# Checking Deer



## fshnteachr (Jun 9, 2007)

I am new to the deer hunting game....have been preparing for two years by learning and going with other folks etc...now this year I am going solo. I have all my equipment and am pumped up.

I hope I am not jinxing myself with the deer "gods"  but what do you do with a deer if you get one on a Sunday? I am hunting around Greene Co. in western Ohio and I cannot find a checkstation close by that is open on Sunday according to the ODNR website. Do you take the deer home and check it Monday? Another question, I do not have a pick up truck. Does anyone know if transporting it home in the trunk of a car is bad for any reason? Lastly, any good places in my area to take it to be butchered? (relatively cheap)

Again, I know I need to actually GET A DEER FIRST, but I do want to be prepared if I am lucky. Any help you guys can give on the "post-kill" would be awesome. 

TRYING TO LEARN!! This site is awesome for us newbies!


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## swantucky (Dec 21, 2004)

I have the same problem on Sundays. I take it in the next morning, sucks when its warm out, you need to keep the carcass in the shade and the cavity full of ice. I don't see any problem other than the blood in the trunk, I did it for years. I carried a tarp to cover things up.


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## squid_1 (Jun 2, 2005)

You can drive to an adjacent county. That gives you montgomery,clark, madison and warren counties. Your trunk will be ok unless its huge. I would carry a tarp just in case and have some buddies cell phone numbers handy you might need help dragging. Good luck


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I agree with the earlier advice given. As was mentioned it is tough in warm conditions when you may otherwise want to skin and process the deer the same day.

If you really don't have a checking station in the county that is open on Sundays I believe I would contact someone at the ODNR and bring that to their attention. It seems to me that every county should have a Sunday option for checking deer. It may not make a difference this season but perhaps it will for next year.


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## swantucky (Dec 21, 2004)

Another option I just thought of is to contact you local warden and see if he might check it in for you. I know when we have our "Wheelin' Sportsman" turkey hunt in the spring our guy stops by to tag the birds.

One thing to watch taking a deer to an adjoining county is what sort of permit you are using and the regulations in that county.(different zones??) A buddy used an urban tag in Lucas county on a Sunday a few years back, he checked the deer in Fulton county. It was HOout and he wanted to get it butchered quickly. Well a week later the warden shows up at his house with a ticket, urban deer must be checked in the county of kill. Cost him $205, plus court costs. He was in violation but you would think they would cut him a little slack, if he was trying to poach he would have just butchered it and that would have been the end of it.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

swantucky said:


> One thing to watch taking a deer to an adjoining county is what sort of permit you are using and the regulations in that county.(different zones??) A buddy used an urban tag in Lucas county on a Sunday a few years back, he checked the deer in Fulton county. It was HOout and he wanted to get it butchered quickly. Well a week later the warden shows up at his house with a ticket, urban deer must be checked in the county of kill. Cost him $205, plus court costs. He was in violation but you would think they would cut him a little slack, if he was trying to poach he would have just butchered it and that would have been the end of it.


That is a bunch of bull. How about the checking station being responsible enough to tell him that at the time? If they checked it in and he wrote it up as the right county I believe I would have fought that one.


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## swantucky (Dec 21, 2004)

bkr43050 said:


> That is a bunch of bull. How about the checking station being responsible enough to tell him that at the time? If they checked it in and he wrote it up as the right county I believe I would have fought that one.


He had his day in court. The judge all but called him a poacher and let the fine stand. He had a few choice words for the judge and was escorted to the pay window and out the door by deputies. It really was a bunch of crap. I have hunted with the guy for years and he is as honest a guy you will ever meet. I heard a that like 2010 there are going to go to a computer/telephone check in system that will eliminate these problems.


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## BuckEyeBigBuck13 (Oct 7, 2006)

well check around cuz like gander mts check in and some gas stations


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## HookUpFishOn (Apr 29, 2005)

Gander Mountain in Huber Heights is open on Sunday 10am-6pm. If you are using a reular tag. If it is an antlerless tag, hang it from a tree, pack it with ice and wrap a tarp around it. Read up a little on aging meat. http://www.chefdepot.net/agingwildgame.htm It actually makes the meat more tender if you let it hang for a while, but certain temperatures change the amount of time you should hang it. Remember to read you hunting regs. If you kill a deer on the last day of any season, you have to check it that day. Keep that in mind. If you need any help this season with dragging, field dressing, tracking, etc. give me a call, (937)367-7488. My name is Dan and I live in Montgomery County, north of Dayton. Good luck this season!


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## AEFISHING (Apr 25, 2004)

well starting in 2009 or 2010 this will all change because Ohio is finally going to the system where all you need to do is call in your kill to check it in. Check ODNR website for more detials. Kentucky has had this for awhile and some complain but I think it is great.


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## fshnteachr (Jun 9, 2007)

I read that....I think the tele-check sounds awesome.


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## Fishstix (Aug 16, 2005)

I think the automated call in is a terrible idea. I think this will lead to more people not checking deer in. I know that happens now, but I feel it will get worse if they go to the call in system.

I hunt with a bunch of guys from North Carolina and they do the same thing. One of them told me that there are many people in NC who don't call in their kills.


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## swantucky (Dec 21, 2004)

Fishstix said:


> I think the automated call in is a terrible idea. I think this will lead to more people not checking deer in. I know that happens now, but I feel it will get worse if they go to the call in system.
> 
> I hunt with a bunch of guys from North Carolina and they do the same thing. One of them told me that there are many people in NC who don't call in their kills.


My buddy in the Carolinas told me the same thing. He said unless someone shoots a big buck hardly anybody checks them in. He told me more than a few people laugh at him when he tells them he calls his in.


