# 2005 muzzleloader season



## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

well i just finished up my 2005 muzzleloader season here in ohio.
first off i want to take a minute to thank the ODNR for scheduling
the season during the middle of the week (from tues to fri), which
was just plain stupid!! there was hardly anyone out hunting which
meant few people moving the deer around which pretty much kept them
on their beds all week, that and the unseasonably warm weather that
we had didnt help either. i sat tuesday morning and watched 10
squirrels playing all around me and saw a group of around 25 young
turkey but didnt see a deer from 7 am to noon. i went home grabbed
lunch and waited till 230 pm to go back out sat in my blind till 445
pm and fell asleep , im not sure what woke me up but i woke up at
5pm and had a large deer standing about 10 yds from my blind. i
calmed myself down waited for the deer to step behind a tree raised
up my gun and waited. it seemed like 5 minutes before the deer
stepped out for me and i sighted down and took the shot, when i fired
the deer tore down the hill and disappeared. i knew i couldnt have
possibly missed, so i got up and checked for blood all i found was a
bunch of grey hair everywhere. i decided to go home and get my wife
renee for help and come back, i just had major surgery in september.
well we got back around630 with flashlights went back to where i
found the hair and started checking for a blood trail, i didnt find a
drop of blood anywhere so i started making ever widening circles. i
finally found a few small drops of blood, i followed the blood for
around 30 yds, it finally started bleeding alittle more. i was
finding spots about the size of your fist but not much more. after
about 50 yds the blood stopped, i turned around and told renee well
we aint gonna find this deer and just happened to shine my light
around and there was my deer laying in a pile of brush. the deer had
gotten way up under this pile of brush all i could see was the head
sticking out. i cant believe i even found it, well anyways i dragged
the deer out of the brush to field dress it and realized it was a
nice deer around 175 lbs and it was a BUCK. it had shed its antlers
already which i think is pretty unusual ???? well i had one more tag
to fill so i hunted the rest of season wednesday, thursday and
friday. wednesday i hunted all day and didnt see a deer. thursday i
jumped a NICE buck with a NICE RACK as i was walking into my blind
and that was all i saw all day. i hunted all day friday too and didnt
see a deer ??? i think the hunting was so lousy because of the season
being in the middle of the week and there was no hunting pressure at
all in my area. What do you all think ??? here in ohio they are
wanting to thin the herd but yet they schedule the season during the
week when everyone has to work. DUH !!

Brian Huff
Dennison Ohio


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

I actually enjoyed the Tues. - Fri. hunting.Was kind of peaceful for a change.conrats on finding Your deer.


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## rattletraprex (Sep 1, 2005)

I'm all for them giving us working people time to hunt.Makes sense they would have a Sat.& Sun.for us poor slobs who have to work.You can bet next year I'll give my 2cts. worth on that one.Saw nothing Tues.and couldn't get out till Fri. afternoon but did see 8 deer just not at the right place at the right time.Not to worry still have bow.


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## VW Angler (Feb 15, 2005)

I can not believe the ODNR is'nt more willing to propose a more hunter friendly muzzleloader season, especially with the abundance of deer in this state. Personally, I would like to see it a week long season.Why not the 1st or 2nd week in January.And it should definately fall over a weekend for people who have to work during the week!


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

You guys that are complaining about the season dates need to get a little of the history of why it was changed from early January to the week between Christmas and New Years.

It was changed because hunters asked for it to be changed! A lot of people have time off over the holidays and didn't have any vacation time available to be used in early January. The ODNR complied with the wishes of the hunters attending the game hearings and changed the season.

The date of Dec 27th was set as the start date each year. This start date 2 days after Christmas would allow for no interference with the Christmas or New Years holidays and family plans.

Due the fact that this season starts on the same DATE each year versus the same day of the week like gun season the days of season will rotate through a complete cycle each 7 years.

If the schedule doesn't change from it's current format it will be 2011 before there is another season that includes no weekend days

2006 - Wed - Sat
2007 - Thurs - Sun
2008 - Fri - Mon
2009 - Sat - Tues
2010 - Sun - Wed
2011 - Mon - Thurs
2012 - Tues - Fri Same as this year


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## VW Angler (Feb 15, 2005)

Sorry I spoke up!


