# how many agree?



## brummy (Mar 15, 2006)

i have been seeing alot of post rants and raves about deer population. And I have also been involved in a few. just wondering how many agree that the deer bag limit should be decreased? Not sure but I think maybe if enough of us stand together we may be able to get the odnr to work on this. I myself would really like to see it dropped back to 2 or maybe even 1 here in the corner of ross highland and fayette i know fayette has dropped. but I think ross and highland should also. If you look the numbers are way down we all understand that. But are they also taking all other factors in to consideration (wounded and not found deer, vehical kills, farmers permits, predator kills, poachers, ect. ect.) Lets see how far this gets. and then maybe we can organize somthing for odnr. thank you.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

I personally would like to see deer herd management goals established with much smaller management zones. 

There are specific geographies where bag limit reductions would seem to make sense and other areas where populations seem to be as healthy as ever.

I know the DNR takes county populations into account when establishing the deer zones and bag limits. Look at Fayette county, it is an island in A zone surrounded by zone B and C. Maybe more counties, with apparently reduced populations, currently in Zones B & C will be placed in zones with lower bag limits in the future.

I do think it is a good idea for hunters to express their opinions with the DNR, positive or negative


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## Scum_Frog (Apr 3, 2009)

I definitely would like to see the limit brought down.....a girl my wife works with...she was bragging how her husband has killed 9 deer so far this year.....its just the two of them....where is all this meat going? IF he is even keeping the deer he shoots or just cutting off the head....kinda ticks me off.....1 buck 2 doe in all of ohio. If three deer isnt enough for one person/family start hunting other game.


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## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

You'll have to fight the insurance companies. They like limits up due to all the accident claims they have to pay.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

Whaler said:


> You'll have to fight the insurance companies. They like limits up due to all the accident claims they have to pay.


You are right that the insurance companies have a strong vested interest but they always have. And we as sportsmen have not always had to give in to them totally so I think there is room for compromise.

I agree with Kim's view of the more specific control of limits. The deer population is clearly not laid out in a neat pattern as the zone map suggests. There are areas that are just more capable of carrying large numbers due to various factors.


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## Troy Dave (Jan 26, 2007)

I say lower the tag prices and thin them out some more. They either eat or shread everything I plant in my yard and I live in the country. The population is still up but they don't move around much in the day any more. All the farms are wiping out the fence rows to make 300 acre open fields and the other deer travel zones that were not farmable are filling up with houses and those people put in 10 to 15 acres of open lawn. The farm I've hunted for years is about worthless now. I can't even shoot the deer in my yard any more because they only come out after dark now.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Too bad they can't relocate all the deer in Solon and Mentor. We're tripping over them in the NE.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I have been using trailcams to confirm the frequency of deer travel in the area. There are still a few deer in the area. Some are nocturnal, others are not so much so but bottom line is that the number of deer even caught on camera is down.


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## Catproinnovations (Dec 8, 2009)

I honestly dont think its down at all I hunted Carrol county this year and saw more than enough deer. Not as many bucks during the rut as last year but I blame that on the weather being so hot during that without the normal coldsnap to get em goin like usual. Just changed my hunting the rut habits a little and had no problem locating shooter bucks. I also blame not seein as much roadkill on the side of the highway on the crappy rut. Thats why thier hit that time of year so much cause their chasin does.

as for lowering the bag limit I disagree I enjoy my fair share of deer meat and not buying beef all year. I enjoy sitting in the woods and hunting not only for my buck for the year but also doe's. By takin the limit down that wipes out both of those. Maybe people should change their hunting habits on where they sit by not using the same stand all season. Scout more concentrate on deer movements and habits they have that year. Its not always the same year to year deer change just like the many other things. 

So I say no leave the limits alone.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

Catproinnovations said:


> Maybe people should change their hunting habits on where they sit by not using the same stand all season. Scout more concentrate on deer movements and habits they have that year. Its not always the same year to year deer change just like the many other things.
> 
> So I say no leave the limits alone.


I have 56 acres of land that varies from crop fields to brush to woods and we tried all of these areas. I have three boys along with me and even at times a couple of others who tried their luck at our place. Every single one of us came away with the same impression that there were fewer deer. Trailcam activity also supports this. On top of that there are countless folks in the area echoing those comments. You will have a hard time convincing and the rest of these guys that we are just not hunting the right places. I am not implying that there are no deer around because there are still some. I just get a bit nervous when the numbers dwindle as rpaidly as they have in the last couple of years.

It sounds as if your area is still in good shape and I have heard the same from a couple others who hunt in other parts of the state. I have a buddy who grew up in Knox county and hunted his whole life here and Holmes and Muskingum counties. He lives in the western part of the state and hunts Shelby county. He commented the other day that this year he has been seeing far more deer in Shelby county than any recent trips to Holmes and Knox. Some areas have held steady and some have even flourished. It just seems that more of the Zone C counties have dropped from what I am hearing.


