Quirk for Ohio's two-day bonus firearms season: Day Two's harvest much better than Day One's

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 28^th and 29^th 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 28^th 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 29^th.

By comparison the to-date deer kill up through December 22^nd 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 22^nd and December 29^th 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 9^th through January 12^th - 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

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

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.

Little gain in weekly deer kill while heavy rains may impact up-coming two-day bonus gun season

With just five days until Ohio’s first-ever two-day/late-session firearms deer-hunting season, hunters have arrowed and shot a to-date combined kill of 155,340 animals and as reported today, December 23rd.

For comparison purposes the weekly tally as noted with the December 15^th on-line report recorded a deer kill of 154,157 animals. Thus we see an additional deer kill of 1,183. That figure is slight (318 deer) increase from the 865 animals taken between the weekly December 8^th and December 15^th reporting period.

Continuing with the comparisons, the 2013 approximate same to-date time frame showed a deer kill of 165,940 animals while its close-enough 2014 figure was 151,598 animals.

As for some current to-date trivia; Twelve of Ohio’s 88 counties have each recorded deer kills of at least 3,000 animals. They are (with their respective current to-date figure followed by their respective to-date December 15^th reporting figures in parentheses): Adams County – 3,474 (3,435); Ashtabula County – 3,986 (3,951); Athens County – 3,188 (3,207); Coshocton County – 4,644 (4,624); Guernsey County – 3,591 (3,575); Harrison County – 3,127 (3,120); Hocking County – 3,027 (3,011); Holmes County – 3,103 (3,092); Knox County – 3,717 (3,688); Licking County – 4,367 (4,317); Muskingum County – 4,067 (4,050); Tuscarawas County – 3,930 (3,898).

Also, of Ohio’s 88 counties, 47 have to-date deer kill totals numbering between 1,000 and 3,000 animals. The December 15^th weekly to-date report also listed the same 47 counties.

Counties with to-date deer kill totals of 500 or fewer animals are (with their respective December 15^th to-date weekly reporting figures in parentheses): Madison County – 412 (410); Ottawa County – 333 (323); and Van Wart County – 448 (446).

All of Ohio’s 88 counties showed an increase in the number of deer killed between the December 15^th and the December 22^nd to-date reporting periods. That is an improvement over the three counties that showed no deer kill increases between the December 8^th and December 15^th to-date reporting periods.

Granted, several of these counties showed the slimmest of increases. Henry County – for instance – showed an increase deer kill of only one animal: 622 deer as indicated with the December 22^nd to-date reporting period verses its December 8^th to-date reporting period figure of 621 deer.

And three counties saw an increase of only two deer killed each between the December 15^th and December 22^nd to-date reporting periods. They are (with their December 22^nd figures only being shown):  Madison County – 412 deer; Mercer County – 553 deer; Van Wert County – 448 deer.

Just how much Monday (December 28^th) and Tuesday (December 29^th) “bonus” two-day general firearms deer-hunting season will contribute to any additional deer kill lies largely in the field of uncertainty.

All sorts of variables are in place. Such items as so-called hunter fatigue, who is on vacation or has holiday time-off from work will come into play, and who still has unfilled deer tags potentially will impact the deer kill tally sheet.

So too will the weather. And with this month already in the books as being the warmest December on record, Ohio’s deer hunters are also expected to confront above average temperatures statewide for the two-day season with a better than 50-50 chance of additional rain.

In fact, some weather forecasts are projecting that from one to three inches or rain may fall between Friday (December 25^th) and the bonus season’s December 28^th opener. Such a deluge could impede access to choice sitting stumps or possibly restrict conducting the always-popular deer drives.

And some forecasters are saying that rain also is likely for Monday and Tuesday.

In terms of temperatures, day time highs for each day may range from near 50 degrees in the southern reaches of the state, the mid- to upper-40s in the state’s middle, and the low 40s in the north.

Lows for the period are projected to stay just shy of the freezing point to even around the 40-degree mark throughout Ohio.

So with a mixed brew of unknowns even the scientists entrusted with managing Ohio’s deer herd are uncertain as to what will appear for the next weekly to-date reporting period, due for public review Wednesday, December 30^th.