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## AEFISHING (Apr 25, 2004)

I agree the ODNR is a joke with wanting to thin the herd and then they pull this crap. Ohio has one good thing going for them and that is a long bow season and they allow crossbows. Compare our gun seasons to other states and ours is a joke.


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

i agree, we could go to a 2 or 3 week gun season or even a month. if the ODNR really wants to thin the herd. some of the southern states have very liberal deer gun seasons and they have big deer herds. correct me if im wrong but dont they allow a deer per day for the entire season in some states ??? by spreading the season out over a few weeks maybe it would cut down on hunting accidents by not forcing so many hunters into the woods in a one week period of time. just a thought !!


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## Onion (Apr 10, 2004)

tcba1987 said:


> i agree, we could go to a 2 or 3 week gun season or even a month. if the ODNR really wants to thin the herd. some of the southern states have very liberal deer gun seasons and they have big deer herds. correct me if im wrong but dont they allow a deer per day for the entire season in some states ??? by spreading the season out over a few weeks maybe it would cut down on hunting accidents by not forcing so many hunters into the woods in a one week period of time. just a thought !!



Yeah, they have massive herds of does. People from Alabama pay thousands of dollars to come and hunt here for big bucks. A herd will respond to massive hunting pressure with enormous doe production.

The ODNR is one of the best in the business at managing the deer herd. They have done a great job so far and things are just fine the way they are. 

I am lucky enough to have 3 weeks vacation each year. 1 goes for gun season, one goes for a few days of muzzleloader and one gets split between a fishing trip and a few long archery weekends. The muzzleloader season is the same every year, if you like to hunt it plan your vacation for next years right now.


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## bulafisherman (Apr 11, 2004)

I think it depends on where your located at I am in extreme northeast ohio,conneaut, 3 miles from the pa border and about 10 mins from lake Erie, we hunted weds,my son went out thurs, and than again fri, all told we saw over 30 deer, three being bucks[we have and over population of does here it seems]the biggest buck a nice 8 point we have been seeing all fall up till before gun season we saw again weds my buddy kicked him up in our 30 ac golden rod and redbrush field next door,he was bedded down 30 yards off the road right behind a no hunting sign, go figure! he will be around next year,anyways, we had lots of rain, lots of missfires,a few misses and no deer, lots of fun nevertheless, I only saw one hunter all week that was my neighbor on fri, just got a crossbow on ebay so have till the end Jan


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## Papascott (Apr 22, 2004)

I LOVE how every winter the bucket biologists start start trash talking the ODNR. They work very herd and take alot of verbal abuse for being excellent at their jobs. I am sure some of you guys would love to tell us what you do for a living so any if us that know absolutely nothing about it pick your job apart and tell you how you are doing it all wrong because it is done alot different in some southern state.

I for one am proud to live here in Ohio am truly grateful for ODNR and the awesome job they do. Where else in the world can you have TROPHY whitetails available on public land, sure you see all those Huge texas bucks on TV, all shot off of high fenced ranches or leases. And while at it how about lake erie, people all over the country come here to fish for eyes but all you ever hear about is how bad the ODNR is screwing that up.

Most people that do the complaining are the ones who are clueless to the truth. The date for the State wide primitive season was chosen by the hunters, if you do not like it voice your concerns to the ODNR but please do not sit here and bad mouth a group of highly trained professionals because you do not like something. And if want to shoot a deer a day move to South Carolina so you can tell them, in a few years, that they do an aweful job too, because you hunted every day, saw 50 deer a day and no Bucks???

I appologise if I sounded to harsh but I feel very strongly in what the ODNR does and tries to do, even with the constant bad mouthing they receive. If anyone wants to meet a group of professionals that truly love their job go to a speech or seminar being put on by the ODNR.

Scott


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2006)

I think we should go with out a gun season at all. Gun season flat out sucks and a few people can ruin it for everyone. Plus there are WAY to many deer killed during gun season as it is, and extending the season would mean total destruction to the few deer we do have around my area.


