applicant as well. The chances of being drawn for an adult waterfowl hunt at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge were 13-to-one against an applicant while the odds of being picked for a blind at Mosquito Creek were 11-to-one against an applicant.
Brown did say that without a drawing for Magee Marsh hunts this year - the unit is closed for maintenance - up to 6,000 applicants were not received. This resulted in a decline in the total number of all applications received by the agency.
Asked if the Wildlife Division is or will consider using preference points for unsuccessful applicants, Brown said that is unlikely.
Part of the reason, says Brown, is that Ohio has only a few enormously popular deer hunts where preference points would make sense. Such an operation would require software that the agency does not possess and would cost a “considerable amount of money” to buy for so few events, Brown says.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
Nor even the chance to sit in a goose-hunting blind at the Mosquito Creek Waterfowl Refuge for that matter.
Then again, I’m not alone. The odds of being drawn for one of the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s controlled deer or waterfowl hunt events are typically long and lean.
This, in spite of the fact that the Wildlife Division has found a way to constrict the number of questionable applicants. Instead of allowing anybody and everybody to apply for a permit the agency insisted that an applicant also possess a hunting license.
“In the past a lot of people would submit the names of family and friends as a way to increase their odds,” said Korey Brown, the Wildlife Division’s administrator for things like the special hunt drawings. “What we did by requiring a hunting license resulted in a reduction of applicants by about 30 percent. That made applying more fair.”
In all, Wildlife Division statistics note, 7,741 individuals applied for at least one deer-hunting lottery event.
On average, each individual applicant applied for 3.7 events, Brown’s statistic gathering says.
And while 64 individuals won permits for two different events, no one was selected for more than two events, Brown’s statistics say, too.
Also, a total of 26,081 events were applied for and which generated $78,243 in registration fees.
Some of the results point to how staggering were the odds stacked against an applicant. For the ever-popular NASA-Plumbrook Research Station controlled deer-hunting event, 5,543 applications were processed though only 159 permits were drawn. Those are 35-to-one odds.
And the Ravenna Arsenal deer-hunting event odds were not a whale of a lot better, either. Here, 5,052 applicants were processed with 270 permits drawn for odds of 19-to-one.
There were even worse odds. For the Ottawa adult deer hunt, 2,353 applications were processed though only 28 permits were drawn for odds of 84-to-one.
The Mercer adult archery deer hunt saw 688 applications received but only six permits drawn for odds of 115-to-one.
Even the special Salt Fork youth deer gun hunts saw restrictive odds with 397 applications processed with 150 permits drawn for odds of three-to-one.
And the chances for being drawn for a waterfowl hunt permit went against the applicant as well. The chances of being drawn for an adult waterfowl hunt at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge were 13-to-one against an applicant while the odds of being picked for a blind at Mosquito Creek were 11-to-one against an applicant.
Brown did say that without a drawing for Magee Marsh hunts this year - the unit is closed for maintenance - up to 6,000 applicants were not received. This resulted in a decline in the total number of all applications received by the agency.
Asked if the Wildlife Division is or will consider using preference points for unsuccessful applicants, Brown said that is unlikely.
Part of the reason, says Brown, is that Ohio has only a few enormously popular deer hunts where preference points would make sense. Such an operation would require software that the agency does not possess and would cost a “considerable amount of money” to buy for so few events, Brown says.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
Friday, September 2, 2011
A really slow start to the new hunting year
After those two shots I figured I should have spent at least as much time on the trap range this summer as on the pistol course.
It wasn’t a far poke, no more than 40 yards. If that, but the way the pellets sprayed the water behind the low-flying Canada goose I knew I had stopped in my swing.
Certainly, it was not much of a beginning to the opener of Ohio’s 15-day early Canada goose-only hunting season.
Then again, the day had started out badly enough. I had gotten as far as I-90 and Vrooman Road when the heavy-duty light show in the heavens appeared and the frog-choking rains tipped the scales in favor of returning home and avoiding the season’s first hours.
I’ll do some crazy things to chase waterfowl but I won’t sit in a blind during a thunderstorms. Not if I want to hunt again.
For the rest of the day I fidgeted at work, my thoughts drifting to the farm pond as to whether it was being occupied by any geese.
Though the temptation was strong to break free and head out once the storm clouds rolled away I stayed put. The reason being I had promised to take Bev, my wife, out in the late afternoon for a late-day hunt.
Sticking to the game plan we arrived at the farm pond. There we saw a small flock of geese taking refuge underneath some trees that climb out of the landowner’s lawn.
There was no point in trying to walk them up since they almost certainly would have taken flight, especially since Bev and me were being accompanied by our two Labrador retrievers, Berry and Millie.
So I drove the SUV down the oil tank right-of-way and then we walked the short distance to the hunting blind.
The hope was that the flock would eventually seek the water and maybe swim down to the five decoys we had staked out. No such luck as nearly all of the birds took flight after their rest and chow-down on the landowner’s prized lawn.
Except for two geese that swam in the central part of the pond and which displayed a definite lack of interest in our decoys and my calling.
A third goose was way at the pond’s far end, up on its dam. It too had no intention of coming our way.
When a hunting friend showed up and made a stalk on the goose from the dam side the bird took off, successfully avoiding the gunner’s shots. The bird flew just above the water’s top knot and straight across the bow of the blind. That’s when my two shots failed to bring down the feathered B-52 bomber.
The shots did, however, excite both Berry and Millie who each pranced at the water’s edge in a vain effort to see a downed bird that didn’t exist.