“There are a lot of unknowns and variables,” said Scott Peters, the wildlife management supervisor for the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s District Three (Northeast Ohio) Office in Akron. “It’s a new season for everyone.”

By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net

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.

A slow week for Ohio's deer hunters; three counties saw no gains for past seven days

Maybe it’s because guys had to put up Christmas lights or endure their kids’ elementary school holiday concerts but between the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s December 8^th and December 15^th reporting periods, only 865 additional deer were shot.

That’s one of the smallest – maybe the smallest – weekly reported increases in the number of deer being killed by the state’s hunters. Given that we’re between firearms seasons, none of this should come as a surprise.

Just as a for-instance, between the Wildlife Division’s October 6^th report that marked 9,473 deer as having been taken and the agency’s October 13^th report where 14,206 deer were noted as being shot, the difference in that one-week period was an additional 4,733 animals as having been killed.

And of Ohio’s 88 counties three of them saw no additional deer as having been killed within the past reporting week. They are Mercer County – both reporting weeks of 551 animals; Putnam County – both reporting weeks of 643 animals; and Van Wert County – both reporting weeks of 446 animals.

Even so, 154,157 is still a passel of deer, which is the to-date reporting number of deer as having been killed by Ohio’s white-tail hunters. Last week’s total was 153,292 animals.

For comparison purposes, 2014’s close to-date deer kill total was 150,663 animals and its 2013 counterpart was 164,897 animals.

It must be remembered, of course, that the autumn and winter of 2014 was both colder a snowier than the long-term average. Meanwhile, the weather thus far has taken on the aspects of a serious El Nino-influenced warming trend.

Obviously with a difference of fewer than 1,000 deer being killed, county totals did not inch up by very much.

The counties with December 15^th to-date deer kills of at least three thousand animals are (with their respective December 8^th report to-date kills in parentheses) are: Adams – 3,435 (3,423); Ashtabula – 3,951 (3,933); Athens – 3,188 (3,162); Coshocton – 4,624 (4,602); Guernsey – 3,575 (3,566); Harrison – 3,120 (3,113); Hocking – 3,011 (2,990); Holmes – 3,092 (3,078); Knox – 3,688 (3,677); Licking – 4,317 (4,292); Muskingum – 4,050 (4,034); Tuscarawas – 3,898 (3,879).

Much of this will change within the next couple of weeks. Ohio firearms deer hunters will have a two-day “bonus” gun deer hunt, the dates being December 28^th and 29^th, a Monday and a Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the statewide muzzle-loading deer-hunting season is scheduled for January 9^th – a Saturday, to January 12^th – a Tuesday.

Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net

 

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 100 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.

The Top 20 states with highest odds for a deer-motor vehicle accident

Of the 50 states where wild animals roam – sometimes onto busy highways, much to the chagrin of motorists, transportation officials, law enforcement, insurance companies, and likely the deer themselves – some 20 are standouts.

To this Rouge’s Gallery the State Farm Insurance Company has compiled a “Top 20” list of those states which are the most likely for a motorist to smack, crunch, pow, and ding a white-tailed deer.

In a report State Farm Insurance noted that the chances of experiencing a deer-motor vehicle accident are one in 169. Ah, but the rub is that not all states are created equal when it comes to deer messing up someone’s commute.

With that in mind, State Farm’s list of the 20 states with the greatest odds of a motorist and a deer meeting on the “no passing” centerline of the highway - in descending order, with the odds followed by the likely percentage of insurance rates increasing after an incident - are :

Twenty: Nebraska – 0.685; 3%

Nineteen: Kansas – 0.73%; 3%

Eighteen: Georgia – 0.75%; 22%

Seventeen: Ohio and Alabama (tie) – 0.79%; 18% and 16%, respectively.