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## ARGEE (Apr 5, 2004)

Scott Is Right Odnr Does A Good Job,,thats Why We Have Giant Bucks In Ohio....ohio Is Like No.5 In The Country For Big Bucks


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## DaleM (Apr 5, 2004)

Trap, your post makes no sence at all. "No gun season at all" Check back the last 20 plus years and you will see the number of deer in this state has increased every year. Even one year w/o a gun season would be a total disaster. I'm not sure where you live but in my area we see more and more deer every year. I'm not sure why you say gun hunters suck and to many deer are killed. Maybe you need to hook up with a different group of people in a different part of the state and I think you would see things a little different. 
I can only guess you have had a bad expearence with a gun hunter at sometime. Believe me there are bad gun hunters but please don't group all gun hunters in the same group.Some of us take pride and do things legally.
Give yourself a few more years of serious hunting then make a decission on the effects of hunting both gun and bow. I have hunted for well over 40 years and see nothing but good things that have been done in this state. I'm not sure how long you have hunted but by your age it hasn't been to long. Nothing wrong with that but when you have 10-15 years of hunting behind you I think you will see things different. Try to hook up with some of the older more expearenced hunters and you will learn a lot of new ways and ideas to deer hunt and why the law allows gun seasons as well as bow seasons. No way could just a bow season help control the over population of deer we see every year.


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## catfish_hunter (May 31, 2005)

Having another week for Gun season would be nice...It sucks that Muzzleloader was in the middle of the week everyone agrees on that but yes it does start the same date every year...We just get the shaft every couple years and its all weekdays which sucks...

This whole deer season this year sucked if you ask me...The weather was horrible and the deer just didnt move...


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## DarbyMan (Dec 11, 2005)

The negativity is astounding. We live in a state where an indiviual can take up to 7 deer a year.(depending on where you hunt) There are very few states that have that liberal of a bag limit. Yes the weather sucked but you got to hunting right? If you all are so unhappy go to a ranch and pay for a deer. ODNR is not perfect but they do their best to increase bag limits and access. Our bow season is one of the longest in the country and you can use a crossbow.
My son and I cherish the time we spend together, and to me that's what counts.The deer will always be there the time won't.
And yes Ohio is in the top five nationally for trophy bucks.
GUN WEEK RULES!


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

So anyways back to muzzleloading results,please?


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## AEFISHING (Apr 25, 2004)

I think you will have to wait until next season to get those results. Remember it was during the week and not to many hunted so the deer weren't moving is what I heard. I was working. Trap you crack me up!!!


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## Dawitner (Apr 25, 2004)

Do you remember the one year that gun season was 2 weeks long ? Maybe in 2000 I cant quite remember. Being in the woods on the second week was great, there was NO ONE in the woods. All of the guys that complained the season was not long enough did not support it so guess what, it went away. 

What I would like to see is a split muzzloader season, maybe 4 days between christmans and new years like we currently have, then 2-3 days after the first of the year. It's almost aways cold with snow in the first couple weeks of January plus if the numbers aren't what ODNR wants for the harvest they can make the January dates optional (at their choice). Any thoughts ???


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2006)

Maybe you should re-read my post. I never once wrote that gun hunters suck. I did However write that gun hunting season sucks. Keep in mind that this is just my opionion. 

I know that there are alot of good sportsman out there that hunt with a gun, ( myself included) but like I said a few bad ones can give them all a bad name. It seems more and more every year that the gun hunters shoot anything that moves and think that they can hunt wherever they want. Most of them dont even appreciate what they shoot.

And as far as the deer pop. goes, the ODNRs statists dont mean a darn thing to me. If you were to factor in other things such as poachers, lost deer, vehicles, etc.. the deer kill would probably be doubled every year. All the ODNR includes in there "statistics" is the number of deer that actually get checked in. Its reallly quite a joke and your a sucker if you beleive if you rely on that.

I KNOW as a hunter and outdoorsman that the deer population is very low in MY AREA. The same could be said for you. Come and hunt in my part of the state for a week and I think that you would change your mind.

And as far as my age and lack of experience goes, I wont even start. Im sick of getting hounded about that.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

traphunter said:


> And as far as my age and lack of experience goes, I wont even start. Im sick of getting hounded about that.


