# Ohio's most knowledgeable Deer guy



## The Outdoor Connection (Jan 21, 2012)

We affectionately call him The Deer Commander OR His Excellency, referring to Mike Tonkovich from the ODNR. This is thee man who literally sets the deer heard every year; including dates, zones, bag and everything buck & doe. Its even been said by others that Mike has named each one of our half million whitetail's here in OH. Pretty impressive! With deer season quickly approaching (archers first) hear the latest from the Division of Wildlife on our new Sunday MORNing show (tomorrow), which now airs 10-11:30a on 980-AM or stream it > http://www.wone.com/onair/outdoor-connection-418/


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## seang22 (Mar 3, 2014)

Cool I'll check it out


Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire


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## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

Yeah he knows his stuff, but understand the non scientific influences on his job/suggestions, ie: Farm Bureau & insurance Companies. In private, I'm guessing they'd be slightly different, but he has a very tough job trying to please everyone, which we all know is impossible. Would still love to see the science behind the calculation method for estimating Ohio's deer herd since it changed 10 or 15 years ago & the herd numbers jumped by nearly 50% !!


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

I've heard some more colorful nicknames for him that can't be repeated here. I've heard his rhetoric plenty.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

My son spent over an hour just talking deer hunting with Mike after one of the regional meetings. I thought that was pretty cool for him to spend that time with 3-4 passionate 20 year-olds. I also had the chance to share some dialogue with him a couple years back via e-mail. He replied 2-3 times and provided me with some detailed data for my county. I don't agree with all the decisions he makes but I admire him for tackling that job. That is probably the single toughest job anyone could have working for the DNR.


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