Sixteen: Missouri – 0.81%; 21%

Fifteen: Maryland – 0.83%; 14%

Fourteen: North Dakota – also 0.83%, though State Farm lists the two states separately; 7%

Thirteen: Wyoming – 0.91%; Zero %

Twelve: Arkansas and Kentucky (tie) - 0.93%; 3% and 23%, respectively

Eleven: North Carolina – 0.97%; 39%

Ten: Michigan – 1.06%; 16%

Nine: South Carolina: 1.08%; 24%

Eight: Virginia and Minnesota (tie): 1.14%; 22% and 30%, respectively

Seven: Wisconsin – 1.18%; 22%

Six: Mississippi – 1.19%; 11%

Five: South Dakota – 1.22%; 4%

Three: Montana – 1.33%; 4%

Two: Pennsylvania: 1.14%; 15%

One: West Virginia – 2.56%; Zero percent

 

By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

 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.

 

 

2015's to-date deer kill better than in 2014, not as good as 2013

With Ohio’s general firearms deer-hunting season now boxed up and ready for biologists to decipher, the state still has a fair number of opportunities left to tease sportsmen.

Fuel for the fire includes the spark  that the as-of the December 8^th deer kill figure of 153,292 animals is above the similar 2014 to-date kill total of 149,590 animals, representing a 3,702-animal increase.

However, this year’s combined deer-hunting season to-date number still lags behind that tallied to-date in 2013 when hunters took 163,598 deer. Thus, the somewhat close apples-to-apples comparison reflects a debit of 10,306 deer for to-date 2015 when placed alongside 2013’s to-date set of numbers.

What we see further in studying this season’s to-date statistics and comparing them with at least those compiled last year is how the cream really does rise to the top. At least in terms of those counties which consistently poll well in the numbers of deer being killed by eligible hunters.

We see, for instance, that Ashtabula County’s current to-date score card reflects a kill of 3,933 animals. That figure is exactly 100 more deer that were recorded as the comparable 2014 to-date total, though still less than 2013’s to-date number of 4,470 deer being killed.

Same for Coshocton County where this year’s to-date deer kill is recorded at 4,602 animals. In 2013 the comparable number was 4,836 dead deer and in 2013 the like number was 5,343 deer.

So far this year the only two counties other than Coshocton to streak above the 4,000 deer-kill horizon are Licking County, which has recorded 4,292 animals as being taken, and Muskingum County with a to-date kill of 4,034 deer being killed.

In 2014 these same three counties also led the to-date deer kill, each -  again – with totals above 4,000 deer; Coshocton County – 4,836 deer; Licking County – 4,454 deer; Muskingum County – 4,016 deer; Plus Tuscarawas County – 4,192 deer.

The 2013 to-date deer kill listed no fewer than six counties as having exceeded the 4,000 threshold: Ashtabula County – 4,470 deer; Coshocton County – 5,343 deer; Guernsey County – 4,432 deer; Licking County – 4,740 deer; Muskingum County – 4,728 deer; Tuscarawas County – 4,852 deer.

Consequently, a casual overview shows that for Tuscarawas County, this year’s to-date deer kill is lagging far enough behind so as not to rub elbows with the other consistent leader board contenders. Then again, a to-date deer kill of 3,879 animals is not too shabby either, and which is Tuscarawas County’s to-date figure.

Even so, of Ohio’s 88 counties, 29 of them have each experienced a to-date deer kill of fewer than 1,000 animals. In 2014 that figure was 31 counties. Meanwhile in 2013, 30 of Ohio’s 88 counties had each posted a to-date deer kill of fewer than 1,000 animals.

Of course a lot of hunting ground remains for these 29 counties to play catch up and also for the leaders to keep racking up the score on the tally sheet.

Ohio’s archery deer hunters have until February 7^th (the first Sunday in February) to use their deer tag.

New this year – or better stated, - moved this year is a “bonus” two-day general firearms deer-hunting season, and which is set for December 28^th and 29^th, a Monday and a Tuesday.

The statewide muzzle-loading deer-hunting season is pegged for January 9^th (a Saturday) through January 12^th (a Tuesday).

Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net

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 100 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.

UPDATED THROUGHOUT: Good weather being credited for good Ohio 2015 gun deer-hunting season

The deer kill figures for Ohio’s 2015 firearms deer-hunting season didn’t set any records but they did wave good-bye in the rearview mirror to their comparable – but still “ho-hummish” - 2014 statistics.