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## AEFISHING (Apr 25, 2004)

Kentucky processors require a tag # each time you deliver a deer so that is good thing but there will always be dishonest people even now with the check in stations. I have hunted Kentucky for the past 5 years and have never not called one in. I personally love it.


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## fshnteachr (Jun 9, 2007)

There will always be dishonest people out there....for those of us honest hunters I like the tele-check idea, if simply for the Sunday issue I was discussing earlier.


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## Fishstix (Aug 16, 2005)

Yeah...but think about all the people who butcher their own deer. That would be an easy way to not call your deer in because he don't have to check it in to anyone.

I'm just saying I think it is a bad idea.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I am still not sure how I feel about the call-in system.

Convenience? Certainly yes.

Traceability and accountability? I am not so sure about that one. The need to attach a temporary tag and then a permanent issued tag to the deer offers a much more visual means of ensuring that the rules are followed. With the new rules you would have no clue whether someone tagged the deer. They can simply say they did. I am sure the law enforcement will have a means of tracking the tag number back but who knows whether that is tracked to the deer they called in? The state makes a lot of money from their sales of deer tags. It seems that they should be concerned with this loss of revenue.


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## Carpn (Apr 5, 2004)

I'd be all for some sorta online or telicheck system. In other states you usually have to attach your tempory tag when you take a deer and then that become your permanent tag. The people that break the law are going to do so regardless of the rules. Why should honest folks pay the consequences for people who are going to find a way to break the law one way or another.


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## kingfisherie (Sep 22, 2007)

i have been bow hunting for 35 years and ohios check stations need to go. the computer system will work . pa. has a similar system it works fine if you poach you will be caught eventually i have let deer go because of the thought of trying to check a deer in so i can get it cooled out fast if its above 60 degrees and you dont skin and cool and get the body heat out fast you have ruined your meat the ice in the cavity wont work most heat is held in the rump and shoulder area if its skinned right away and boned out then put in a feezer or fidge your ok .sure guys hang them in trees all week but for me i want my meat fresh and clean and quickly processed you can locate check stations on the odnr website but make sure you call because sometimes they change there minds about checking deer i cant tell you how many nights i have drove around looking for someone to check a deer in and its getting late and i have to get to work at 5.00am real bummer .prepare before you hunt or you will have a spoiled deer no one wants to eat good luck. plenty of deer to be had this year !


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I do hope that the telecheck system works as smooth as is mentioned here. I don't have any exposure to other states that do it so I have nothing to base it on. As Kingfisherie mentioned the advantage of not driving around looking for a checking station is huge. Who knows? They may get more deer taken with that sort of system from folks that don't want to hassle with the drive to a checking station just for a doe.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

> Yeah...but think about all the people who butcher their own deer. That would be an easy way to not call your deer in because he don't have to check it in to anyone.


I butcher my own, and what's making me check my deer now? Nothing. It won't really be any different in that regard.


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## ClickerCrazy (Feb 4, 2006)

What I'm worried about is people that shoot a buck and then see a bigger one a few weeks later and checks it in as a doe, or worse yet, checks in 5 or 6 bucks as does. 
I like the idea, I'm just afraid it will hurt the overall herd of bucks that we are finally starting to establish in the state.


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## BuckEyeBigBuck13 (Oct 7, 2006)

the person who said that thay were switching it to call ins next year try to find me a url i would love to read it


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## fshnteachr (Jun 9, 2007)

It's starting in 2010

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Default.aspx?tabid=20392


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

> I'm just afraid it will hurt the overall herd of bucks that we are finally starting to establish in the state.


Are you new to Ohio? The Ohio deer herd has been one of the healthiest in the nation for many, many years.


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## AEFISHING (Apr 25, 2004)

Kentucky has a website that lists your name and all the deer you have called in throughout the year. I know several people that have got busted for saying they got this doe or buck but their name not showing up on the site. They have ways to catch you but again if you really want to break the law then no one is saying it can't and won't be done.

http://fw.ky.gov/app1/harvestdcn.aspx


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

I used to hunt Ky and it's a great system, my self and the group I hunted with always checked our deer, but we always check them in Ohio and Indiana.
Honest people are honest people. 

Kingfisheire is exactly right, I've passed so many weekday deer due to this outdated system. I actually think having to runall over the place trying to find a check station open encourages people to NOT check in their deer. If you shoot a deer late in the day especially during daylight savings time, then by the time you track it, drag it out out the woods and run it to the check in station it could be too late to find something open. I ran into this a few times and it's not fun. I want to get the meat cooled as soon as possible. I had heard it will start next year, it won't come soon enough for me.


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## bulafisherman (Apr 11, 2004)

I think its a great idea, with todays lifestyles and tecnology it was just a matter of time.


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## noweight (Mar 16, 2008)

I have hunted most of my life in the West where mandatory checking of every deer killed is mostly unheard of. Management of deer herds has not suffered out there, nor are the woods full of poachers. Of course there are some. Aren't there always? But I suspect the percentages stay pretty constant. I can't imagine that Ohio would be Sooo different? 


Anyway, since the system is in place, I am glad to see Ohio moving away from same-day, physical checks of whole animals. It will mean I can get meat on ice more quickly when the weather is warm, and that is always a good thing. 
I don't think the hunting will suffer. I would bet on it.


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

I shot a doe last year in Carroll County. As I was gutting it, it started to snow, and snow, and snow. I drove to Waynesburg to check it in and almost ran off the road several times the snow was so bad. The 15 mile drive took me almost 2hrs of knuckle busting fun to get there and back. Oh, and two people did run off the road into the ditch. So running around looking for checkin stations can also put you at risk in foul weather.


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