 You won't get any of that from me Trap.

The only thing I would like to add to the debate about the deer populations is that you are right that the numbers only reflect the legally tagged deer and not the poached and raod killed deer. However the fact that the reported number of deer continues to rise shold be an indication that the population is increasing. If there was a situation of overharvest it should show up within a year or two of the actual overharvest in that the legal harvest the subsequent years would decrease. I think what does happen more now with the larger number of tags moreso than perhaps in hte future is that you may see a greater range of densities of deer from one property to another during and after deer season. But as a whole for a given county I do tend to believe the numbers that the ODNR publishes for the deer kills.

I can not personally see a reason that the ODNR would have to deceive the public into believing inflated deer harvests numbers. The end result would be a deterioration of the deer population and and a decrease in revenue for the ODNR. They make an awful lot of money from the deer hunting and would be foolish to take away from that pot.

I have not seen nearly as many deer in the last couple of years on my property as well but I know that when I go a few miles away I am seeing huge numbers so that leads me to believe that the density in the county is still high. I know that I have a couple of groups on the bordering properties that hit them pretty hard during slug season. I am wondering if perhaps that is the situation you are dealing with?


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## bulafisherman (Apr 11, 2004)

couldn t disagree with you more trap hunter, during gun season we have lots of hunters around here where I live and the deer are as plentilyfull as ever,I took my new crossbow out tonight and was not in my stand more than a half an hour and had 4 does come by, I was not able to get a shot but we have lots here, it just might be your geographical location,I also hunt the strip mines in muskingum and surounding countys every year,have for 15 years..... I see more deer down there now than ever before during gun season, I think the ohio deer herd is right on track, there is always room for improvment but I am not complaining by any means!!!


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

i remember when we had the 2 week season a few years ago , and it was really quiet during the second week of season, which was kinda nice. the hunting pressure was down for the second week but it gave guys who couldnt get the first week off a second chance to gun hunt. i think that works, like i said before in preventing a few accidents by not forcing so many hunters into the woods at one time. as far as all of you screaming and ranting and raving about all wed have is does if we extended the seasons or had more liberal rules as far as how many we could kill. well you all could be part of the problem with the deer herd now, i didnt know a deer had to have antlers to be a deer ??? some people hunt does for the meat and get as much enjoyment out of shooting a doe as a trophy buck. i have killed BOTH and enjoyed killing my does as much as the bucks ive killed. i hunt a farm where you can shoot bucks or does but the farms on either side of me are buck hunters, you know what happens every year ??? i see 75 does to 3 or 4 bucks on the farm i hunt because they dont harvest enough does to keep any kind of balance to the herd. then they come over the fence lines and run off our hills and push everything toward their property but post the HELL out of their ground. id like to see the ODNR have a doe only season just one year and see how many hunters would be out hunting and also see the improvement it would make as far as the number of bucks harvested and the size of the bucks harvested the following year. i know guys who will shoot a young 4-6 pt buck and pass does up all week, thats just crazy !!! i know they (ODNR) do a great job in general , but just saying some of the laws and seasons COULD be improved and that just my opinion . that is what these boards are for right ?? open discussion and to state your opinions all though not everyone will agree with you all of the time ??? here in tuscarawas county we have one of the largest if not the largest harvest of deers every year. with thousands of hunters from other counties invading all of the available public hunting grounds that weve got and i still see literally hundreds of deer dead on the roads. i dont think they are thinning the herd much when the number of deer killed keeps going up every year and the herd keeps growing. that not even taking into consideration all the poaching that goes on in this area and all areas. just my opinions now let the tongue lashings begin.


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## Onion (Apr 10, 2004)

I wasn't screaming about anything first of all. All I am saying is that given the choice between a six pointer and a doe, the average hunter (especially a hunter with limited field time) will choose the 6-point. That leads to a doe-heavy population. That is what they have in the South.

As far as "well you all could be part of the problem with the deer herd now, i didnt know a deer had to have antlers to be a deer ???".

I have 3 deer this year, 2 does and an 8 pointer I shot on Thursday.