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## DCopas (Jul 20, 2011)

I think the state might have underestimated the effects of the Blue Tongue disease that we had a few years back go through the herd, at least in some areas were it was really bad. I know one land owner that found 17 bucks dead on his farm (he owns around 900 acres) from the disease, two that were in 160s and several 130-140 inch bucks, and also numerous does. I also know another farmer that killed over 60 deer on his farm in one year with "control" permits or so he said. Can you really get that many control tags??? Being a taxidermists son, I get to see a lot of good quality deer come in. I would have to say, no matter the numbers, that the buck quality in Ohio is getting better by leaps and bounds in the last 10 years. Trophy management is definitely spreading good genetics.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

DCopas said:


> I think the state might have underestimated the effects of the Blue Tongue disease that we had a few years back go through the herd, at least in some areas were it was really bad. I know one land owner that found 17 bucks dead on his farm (he owns around 900 acres) from the disease, two that were in 160s and several 130-140 inch bucks, and also numerous does. I also know another farmer that killed over 60 deer on his farm in one year with "control" permits or so he said. Can you really get that many control tags??? Being a taxidermists son, I get to see a lot of good quality deer come in. I would have to say, no matter the numbers, that the buck quality in Ohio is getting better by leaps and bounds in the last 10 years. Trophy management is definitely spreading good genetics.


It's amazing how many crop damage permits they issue. I know a farmer that got 120 permits last year. He only used around 30. Another guy down the road owns 1 1/2 acres, has a garden that he does NOT sell out of and has gotten 4 doe permits the last 3 years to be killed by any means necessary. I've heard he has had guys fill those tags for him all 3 years.... i'm sure this has an impact, but i'm not sure it's as much as we put into it. They've been giving these permits out for quite a few years and the population only started falling for the last 4-5.....

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## sam kegg (Jun 23, 2007)

location location location.lol depends where u go


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## Timmypage16 (Jul 12, 2005)

I doubt many people even kill fill their bag limits. I would assume that even if the bag limit was reduced to say 3, that the years total harvest would hardly change because the bag limit is not filled by many. However, I do think that habitat fragmentation and loss hurt the deer population. Also, some of the kills permits are a bit of overkill.

On a positive note, there are still plenty of deer out there though, and I do not feel that it is a crisis. The state and department of ag. want less deer and that is there management goal. Deer are not going to be hunted off the landscape, just to a healthy population size. 750,000 is a bit excessive and that number could be dropped a little with out much impact on hunters success. This years lack of success could be a result of the weather, or decrease in deer herd. The only way we will find out if it is result of a decrease in deer population is to let the DNR collect data and analyse it.


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## Snook (Aug 19, 2008)

I've hunted three counties this year... Ashtabula,Tuscarwarus,and Coshocton. All private ground and hundreds of acres. The herd is down in all three area's! Yes, there are some deer but nothing compared to year's past. I could have filled all my tag's but have shot only one buck with the xbow. I know some pretty good hunters with some great land and all agree the herd is down. I hope the number of tag's is reduced next year.


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## KWaller (Oct 3, 2010)

I sure as heck agree. Perry county (where I hunt) is neighboring those big counties for deer like licking and muskingum county, perry just isn't as good. If someone shoots 6 deer out of a 200 acre farm, you will see a good decrease the next year, to be honest, no one needs 6 deer. The insurance companies and odnr don't have total control of us, could you imagine if we all went on a strike for a deer season and gettin 75% of people to only shoot 1 deer a season untill they dropped it. The deer season would BOOM! That next year

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## Bonemann (Jan 28, 2008)

I agree !!!

I have hunted Jefferson County when people got excited seeing good deer sign (late 60's) on through to seeing groups of 8 and 10 deer seemingly at every turn (during 90's).

The deer population (around here) has been changing my entire life. They are still out there (I saw deer every day of gun season this year) but not as many as in years past.

What can we do ? Talk to the folks you hunt with ? Tell them not to shoot so many does ? Give our input to the state ? We are limited in that we can only control ourselves and the hunting that we do.


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## Red1 (May 3, 2011)

I wholeheartedly agree. One deer is plenty. Maybe go back to a lottery system for a 2nd permit for an antlerless deer. But I don't think we'll have any luck trying to get the ODNR to change their regulations, because they're getting exactly what they want: a drastically reduced herd (between coyotes and hunters) to please the farmers and insurance companies. I think the only way to get their attention is for hunters to quit buying tags. Then their revenue will come down and they'll have to do something. As far as managing the deer herd goes, I think that's up to us hunters. It would help if we'd avoid shooting does. We need to leave them to breed and boost the population.


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## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Red1 said:


> I wholeheartedly agree. One deer is plenty. Maybe go back to a lottery system for a 2nd permit for an antlerless deer. But I don't think we'll have any luck trying to get the ODNR to change their regulations, because they're getting exactly what they want: a drastically reduced herd (between coyotes and hunters) to please the farmers and insurance companies. I think the only way to get their attention is for hunters to quit buying tags. Then their revenue will come down and they'll have to do something. As far as managing the deer herd goes, I think that's up to us hunters. It would help if we'd avoid shooting does. We need to leave them to breed and boost the population.


