For deer season opener, Ohio hunters better hold on tight to their rain hats and maybe dig out the snow shovels, too

 

Ohio’s firearms deer hunters have only seven days to do their thing about filling a freezer with venison, unlike their archery counterparts who have more than four months.

Thus the latter can pick and choose the kinds of days to be afield. Not so gun hunters who have to take whatever Mother Nature tosses their way. And for the upcoming Ohio firearms deer-hunting season November 30 through December 6, that means a lot of curve balls and even a good old-fashioned spit-ball or two.

In short for at least the first two days of the state’s firearms deer-hunting season, it ain’t going to be pretty. In fact, ugly is a good word. And it is forecast to become worse the further into Ohio’s northeast corner one goes, too.

A so-called “Louisiana Low” is marching northeast and is expected to bring large amounts of moisture while cold air is charging eastward. Combine the two and they will set up a perfect pitch for the siren call of the state’s first blast of wintry weather.

Let’s start in the southwest part of the state. In Cincinnati for Monday’s gun deer season opener, the National Weather Service office is calling for a blustery day with a rain-snow mix and stiff winds with forecast gusts of up to 28 mph. Tuesday is expected to see all snow before clearing out on Wednesday.

A bit east and a tad north, in the Athens area, folks can expect a Sunday evening featuring up to one-quarter inch of rain while Monday will see – based on the Weather Service projections – rain changing over to wet snow with this mess continuing into Tuesday before clearing out on Wednesday.

North and west into the Columbus region, expect rain and snow on Monday and the same for Tuesday. But the winds will blow – and hard, too; up to 31 mph. Only by Wednesday will the weather tame and begin to clear out, the Weather Service says.

Moving on up to Toledo, the weather will fairly closely parallel that of Columbus with rain changing to snow on Monday and with wind gusts of 30 mph with much the same for Tuesday. Wednesday the “all clear” signal should come about.

The worst is saved for last: Northeast Ohio. For opening day, hunters (and everyone else here) can expect to see between one-half and three-quarter inches of rain, changing over to snow with winds of eight to 16 mph. Closer to Lake Erie it will be even more breezy: 11 to 16 mph and gusts to 31 mph.

The rain will change over to snow later in the day, converting to all snow by sometime on Tuesday with possible Lake Effect snow squalls and potentially significant accumulations beginning Wednesday. The brew may switch over to a rain-snow mix on Wednesday with possible clearing on Thursday. The stiff winds will remain through at least Wednesday.

So once again Ohio’s gun hunters will have to trudge through rain-soaked woods and fields, cross rain-swollen creeks, and put up with cantankerous winds.

No wonder, perhaps, that an increasing number of deer hunters in Ohio are taking up the stick and string. There’s much better things to do afield than putting up with “six inches of partly cloudy.”

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com