Muzzleloader harvest improved from last year

Suc­cess­ful hunters checked 21,555 white-tailed deer dur­ing the 2013 muz­zle­loader sea­son, accord­ing to the ODNR Divi­sion of Wildlife.

Muz­zle­loader sea­son con­cluded on Tues­day, Jan. 8. The 2013 har­vest total rep­re­sents a 12 per­cent increase over the 2012 sea­son, when hunters checked 19,251 deer. The muz­zle­loader har­vest was 17,375 deer in 2011.

Coun­ties report­ing the high­est num­ber of deer checked dur­ing the 2013 muz­zle­loader sea­son include: Guernsey (821), Coshoc­ton (813), Tus­carawas (784), Musk­ingum (751), Bel­mont (739), Car­roll (683), Har­ri­son (677), Lick­ing (675), Jef­fer­son (619) and Knox (520).

Locally, har­vest num­bers were com­pa­ra­ble to last year’s with the excep­tion of Rich­land county which showed a sig­nif­i­cant increase from the year before.

Deer-archery sea­son remains open through Sun­day, Feb. 3. As of Jan. 8, accord­ing to the Divi­sion of Wildlife’s web­site, the total har­vest for the year is up ten per­cent from the same time last year. That ten per­cent increase is just about the same for what we are see­ing in the sur­round­ing coun­ties as well.

• On Wednes­day, Jan. 9, the Ohio Wildlife Coun­cil received poten­tial dates for the upcom­ing fall hunt­ing sea­sons, accord­ing to the Ohio Depart­ment of Nat­ural Resources. ODNR Divi­sion of Wildlife biol­o­gists pro­posed that sev­eral tra­di­tional hunt­ing dates be uti­lized for 2013–2014.

Sept. 1 is the pro­posed start date for Ohio’s fall squir­rel and dove hunt­ing sea­sons. Upland game hunt­ing sea­sons for cot­ton­tail rab­bit, ring-necked pheas­ant and bob­white quail are pro­posed to start Nov. 1, the first Fri­day in Novem­ber. Fox, rac­coon, skunk, opos­sum and weasel hunt­ing and trap­ping are pro­posed to start Nov. 10.

ODNR Divi­sion of Wildlife biol­o­gists pro­posed that cot­ton­tail rab­bit hunt­ing restric­tions be removed in the snow­shoe hare pro­tected area in Geauga and Ashtab­ula coun­ties. Remain­ing snow­shoe hares are still pro­tected as a state-endangered species and it remains ille­gal to kill them in Ohio.

Pro­posed open coun­ties for quail hunt­ing include Adams, Athens, Brown, But­ler, Cler­mont, Clin­ton, High­land, Jack­son, Meigs, Mont­gomery, Pike, Pre­ble, Ross, Scioto, Vin­ton and Warren.

Youth upland game sea­sons are pro­posed statewide for two week­ends: Oct. 19–20 and Oct. 26–27.

Pro­posed 2014 wild turkey sea­son dates are April 21-May 18, and the pro­posed 2014 youth wild turkey sea­son is April 19–20.

Pro­pos­als con­cern­ing Ohio’s white-tailed deer and fall wild turkey hunt­ing sea­son will be heard at the next Ohio Wildlife Coun­cil meet­ing on Wednes­day, Feb. 6.

Open houses will be held Sat­ur­day, March 2 at the state’s five wildlife dis­trict offices, the Lake Erie Fair­port office and the Old Woman Creek Reserve office in Huron to give the pub­lic an oppor­tu­nity to view and dis­cuss pro­posed hunt­ing and trap­ping reg­u­la­tions with the ODNR Divi­sion of Wildlife officials.

For Ohioans who are unable to attend an open house, com­ments will be accepted online at wildohio.com. The online form will be avail­able until March. Direc­tions to the open houses can be found at wildohio.com or by call­ing 800-WILDLIFE (945‑3543).

A statewide hear­ing on all of the pro­posed rules will be held at the ODNR Divi­sion of Wildlife’s Dis­trict One office on Thurs­day, March 7 at 9 a.m. The office is located at 1500 Dublin Road, Colum­bus, Ohio 43215. After con­sid­er­ing pub­lic input, the Ohio Wildlife Coun­cil will vote on the pro­posed rules and sea­son dates dur­ing its April 3 meeting.

Until next time, Good Hunt­ing and Good Fishing!

Posted by Rob Hamilton on Jan 16 2013. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.