If say 1/2 of us make that pact and stop buying tags it would definitely boost the herd, but only to the point that the state would then add more tags to regain revenue and continue their quest for their ultimate goal which is to reduce the herd. We have to be careful of what we wish for....

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## kingofpercha (Mar 26, 2010)

I dont think that the deer herd is down substantially or at all for that matter. We have had a very warm fall and the deer have primarily been nocturnal. Ask anybody with a trail cam


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## KWaller (Oct 3, 2010)

bkr43050 said:


> I have 56 acres of land that varies from crop fields to brush to woods and we tried all of these areas. I have three boys along with me and even at times a couple of others who tried their luck at our place. Every single one of us came away with the same impression that there were fewer deer. Trailcam activity also supports this. On top of that there are countless folks in the area echoing those comments. You will have a hard time convincing and the rest of these guys that we are just not hunting the right places. I am not implying that there are no deer around because there are still some. I just get a bit nervous when the numbers dwindle as rpaidly as they have in the last couple of years.
> 
> It sounds as if your area is still in good shape and I have heard the same from a couple others who hunt in other parts of the state. I have a buddy who grew up in Knox county and hunted his whole life here and Holmes and Muskingum counties. He lives in the western part of the state and hunts Shelby county. He commented the other day that this year he has been seeing far more deer in Shelby county than any recent trips to Holmes and Knox. Some areas have held steady and some have even flourished. It just seems that more of the Zone C counties have dropped from what I am hearing.




They have dropped because the k mart Hunters come out and shoot 3 deer every year in a week, and people are shooting 6 "badly needed" deer. I think people need to quality deer manage more, take one or two doe and a mature buck, not 5 small does and a young 6 pt. If our population of deer must go down, let's already manage it and not shoot all the immature deer

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## ttomcik (Feb 9, 2007)

I think a big problem are crop damage permits for farmers and yes limits need lowered


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## jeffmo (Apr 7, 2004)

just my observations from what i have (or haven't i guess!!) witnessed in the last few years.i hunt in basically 2 counties,Pickaway & Vinton.in Vinton county i have seen fewer deer during the last two years than anytime in the last 25.this was the first year in probably 20 or so that i didn't see any while i was squirrel hunting in Vinton county.
where i live in Pickaway county i have farm fields on 3 sides of my property and a creek running behing my home.we usually see alot of deer throughout the year.this year has been very different.we had a fawn that apparently got seperated from it's Mother when the corn was tall and it stayed in our front lot.one time while mowing the same lot i had a buck run our of the corn and stood 10 yards in front of me for a couple of minutes.outside of those 2 instances we have seen ZERO deer.
i think that there is really no reason for the high number of deer that are allowed to be taken.a couple a year is plenty.


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## BigDub007 (Apr 1, 2010)

I am happy and greatful just to be able to hunt.... I do not take more than i need. In pataskala deer population is way up .....It worries me when my wife and baby are in the car....


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## Mad-Eye Moody (May 27, 2008)

sam kegg said:


> location location location.lol depends where u go


I agree. My spots do not have half the deer they did last year. But not everyone is in that boat. I only saw one doe all bow season. Six deer, five of which have to be does seems a little much. I was not going to hunt this muzzleloader as all I had tags left for was does, and didn't think I should be shooting them in that area.

I lost that spot Thursday, so it didn't turn out to matter.

Four deer per area max is plenty I think. I remember when I started out it was one deer a year and you had to draw for a doe tag. I hope we never get back to that.


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## jray (Jan 20, 2006)

wow i think its a tad ridiculous to be talking about those "Kmart" hunters and how bad they are when we used to call those hungry people. If a man goes out in the woods to put meat on his table with a shotgun i think the pinky up sit in a stand all year waiting for the big scoring buck hunters should leave him the heck alone. Believe me i manage deer ive passed over 10 different bucks this year and havent filled my buck tag yet. But to get down on a guy who hunts for the original purpose, to subtract from his grocery bill, thats just stupid.


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## poloaman (Mar 26, 2008)

Got to agree with jray I didn't hunt this year due to money but if I would have I would of took my limit to feed my family I have five kids and it takes a lot of meat to feed us so unless there throwing the meat away you can't blame them if you want to blame somebody blame the odnr they set the limits and by the way just cause someone shops at kmart doesn't make them a bad person. God bless 


Polo
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## KWaller (Oct 3, 2010)

jray said:


> wow i think its a tad ridiculous to be talking about those "Kmart" hunters and how bad they are when we used to call those hungry people. If a man goes out in the woods to put meat on his table with a shotgun i think the pinky up sit in a stand all year waiting for the big scoring buck hunters should leave him the heck alone. Believe me i manage deer ive passed over 10 different bucks this year and havent filled my buck tag yet. But to get down on a guy who hunts for the original purpose, to subtract from his grocery bill, thats just stupid.


The people I called k mart hunter weren't the ones who go out in shotgun to kill deer and feed there family, they are the ones who shoot deer to shoot deer, one group did a drive and shot 7 deer and left em layin, smh. Idk how people are around where you guys are but we have people here that do that. Sorry if I offended any one...

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