I still maintain that the gun and muzzleloader seasons are at the same time every year. Folks need to plan for taking some vacation time during that time or take up bow hunting.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I think another factor that many of us do not fully recognize (myself included) is the cost of managing a slug season or muzzleloader season. The ODNR has a lot of manpower allocated to the slug season week and muzzleloader week. This allocation of manpower costs the ODNR money. I had heard in the past that the primary reason they abandoned the two week slug season was because they could not justify the cost of manning a second week for no more deer than what were harvested as compared to other years. I believe the year that they had the two week season yielded right at about the same as the years prior and the years following. I know in my area the majority of folks still used the first week of the season anyway.

I think perhaps folks in many areas would be better off if they did tag out every year rather than only going after that buck. A reduction of does would improve the overall quality of the deer herd. But not everyone enjoys venison enough to consume three deer a year.


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## Mrk4428 (Jun 10, 2004)

The ODNR has had antlerless gun weekends as well in the past. I shot my first deer on one of those weekends when I was 13


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## swantucky (Dec 21, 2004)

When I started hunting twenty-some years ago I can remember APPLYING for a doe permit in Lucas county. Now you can take 5 does a year on urban permits. The dnr does a fine job as far as I am concerned. The bucks taken in Ohio every year are some of the largest in the WORLD!! Is every area as good as another?? Of course not Ohio is a large and diverse state with many types of habitat, hunting styles, mostly public land, mostly private land, hills, farm country, and on and on. There is no way everyone is gonna be 100% happy with the way the dnr manages the herd.

I think the harvest #'s are accurate as far as what is checked in, what incentive does the dnr have to lie about it??? Do people really think that the illegal harvest, road kill, and natural mortality are not figured into the bag limits???? I hunt northern Michigan and I can tell you Ohio is way ahead with their management practices. In Mich you don't even have to check your deer in!! How can they have any idea of how many deer are harvested???? Surveys?? That does not in my opinion give near as accurate data as what Ohio has.

I think the seasons should stay as they are. The short gun season after the rut is why we have the huge bucks we do.(agian look at Mich. 2 weeks of gun and 2 buck tags) I can understand some people's frustration with the muzzleloader season falling where it did this year but as others have said save a vacation day or two and you will be fine.


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## TritonBill (Apr 9, 2004)

I think it was great to have the Muzzleloader season during the week between the holidays. I also think the ODNR does a great job managing our wildlife and fisheries. It's not a trivial job to play with nature and they definately put a lot of work into it so that we may enjoy our hobbies that we do outdoors!


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## AEFISHING (Apr 25, 2004)

Those days are tough to get off where I work because all the non hunters want it off. I think the ODNR is fine. I just get mad that I can't find any non public land to hunt. I guess I need to get rich and buy some.


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## steelmagoo (Apr 13, 2004)

I shot a really small doe on Thursday, around 10:30 am on a farm in Ashtabula county. Took the shot at about 10 yards and the deer was dead by the time the smoke cleared, it never took a step. 50 cal Powerbelt severed the heart from the aorta. Pan fried the heart and part of the liver with onion, garlic, peppers, and mushrooms that night. Saw nothing on Friday. Butchered it on Sunday. Ate tenderloin last night. Makin a little sausage too. Didn't get a ton of meat, but what I got is _tender_.

P.S.
Somebody checked in an 18 pointer on Friday at the gas station in Hartsgrove. Monster buck :!


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

Im one of those guys who would like to see a point restriction.Like You cant shoot any bucks under 6 points.I have no problem with something like that.


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## Onion (Apr 10, 2004)

a227986 said:


> Those days are tough to get off where I work because all the non hunters want it off. I think the ODNR is fine. I just get mad that I can't find any non public land to hunt. I guess I need to get rich and buy some.


Send your request in now if you can.

I just told my boss I would be taking those days off.


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## bulafisherman (Apr 11, 2004)

I have to agree with you on the quality of meat from a young doe, two of the 4 deer in our freezer this year are young does, it is some of the best eating that can be had anywhere! I have been lucky enough to shoot a few big bucks and the taste between them and the young deer can t be compared In my opinion.


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