In all for the 2015 seven-day firearms deer-hunting season, held November 30^th through December 6th, participants killed 73,399 animals. That figure compares to the 64,484 white-tails that hunters shot during the 2014 seven-day gun deer season. The difference resulted in a harvest uptick of 8,915 animals.

Taking it one step further, the 73,399 gun deer-hunting season 2015 total is only 2,009 fewer deer killed than were taken during the 2013 gun deer-hunting season (75,408 deer).

The flipside, though, points to 34 of Ohio’s 88 counties having posted deer kills of 1,000 or more animals. And of this 34-county figure, three jurisdictions saw at least 2,000 deer killed during this year’s firearms deer-hunting season: Ashtabula – 2,002; Coshocton – 2,420 animals; and Muskingum – 2,283 animals.

An honorable mention goes to Tuscarawas County which missed the Two-Thousand Deer Kill Club by just one animal (1,999 deer, to be exact).

 “I’m not terribly surprised by the harvest,” opined Mike Tonkovich, the Wildlife Division’s deer management administrator. “We generally had good weather for deer hunting during the gun season, unlike last year when we had poor weather for deer hunting.”

In looking to explain this year’s general gun deer-hunting season largesse, Tonkovich said that one possibly is that Ohio’s deer herd may or may not have shrunk due to the youth-only gun deer-hunting season as well as the first couple of months of the statewide archery deer-hunting season, Tonkovich says

“This is just anecdotal, I know, but I heard from any number of hunters and check station operates that it’s been a long while since they’ve seen so many good buck,” Tonkovich said also. “”They’re calling it ‘the year of the big bucks.’”

Clearly, too, says Tonkovich, Ohio’s deer-hunting possibilities still have a lot of gas left in the tank. New this year is a two-day, post-Christmas “bonus” firearms deer-hunting season. This hunt is slated for December 28^th – the Monday following Christmas – and December 29^th.

A prior and short-lived two-day bonus season was held up until 2012. During that last two-day gun deer hunt participants knocked off 14,365 animals, or approximately 6.5 percent of that year’s total combined all-seasons’ harvest, Tonkovich said.

The issue this year, however, is the two-day season’s timing: just a few days after Christmas. As such, perhaps many would-be hunters will have returned to work after having expended all their vacation time or else are on a long holiday but locked in with family obligations that will curtail any deer-hunting time-out, Tonkovich says.

 “If we see 10,000 to 12,000 animals taken that would be a great harvest, actually,” Tonkovich said.

As for the to-date deer kill figures, Ohio Division of Wildlife spokesman John Windau, said hunters have tele-checked in 152,554 deer

 Last year for approximately the same period, hunters had taken a total of 148,821 deer, said Windau.

“Given that the year-to-date harvest is only slightly higher, the significant increase in this year’s deer-gun season can most likely be attributed to better weather conditions compared to the 2014 deer-gun season,” Windau said.

Last year for approximately the same period, hunters had taken a total of 148,821 deer, said Windau.

“Given that the year-to-date harvest is only slightly higher, the significant increase in this year’s deer-gun season can most likely be attributed to better weather conditions compared to the 2014 deer-gun season,” Windau said.

 Here is the list of all white-tailed deer checked by hunters during the seven-day  2015 firearms deer-hunting. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2015, with their respective 2014 numbers  in parentheses:

Adams: 1,585 (1,134); Allen: 387 (348); Ashland: 1,232 (1,160); Ashtabula: 2,002 (1,730); Athens: 1,666 (1,360); Auglaize: 299 (278); Belmont: 1,516 (1,428); Brown: 1,055 (940); Butler: 338 (308); Carroll: 1,577 (1,477); Champaign: 419 (434); Clark: 207 (195); Clermont: 776 (685); Clinton: 292 (285); Columbiana: 1,458 (1,245); Coshocton: 2,420 (2,308); Crawford: 576 (515); Cuyahoga: 46 (24); Darke: 282 (241); Defiance: 865 (871); Delaware: 418 (422); Erie: 192 (219); Fairfield: 761 (708); Fayette: 125 (142); Franklin: 133 (124); Fulton: 361 (336); Gallia: 1,523 (1,220); Geauga: 508 (470); Greene: 220 (213); Guernsey: 1,995 (1,788); Hamilton: 252 (165); Hancock: 487 (443); Hardin: 542 (487); Harrison: 1,664 (1,491); Henry: 365 (334); Highland: 1,189 (1,004); Hocking: 1,592 (1,195); Holmes: 1,362 (1,349); Huron: 1,006 (921); Jackson: 1,323 (968); Jefferson: 1,170 (1,120); Knox: 1,755 (1,727); Lake: 160 (138); Lawrence: 1,021 (779); Licking: 1,865 (1,655); Logan: 765 (672); Lorain: 637 (646); Lucas: 113 (105); Madison: 147 (154); Mahoning: 556 (555); Marion: 363 (340); Medina: 545 (567); Meigs: 1,544 (1,270); Mercer: 235 (206); Miami: 235 (250); Monroe: 1,316 (1,056); Montgomery: 128 (130); Morgan: 1,418 (1,207); Morrow: 584 (671); Muskingum: 2,283 (2,084); Noble: 1,333 (1,031); Ottawa: 97 (121); Paulding: 523 (509); Perry: 1,340 (1,160); Pickaway: 345 (330); Pike: 954 (701); Portage: 553 (451); Preble: 284 (272); Putnam: 304 (315); Richland: 1,222 (1,159); Ross: 1,264 (1,106); Sandusky: 258 (261); Scioto: 1,164 (761); Seneca: 779 (710); Shelby: 387 (397); Stark: 863 (759); Summit: 167 (122); Trumbull: 1,142 (983); Tuscarawas: 1,999 (2,074); Union: 336 (313); Van Wert: 237 (283); Vinton: 1,440 (1,031); Warren: 319 (321); Washington: 1,738 (1,409); Wayne: 683 (639); Williams: 823 (831); Wood: 293 (389); Wyandot: 696 (749). Total: 73,399 (65,484).

 

The statewide archery season runs through February 7^th.  A revamped two-day firearms deer-hunting season is set for December 28^th and 29^th (a Monday and a Tuesday) while the statewide four-day, muzzle-loading-only deer-hunting season is on tap for January 9^th through 12^th (a Saturday through the following Tuesday).

However, 23 of Ohio’s 88 counties did see slippage in their 2015 seven-day, firearms deer-hunting season when stacked up to their 2014 gun deer season kill totals.

Yet while all of these figures are interesting to hunters what intrigues the Wildlife Division’s game biologists the most is what the tally sheets will say at the conclusion of all the various deer hunting sessions.

 

Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

 

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.

 

 

Ohio's deer kill numbers make it through traditional mid-week slump

Ohio’s wildlife officials have begun showing the on-going/to-date tally of deer killed during the state’s seven-day firearms deer-hunting season.

What the data suggests is the huge difference in deer kill numbers from, say, Opening Day Monday through to the mid-week “Beggar's Day” Wednesday and Thursday.

For example, the scorecard as assembled by the Ohio Division of Wildlife via the agency’s cold and heartless - but analytically sound - electronic game-check system says that statewide on Monday, November 30^th, the total Opening Day deer kill was 22,256 animals.

In refining the math further by comparing the to-date kills on a daily basis we see that on Tuesday, December 1^st, hunters had killed 10,341 animals, or less than one-half of what hunters shot on Monday, November 30^th.

And the figures continue to demonstrate an easing of hunting pressure as Ohio’s deer kill drops daily by mid-week.

Figures compiled and released by the Wildlife Division say that as of Thursday, December 3^rd, Ohio’s hunters had killed a total to-date figure of 46,576 deer. Thus, on Wednesday, December 2^nd and Thursday, December 3^rd, Ohio hunters had killed an additional 13,979 animals for this entire two-day/mid-week period.