As for Bev, she never even raised her own shotgun.
“I just figured you’d kill it,” she said, adding some salt to my all ready bruised ego.
Of course that was just one bird and just one evening of the early season. There will be other opportunities and other geese but this year’s beginning of the hunting season sure does smart.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
It wasn’t a far poke, no more than 40 yards. If that, but the way the pellets sprayed the water behind the low-flying Canada goose I knew I had stopped in my swing.
Certainly, it was not much of a beginning to the opener of Ohio’s 15-day early Canada goose-only hunting season.
Then again, the day had started out badly enough. I had gotten as far as I-90 and Vrooman Road when the heavy-duty light show in the heavens appeared and the frog-choking rains tipped the scales in favor of returning home and avoiding the season’s first hours.
I’ll do some crazy things to chase waterfowl but I won’t sit in a blind during a thunderstorms. Not if I want to hunt again.
For the rest of the day I fidgeted at work, my thoughts drifting to the farm pond as to whether it was being occupied by any geese.
Though the temptation was strong to break free and head out once the storm clouds rolled away I stayed put. The reason being I had promised to take Bev, my wife, out in the late afternoon for a late-day hunt.
Sticking to the game plan we arrived at the farm pond. There we saw a small flock of geese taking refuge underneath some trees that climb out of the landowner’s lawn.
There was no point in trying to walk them up since they almost certainly would have taken flight, especially since Bev and me were being accompanied by our two Labrador retrievers, Berry and Millie.
So I drove the SUV down the oil tank right-of-way and then we walked the short distance to the hunting blind.
The hope was that the flock would eventually seek the water and maybe swim down to the five decoys we had staked out. No such luck as nearly all of the birds took flight after their rest and chow-down on the landowner’s prized lawn.
Except for two geese that swam in the central part of the pond and which displayed a definite lack of interest in our decoys and my calling.
A third goose was way at the pond’s far end, up on its dam. It too had no intention of coming our way.
When a hunting friend showed up and made a stalk on the goose from the dam side the bird took off, successfully avoiding the gunner’s shots. The bird flew just above the water’s top knot and straight across the bow of the blind. That’s when my two shots failed to bring down the feathered B-52 bomber.
The shots did, however, excite both Berry and Millie who each pranced at the water’s edge in a vain effort to see a downed bird that didn’t exist.
As for Bev, she never even raised her own shotgun.
“I just figured you’d kill it,” she said, adding some salt to my all ready bruised ego.
Of course that was just one bird and just one evening of the early season. There will be other opportunities and other geese but this year’s beginning of the hunting season sure does smart.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Very wet morning seriously dampens dove opener
This morning’s gully-washing, frog-choker of a rain storm put a serious dent in the start of Ohio’s dove-hunting hunting season.
The storms begin in the wee hours of the morning, building strength until just before sunrise.
Many areas in Northeast Ohio received between one and two inches of rain with several reports of even more rain falling in a few isolated areas in Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties.
For a short period this morning Ashtabula County was under a Flash Flood Watch.
That advisory was lifted later in the day.
Hurt especially bad was the opening day of hunting at the Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area’s managed dove-hunting fields in Trumbull County. Here, one and one-half inches of rain poured down in a very short period of time.
Combined with a dangerous lightening show and accompanied by a booming display of thunder, no hunters ventured out until after the storm passed, wildlife area officials said.
Even once the all-clear appeared in the sky the hunting pressure was pretty thin, said Lou Orosz, manager of the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Mosquito Creek area.
And it stayed that way through at least early afternoon, Orosz said as well.
“There are still a couple of guys out there but it wasn’t like past openers,” Orosz said. “It’s been just a few shots here and there instead of the constant volley of the past.”
Orosz said the rain returned about noon, too.
That additional nail in the opening day’s coffin pretty much ended activity at the reserve’s main managed dove-hunting field across from the area’s headquarters.
“It’s been a bad year all around,” Orosz said.
Current National Weather Service radar indicates a few random showers while the southern reaches of Northeast Ohio are under an advisory of additional heavy rain.
The rain is expected to ease beginning about 4 p.m.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
The storms begin in the wee hours of the morning, building strength until just before sunrise.
Many areas in Northeast Ohio received between one and two inches of rain with several reports of even more rain falling in a few isolated areas in Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties.
For a short period this morning Ashtabula County was under a Flash Flood Watch.
That advisory was lifted later in the day.
Hurt especially bad was the opening day of hunting at the Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area’s managed dove-hunting fields in Trumbull County. Here, one and one-half inches of rain poured down in a very short period of time.
Combined with a dangerous lightening show and accompanied by a booming display of thunder, no hunters ventured out until after the storm passed, wildlife area officials said.
Even once the all-clear appeared in the sky the hunting pressure was pretty thin, said Lou Orosz, manager of the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Mosquito Creek area.
And it stayed that way through at least early afternoon, Orosz said as well.
“There are still a couple of guys out there but it wasn’t like past openers,” Orosz said. “It’s been just a few shots here and there instead of the constant volley of the past.”
Orosz said the rain returned about noon, too.
That additional nail in the opening day’s coffin pretty much ended activity at the reserve’s main managed dove-hunting field across from the area’s headquarters.
“It’s been a bad year all around,” Orosz said.
Current National Weather Service radar indicates a few random showers while the southern reaches of Northeast Ohio are under an advisory of additional heavy rain.
The rain is expected to ease beginning about 4 p.m.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
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