Since Ohio’s archery deer-hunting season began September 25th, the unseasonably warm weather is largely being assigned the blame for a freezing of the initial deer kill.
For the period up through October 17th, the statewide total archery-associated deer kill was down 16.8 percent verses the three-year average. Just for antlered deer the decline figure was 10.3 percent, and for antlerless animals that percentage had fallen by 20.1 percent, says Clint McCoy, the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s deer management biologist.
In all, through October 17, Ohio’s archery deer hunters have killed 17,787 animals compared to the three-year average of 21,381 animals.
Just how slow the start has been can be seen in the county-by-county to-date numbers. Of Ohio’s 88 counties through October 17th, only four – Harrison, Jefferson, Adams, and Guernsey – showed increases in their respective to-date deer kill when compared to the three-year average.
Some counties have witnessed substantial to-date declines when compared to their respective three-year averages, too. Among the examples are Madison which was off 38.1 percent, Lucas was down 38.8 percent, Monroe was down 41.9 percent, and Clinton was down a whopping 48.8 percent.
However, not all is dim news. Nine Ohio counties have thus far experienced increases in their to-date antlered (buck) deer kill. Among them are Coshocton, up 10.5 percent; Noble, up 12.6 percent; Perry, up 13 percent; Guernsey up 14.7 percent; Muskingum, up 16.1 percent; Jefferson, up 16.9 percent; Adams, up 18.4 percent; Harrison, up 19 percent; and Summit, up 19.6 percent. Again, these numbers are for antlered deer only.
It is estimated that Ohio’s deer herd consists of around 600,000 to 800,000 animals. And projections are that between 185,000 and 1995,000 deer will be killed by all means when the last of Ohio’s deer seasons concludes February 6th.
“Opening weekend the deer harvest was pretty solid with some nice weather to help but since then it’s been hot and that had to be a significant factor,” McCoy said.
The caveat being, says McCoy also, that such sticky-buggy-uncomfortable weather “likely has affected hunters more than it has the deer.”
“No one wants to walk to their blind or tree stand all sweaty and then try and take care of any animal that’s been shot and which might spoil without prompt attention,” McCoy said.
Still, says McCoy, the deer still have to eat though that dining is probably more oriented toward occurring after dark than during the legal hunting time of one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.
McCoy says another plausible factor to the tranquil start of the statewide archery deer-hunting season is the expansion in the allowable use of antlerless deer tags. These tags are now legal tender in every county (minus nearly all public lands) up through November 28th.
Consequently, those archery deer hunters who are going out now may be focusing more of their attention on aiming to bag an antlered animal, McCoy speculates.
“In my mind these hunters may not be so willing to take a doe in the warm weather knowing they’ll have more opportunity to hunt an antlerless deer later on when it’s not so hot to track a deer and drag it out of the woods,” McCoy said.
Even so, says McCoy, a quick weather change to cooler temperatures and all could translate into a fast recovery in the deer kill.
“It’s just not been good deer-hunting weather,” McCoy said.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
JFrischk4@gmail.com
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