Typically, Wednesday and Thursday of Ohio’s seven-day general firearms deer-hunting season record the lowest daily kill numbers, almost certainly due to their low point in the numbers of deer hunters in the field.

 What happens between today through Sunday, December 6^th when the books close on the 2015 general firearms deer-hunting season will be determined – as always – on hunting pressure.

Influencing that pressure will be a compilation of things like the weather, the approach of the holidays, hunter fatigue and all of the other factors that can make or break a sportsman’s desire to be afield.

Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net

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.

Ohio's 2015's to-date deer kill lags behind 2014's and 2013's to-date numbers

This is where Ohio’s on-going deer kill scorecard gets a little more complicated.

Today the Ohio Division of Wildlife released the to-date deer kill as of December 2^nd. That figure includes the tally for the archery season up to this point, the results of the recently held two-day/youth-only firearms deer-hunting season, and the number of deer killed during the first two days of Ohio’s seven-day general firearms deer-hunting season, which began Monday.

That stew of deer seasons has been simmering since the archery season began September 26 and now the entire pot stands at 111,752 dead deer.

By comparison one must do a dumpster dive into the Wildlife Division’s electronic data repository since the agency no longer provides side-by-side comparisons. The Wildlife Division’s officials say such numbers are not germane for wildlife management purposes.

Yeah, I know, such thinking hardly seems rational or makes sense, but that’s the Wildlife Division for you and whose motto seems to be straight out of a quote by cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn: “Go away, boy, you’re bothering me.”

But I digress.  In any event, the comparable 2014 to-date deer kill was 113,093 deer. And for 2013 the commensurate figure was 124,290 deer.

Thus, when laid side-by-side, this year’s to-date deer kill is 1,341 fewer animals than were shot for the near identical 2014 to-date time frame. And placed alongside the 2013 figure the difference is 12,538 fewer deer killed up to December 2^nd this year.

Some of the other interesting points detailed in the most recent deer kill is that three of Ohio’s 88 counties have so far surpassed the 3,000 deer kill figure. They are Ashtabula County – 3,010 animals; Coshocton County – 3,433 animals; and Licking County – 3,158 animals.

In 2014, five of Ohio’s 88 counties had achieved the 3,000-plus to-date total. Meanwhile, in 2013 the number of counties achieving the to-date 3,000-plus mark was six, including Coshocton County which actually had leapt tall buildings by recording a then to-date kill of 4,035 deer.

A continued glance at this combined deer seasons’ to-date figures show that 12 counties fall in the 2,000 to 3,000 deer kill range. Another 35 counties are tucked into the to-date 1,000 to 2,000 deer kill group.

Bringing up the rear are Van Wert County – 299 deer to-date; Madison County – 291 deer to date; and the ever-so-always-lagging-behind Fayette County with just 197 deer killed to-date.  Just for fun, let’s look at Fayette County’s to-date 2014 deer kill, which was 239 animals while the county’s 2013 to-date deer kill was 186 animals.

Yes, Fayette County was in last place those years as well.

 

Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

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.

 

Going Up: Both Ohio's 2015 Opening Day gun deer season kill and total fall turkey season kill

Based on figured supplied through Ohio’s electronic game-check system, Ohio’s deer hunters killed a whopping 22,256 deer for Monday’s start of the statewide firearms deer-hunting season.

That 22,256 figure represents an increased kill of 4,744 animals. Even so, the 2015 opening day kill closely mirrors the 2013 opening day kill of 22,619 deer.

Here is the 2015 firearms deer-hunting season’s county-by-county opening day kill:

Adams: 373; Allen: 116; Ashland: 483; Ashtabula: 772; Athens: 420; Auglaize: 99; Belmont: 429; Brown: 248; Butler: 66; Carroll: 571; Champaign: 104; Clark: 52; Clermont: 154; Clinton: 79; Columbiana: 522; Coshocton: 888; Crawford: 177; Cuyahoga: 7; Darke: 74; Defiance: 316; Delaware: 110; Erie: 66; Fairfield: 219; Fayette: 33; Franklin: 31; Fulton: 140; Gallia: 372; Geauga: 167; Greene: 54; Guernsey: 647; Hamilton: 44; Hancock: 135; Hardin: 149; Harrison: 556; Henry: 125; Highland: 300; Hocking: 521; Holmes: 552; Huron: 367; Jackson: 377; Jefferson: 386; Knox: 619; Lake: 44; Lawrence: 224; Licking: 563; Logan: 249; Lorain: 195; Lucas: 27; Madison: 28; Mahoning: 165; Marion: 120; Medina: 152; Meigs: 418; Mercer: 76; Miami: 52; Monroe: 334; Montgomery: 28; Morgan: 387; Morrow: 184; Muskingum: 722; Noble: 352; Ottawa: 20; Paulding: 157; Perry: 399; Pickaway: 107; Pike: 209; Portage: 157; Preble: 80; Putnam: 90; Richland: 462; Ross: 320; Sandusky: 76; Scioto: 207; Seneca: 273; Shelby: 97; Stark: 248; Summit: 24; Trumbull: 468; Tuscarawas: 658; Union: 97; Van Wert: 63; Vinton: 401; Warren: 61; Washington: 490; Wayne: 211; Williams: 327; Wood: 87; Wyandot: 227. Total: 22,256.

Now, for comparison purposes (and, again, the only meaningful use of statistics) here are the 2014 county-by-county opening day firearms deer-hunting season kill figures with their respective 2013 figures in parentheses and as provided by the Ohio Division of Wildlife:.

Adams: 219 (375); Allen: 98 (77); Ashland: 353 (318); Ashtabula: 586 (880); Athens: 305 (529); Auglaize: 77 (99); Belmont: 329 (530); Brown: 183 (262); Butler: 38 (92); Carroll: 451 (698); Champaign: 103 (137); Clark: 39 (56); Clermont: 131 (160); Clinton: 51 (68); Columbiana: 372 (584); Coshocton: 793 (940); Crawford: 161 (140); Cuyahoga: 4 (2); Darke: 53 (44); Defiance: 280 (269); Delaware: 119 (100); Erie: 45 (43); Fairfield: 186 (228); Fayette: 25 (24); Franklin: 19 (25); Fulton: 125 (127); Gallia: 282 (382); Geauga: 124 (153); Greene: 57 (66); Guernsey: 512 (742); Hamilton: 29 (42); Hancock: 127 (89); Hardin: 141 (142); Harrison: 455 (738); Henry: 98 (112); Highland: 230 (294); Hocking: 284 (382); Holmes: 477 (521); Huron: 296 (338); Jackson: 222 (325); Jefferson: 303 (448); Knox: 573 (645); Lake: 35 (30); Lawrence: 142 (276); Licking: 501 (572); Logan: 183 (186); Lorain: 174 (157); Lucas: 17 (27); Madison: 28 (26); Mahoning: 157 (227); Marion: 83 (76); Medina: 139 (146); Meigs: 251 (435); Mercer: 57 (72); Miami: 66 (53); Monroe: 203 (364); Montgomery: 24 (34); Morgan: 272 (387); Morrow: 184 (176); Muskingum: 652 (831); Noble: 234 (402); Ottawa: 17 (25); Paulding: 151 (158); Perry: 326 (419); Pickaway: 78 (102); Pike: 140 (198); Portage: 104 (150); Preble: 46 (73); Putnam: 85 (72); Richland: 337 (314); Ross: 227 (307); Sandusky: 61 (60); Scioto: 113 (264); Seneca: 205 (199); Shelby: 98 (111); Stark: 183 (243); Summit: 18 (23); Trumbull: 331 (482); Tuscarawas: 667 (853); Union: 77 (82); Van Wert: 69 (42); Vinton: 248 (397); Warren: 66 (78); Washington: 350 (497); Wayne: 170 (190); Williams: 286 (340); Wood: 95 (59); Wyandot: 207 (178). Total: 17,512 (22,619).

Take the time to note some of the increases. They are huge in more than a few circumstances. In Ashtabula County, for instance, the opening day deer kill pole-vaulted some 186 animals from 2014 to 2015 while both Belmont County saw a 100-animal kill increase.

