By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
Ohio’s
two-day oft-called “bonus” firearms deer-hunting season
nosed-dived by about 31 percent when compared to the same hunt in
2017.
In
all, deer hunters in Ohio shot 9,625 animals during the
just-concluded two-day tacked-on firearms season. That figure is
4,490 fewer animals than the 14,115 white-tails that were taken
during the 2017 bonus two-day season.
However,
it appears that last year’s bonus season’s take of deer is the
anomaly, not this year’s deer kill. The 2015 two-day bonus deer
kill was 9,447 animals while the 2016 figure was 9,228 animals. The
state did not have a bonus season in either 2013 or 2014, though the
2012 two-day December hunt did produce a kill of 14,365 animals.
Ohio
Division of Wildlife biologists say that even with the best of a
muzzle-loading deer-hunting season it is entirely possible that the
total all-seasons deer kill will be down around 10 percent. Last year
hunters shot a total of 186,247 animals. Thus, a 10-percent drop
would put the 2018-2019 all-seasons’ deer kill number at around
168,000 animals.
If
anything, this deer-hunting year has proven a difficult one for
hunters; among the problems being a super abundant hard mast crop
consisting of white and red oak acorns that kept deer from needing to
forage great distances.
Most
dramatic in suppressing the deer kill, though, is how both Ohio’s
seven-day general season as well as the bonus two-day gun season were
each plagued by heavy rains across much to all of the state. Yet
where those rains did not occur December 15th and 16th, many hunters
did take advantage of the fairer weather – almost exclusively in
northwest Ohio – by recording increases in their 2018 bonus season
deer kills when compared to their respective 2017 figures.
“It
was deja vu all over again weather-wise for the bonus season,” said
a sighing Scott Peters, wildlife division biologist for the Ohio
Division of Wildlife’s District Three (Northeast Ohio) Office in
Akron.
“Snow
is good, but rain is not. With a fresh snow especially a hunter can
see movement better, and can also see tracks. You can’t do that
with rain.”
Clint
McCoy, the Wildlife Division’s lead deer biologist, said the impact
of the weekend’s rain cannot be ignored nor dismissed as the major
contributing factor to the steep decline in the statewide bonus gun
season deer kill.
“Not
when some parts of Ohio saw up to two inches of rain,” McCoy said.
In
fact, as of December 17th, there were still some Ohio
stream that remained under a flood watch.
An
exception to the generally poor hunting caused by the miserable wet
weather were several northwest Ohio counties. Of Ohio’s 88
counties, just 15 notched increases in their 2018 bonus season gun
hunt deer kills. Nearly all of these counties are in northwest Ohio
where rainfall was either absent or very light. Among these counties
were Defiance, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Putnam, Williams, Wood and
Wyandot, McCoy noted.
Another
exception were a number of counties adjacent to Lake Erie. This is
where a strong northeast wind flow coming across Lake Erie kept at
bay the intense storm that moved up from the southwest. Among these
counties were Cuyahoga, Erie, and Lucas.
Ultimately
the challenges brought about by the continued weather woes are almost
certainly going to result in an all-seasons-ending drop in the deer
kill, perhaps by about 10 percent, McCoy also says.
“I
was hoping to see some bounce back in the harvest with the bonus
season but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards,” McCoy said.
Here is a preliminary county-by-county list of the deer kill for the just-concluded 2018 so-called "bonus" firearms deer hunting season (with their respective 2017 figures in parentheses): Adams:
131 (203); Allen: 55 (61); Ashland: 194 (342); Ashtabula: 368 (483);
Athens: 170 (246); Auglaize: 66 (55); Belmont: 135 (264); Brown: 116
(172); Butler: 48 (66); Carroll: 224 (412); Champaign: 50 (75);
Clark: 32 (48); Clermont: 95 (152); Clinton: 41 (58); Columbiana: 165
(367); Coshocton: 260 (512); Crawford: 82 (103); Cuyahoga: 5 (4);
Darke: 49 (48); Defiance: 194 (152); Delaware: 71 (78); Erie: 58
(53); Fairfield: 85 (132); Fayette: 18 (22); Franklin: 10 (35);
Fulton: 53 (60); Gallia: 120 (169); Geauga: 113 (111); Greene: 39
(51); Guernsey: 187 (307); Hamilton: 21 (55); Hancock: 89 (74);
Hardin: 112 (110); Harrison: 175 (336); Henry: 86 (55); Highland: 142
(191); Hocking: 125 (199); Holmes: 211 (343); Huron: 178 (236);
Jackson: 173 (191); Jefferson: 80 (197); Knox: 227 (382); Lake: 23
(40); Lawrence: 69 (91); Licking: 206 (340); Logan: 141 (169);
Lorain: 159 (200); Lucas: 23 (13); Madison: 19 (52); Mahoning: 104
(194); Marion: 47 (79); Medina: 117 (188); Meigs: 160 (200); Mercer:
59 (47); Miami: 38 (54); Monroe: 120 (207); Montgomery: 20 (35);
Morgan: 117 (214); Morrow: 88 (124); Muskingum: 206 (368); Noble: 132
(211); Ottawa: 20 (38); Paulding: 115 (113); Perry: 118 (213);
Pickaway: 47 (62); Pike: 95 (114); Portage: 112 (201); Preble: 65
(82); Putnam: 54 (34); Richland: 222 (306); Ross: 127 (177);
Sandusky: 54 (82); Scioto: 105 (184); Seneca: 147 (176); Shelby: 67
(75); Stark: 169 (287); Summit: 33 (41); Trumbull: 226 (321);
Tuscarawas: 282 (497); Union: 49 (64); Van Wert: 60 (49); Vinton: 108
(201); Warren: 52 (66); Washington: 131 (213); Wayne: 127 (195);
Williams: 168 (132); Wood: 69 (55); Wyandot: 102 (101). Total:
9,625 (14,115).
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
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