UPDATED: State pleased with on-going reduced deer kill

Ohio’s two-day “bonus” firearms deer hunting season missed the bull’s-eye as much as did the general seven-day gun season and also the first six weeks of the state’s archery season.

The two-day hunt that ran Saturday and Sunday saw a kill that dropped 19 percent from that of 2010.

On Saturday and Sunday, Ohio’s firearms deer hunters killed 16,766 animals. That compares to the 20,916 deer killed during the 2010 two-day season; a drop that is pleasing the state's deer managers.

“Well, the take is that we may have fewer deer - and that’s reason to celebrate because that’s what we’ve been trying to achieve that goal since 2007,” said Mike Tonkovich, the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s deer management administrator. “That was the entire intent of the antlerless-only permit.”

Some of the state’s most fabled deer-hunting counties experienced declines, some by substantial percentages. Ashtabula County recorded a two-day kill of 387 deer this year compared to the 579 animals for the 2010 two-day season. That is a significant 33 percent drop.

Other noteworthy examples: Guernsey County - off 28 percent with 446 deer shot compared to 620 animals in 2010; Harrison County - off 31 percent with 477 deer killed compared to 693 deer shot in 2010; Coshocton - off 36 percent with 593 deer killed on Saturday and Sunday but compared to the 931 animals taken during the 2010 two-day bonus season; Tuscarawas County - down 26 percent, reflected by a kill for this year’s two-day season of 541 deer compared to 740 deer shot during 2010’s two-day bonus hunt.

Tonkovich says also that now that the state’s deer herd continues to show declines some areas may need to see reductions in the liberal hunting regulations.

“If in fact this is an indication that the herd is being reduced then we’ll take a look at adjusting the seasons,” Tonkovich says. "In fact, I’ve all ready begun to start to look at this.”

Likely to be examined closely are Madison, Washington, Vinton, and Lawrence counties. Not on the list, however, are the big deer kill counties like Guernsey, Harrison and Coshocton.

“They aren’t on the list but there’s nothing to say they won’t be looked at,” Tonkovich says. “I don’t want to say that we’re going to see a major overhaul of the deer hunting regulations.”

Tonkovich says as well that the news is good for the deer herd since it has begun to degrade the habitat as well as started to produce bucks with small antler mass.

"We need to restore the balance," he said. "Folks need to understand that is where the rubber meets the road."

A close inspection will be made of the bow-hunter observation survey, which is actually intended more for recording fur-bearers but does double-duty with deer, Tonkovich says.

Nearly 4,000 archers participate and their results provide valuable information on regional trend data, Tonkovich says as well.

Locally, only Geauga County posted a gain: 160 deer this year for the two-day season and compared to the 133 animals shot in 2010 for a 20-percent gain.
Lake County was down 19 percent; 46 deer this year compared to 57 deer last year.

Cuyahoga County doesn’t chip in much. This year’s two-day season saw just two deer killed in Cuyahoga County compared to three deer last year.

In Trumbull County, a 26 percent drop was seen, from 329 animals shot during the 2010 two-day hunt to 242 deer for this year’s two-day bonus season.

Down as well was Lorain County - off 32 percent - with 173 animals shot this year and 255 deer shot last year; Erie County - off 62 percent with just 31 deer killed on Saturday and Sunday compared to the 82 deer shot during last year’s two-day season; Medina County - off 22 percent with 157 deer shot over this past weekend and compared to the 203 deer killed there last two-day season; Sandusky County - off 26 percent with 60 deer shot this year and 82 deer taken last year.

The two-day hunt decline follows on the heels of the general seven-day firearms season drop of 14 percent: 90,282 animals this year and 105,034 deer for the 2010 seven-day gun season.

Likewise, the general season and the two-day bonus season declines are further enhanced by the drop in the deer kill encountered during the first six weeks of Ohio’s archery deer-hunting season. That statistic was represented by the 45,836 animals taken during the first six-week period this year compared to the 51,543 deer taken during 2010’s first six weeks of the archery season.

Only Ohio’s two-day early youth-only hunt has thus far posted a gain. This two-season saw youths shoot 8,681 deer compared to the 8,445 deer taken during
2010’s two-day youth-only hunt.

Here are the county-by-county harvests for Ohio’s two-day bonus hunt with their respective 2010 figures in parentheses:

Adams - 323 (302); Allen – 122 (104); Ashland – 252 (367); Ashtabula – 387 (579); Athens – 332 (352); Auglaize – 82 (57); Belmont – 416 (529); Brown – 261 (319); Butler – 102 (96); Carroll – 442 (585); Champaign – 128 (147); Clark – 76 (77); Clermont – 226 (300); Clinton – 84 (110); Columbiana – 324 (429); Coshocton – 593 (931); Crawford – 91 (99); Cuyahoga – 2 (3); Darke – 71 (81); Defiance – 174 (182); Delaware – 143 (162); Erie – 31 (82); Fairfield – 180 (318); Fayette – 23 (29); Franklin – 47 (55); Fulton – 85 (98); Gallia – 233 (304); Geauga - 160 (133); Greene – 74 (73); Guernsey – 446 (620); Hamilton – 91 (85); Hancock – 147 (102); Hardin – 103 (116); Harrison – 477 (693); Henry – 95(70); Highland – 267 (300); Hocking – 281 (332); Holmes – 303 (466); Huron – 198 (256); Jackson – 215 (208); Jefferson – 369 (427); Knox – 373 (543); Lake – 46 (57); Lawrence – 205 (235); Licking – 483 (615); Logan – 200 (188); Lorain – 173 (255); Lucas – 30 (36); Madison – 50 (62); Mahoning – 181 (176); Marion – 80 (107); Medina – 157 (203); Meigs – 269 (358); Mercer – 57 (51); Miami – 70 (59); Monroe – 281 (367); Montgomery – 18 (23); Morgan – 242 (317); Morrow – 130 (201); Muskingum – 499 (596); Noble – 272 (430); Ottawa – 33 (51); Paulding – 124 (140); Perry – 228 (372); Pickaway – 93 (105); Pike – 161 (179); Portage – 167 (162); Preble – 72 (88); Putnam – 77 (66); Richland – 290 (403); Ross – 265 (344); Sandusky – 60 (82); Scioto – 224 (256); Seneca – 159 (200); Shelby – 97 (97); Stark – 175 (212); Summit – 44 (40); Trumbull – 242 (329); Tuscarawas – 541 (740); Union – 73 (86); Van Wert – 86 (85); Vinton – 231 (219); Warren – 110 (137); Washington – 330 (439); Wayne – 184 (204); Williams – 197 (184); Wood – 76 (71); Wyandot – 160 (163); Total – 16,766 (20,916).

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
Twitter: @Fieldkorn