Meanwhile, Adams County saw its opening day deer kill rise some 154 deer with Guernsey County showing a 135 deer kill increase.

Even urban counties posted increases. Lake County (Greater Cleveland) saw its deer kill jump nine animals; Clermont County (Greater Cincinnati) displayed a 23 deer kill rise; Franklin County (Columbus) saw a 12 deer kill increase; and Lucas County (Toledo) gained a 10-deer kill figure.

Yet six of Ohio’s counties saw slippages. They include Delaware County – down nine deer from opening day 2014 to opening day 2015; Greene County – down three deer; Miami County – down 14 deer; Tuscarawas County – down nine deer; Van Wert County – down six deer; Warren County – down five deer; and Wood County – down eight deer.

Along similar lines two counties posted identical 2014 and 2015 opening day deer kills. They are Madison County – both 28 deer; and Morrow County – both 184 deer.

Ohio’s general statewide firearms deer-hunting season continues through Sunday, December 6th. A new two-day “bonus” statewide firearm deer-hunting season is set for December 28^th and 29^th, or the Monday and Tuesday following Christmas.

The well-established statewide muzzle-loading (primitive weapons) deer-hunting season is scheduled for January 9^th through January 12^th, or a Saturday through the following Tuesday.

Legal shooting times for the remainder of the general firearms deer-hunting season, the two-day “bonus” firearms deer-hunting season, and the statewide muzzle-loader are all one-half hours before sunrise until one-half hour after sunset.

 Now on to wild turkeys and Ohio’s 2015 fall hunting bird kill numbers.

As for how many wild turkeys were killed during Ohio’s fall season on the species, the Wildlife Division says that 1,536 birds were taken during the October 10th to November 29th season.

By comparison – the most meaningful yardstick necessary to determining relevance – fall turkey hunters killed 1,239 birds. Thus, this fall season turkey hunters killed 297 more birds in the 56 of Ohio’s 88 counties that were open to such hunting.

The record fall wild turkey kill was in 2001. In that year 3,331 birds were shot, and taken in just 32 counties. Thus, this year’s fall turkey kill is almost one-half that of 2001 and even though this year 24 more counties were open to such hunting than what existed 14 years ago.

Here are the 2015 county-by-county fall wildlife turkey kill numbers with their respective 2014 figures in parentheses:  Adams: 44 (23); Ashland: 27 (14); Ashtabula: 73 (54); Athens: 31 (21); Belmont: 33 (23); Brown: 26 (16); Butler: 13 (11); Carroll: 21 (24); Clermont: 43 (29); Columbiana: 43 (29); Coshocton: 43 (45); Cuyahoga: 2 (8); Defiance: 18 (20); Delaware: 9 (17); Fairfield: 14 (8); Franklin: 1 (3); Gallia: 50 (30); Geauga: 45 (36); Guernsey: 35 (45); Hamilton: 10 (7); Harrison: 32 (23); Highland: 40 (27); Hocking: 52 (18); Holmes: 27 (35); Huron: 6 (7); Jackson: 43 (25); Jefferson: 30 (36); Knox: 34 (35); Lake: 11 (14); Lawrence: 31 (23); Licking: 36 (30); Lorain: 29 (18); Mahoning: 23 (27); Medina: 22 (7); Meigs: 33 (23); Monroe: 21 (15); Morgan: 13 (19); Morrow: 17 (12); Muskingum: 27 (26); Noble: 35 (26); Perry: 29 (26); Pike: 35 (17); Portage: 38 (19); Richland: 21 (also 21); Ross: 24 (22); Scioto: 27 (20); Seneca: 6 (12); Stark: 27 (21); Summit: 12 (18); Trumbull: 50 (32); Tuscarawas: 23 (35); Vinton: 34 (21); Warren: 9 (also 9); Washington: 23 (14); Wayne: 13 (12); Williams: 20 (31); Unknown 2 (this category was not listed by the Ohio Division of Wildlife for 2014). Total: 1,536 (1,239). 

-          Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

-          JFrischk@Ameritech.net

-           

-          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.