Ohio's gun season opened today
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whateverworks
- Posts: 97
- Joined: Wed Sep 27, 2006 6:23 pm
- Location: eastern ontario
just got back from north east ohio hunted from mon to fri. man o man i'm moving to ohio. hehheh. i saw more deer on the first day than i have in ontario in the last ten years. what a blast, didn't shoot anything but only 'cause the right one didn't come along I prob. saw the least of anyone in our group and i saw 31, prob 20 where dead dear if i had wanted to shoot, lots of doe and a few small bucks. what an awesome time, great people and lots of deer.
I take the week off every year to hunt and I have to say this was my worst gun season ever just wasn't seeing deer I really don't believe the deer population is anywhere near as high as they claim I kind of think the very liberal amount of deer a hunter can take this year is a result of pressure from the auto insurance companies. there is just no way I could take the 6 deer limit we have in my area this year M&M
I didn't shoot any deer, probably because I didn't really put any effort into it. 
I was only out for 4 short hunts and picked a "low traffic" area where the odds of seeing deer were lower, but the odds of stray lead was low, too.
I made one last trip (for the first part of gun season) to the farm I hunt this morning. Wasn't really hunting, but I carried the muzzleloader along just in case. We had a light snow last night, and I found where the deer are travelling now. My feeder did get hit heavilly last night and this morning, so it looks like I'll be able to spend some time in the ground blind there with a decent chance of seeing deer for a change.
I made a "scout" around the perimeter of the farm, and I was suprised that only deer, turkeys, and squirrels had been moving since the snow fell.
No fox, raccoon, rabbit, coyote, or even mink along the creek.
I was only out for 4 short hunts and picked a "low traffic" area where the odds of seeing deer were lower, but the odds of stray lead was low, too.
I made one last trip (for the first part of gun season) to the farm I hunt this morning. Wasn't really hunting, but I carried the muzzleloader along just in case. We had a light snow last night, and I found where the deer are travelling now. My feeder did get hit heavilly last night and this morning, so it looks like I'll be able to spend some time in the ground blind there with a decent chance of seeing deer for a change.
I made a "scout" around the perimeter of the farm, and I was suprised that only deer, turkeys, and squirrels had been moving since the snow fell.
No fox, raccoon, rabbit, coyote, or even mink along the creek.
wabi
I do not know about other parts of Ohio, but southern Ohio has a lot of deer. I saw plenty of deer every day I hunted during the gun season both in the neighborhood and out at the farm.
Had I been so inclined, I could have killed numerous doe's and at least three bucks that most would term "substantial." But I didn't pull the trigger. And I only painted one buck with the crosshairs of my scope. Eleven doe's were harvested on the farm by the invited guests. All but one were taken out of Beckers blind on the edge of the clover field.
I suspect the numbers for the week long gun season here will be down from last year. But if they are, it will not be from lack of deer. It will be due to the weather. It was a pretty miserable week and old Mother Nature threw us a little bit of everything.
The buck that I painted with the crosshairs is a buck we know well and have tons of documentation on him from his early days. We call him the "wrestler" because he is a stocky brute and he is far and away the dominant buck out at the farm. My buddy has set his sights on this buck and in deference to him; I did not pull the trigger. Well, that's not entirely true. I did think about how badly he wants this buck but the truth of the matter is I still want the palmated buck and I am far from ready to give up on him.
I hope he survived Sunday. I know he was alive at 2:06 AM on Sunday morning. The cuddy's time stamp and one caught him.
We will still have one more weekend coming up to hunt with the slug guns. And right after Christmas we have a short muzzleloader season. But I don't think the palmated buck will fall to a hunk of lead. At least I hope not.
The palmated buck is old. He is already in decline. He did not improve his rack from last year. It looks almost identical and if anything, it may be just a smidge smaller. Don't get me wrong, it is still magnificent, but this, as the movie title says, is as "Good As It Gets."
This buck needs to fall via an arrow from my Phoenix. It needs to be close. And it needs to be personal.
I am tired from hunting every day for a week during this gun season. I am going to take three days off and start back hunting this buck again on Thursday. I will hunt him very hard from that day until I take a break and spend the Christmas holidays with the kids and grandchildren in Chicago.
For me, it is already very personal.
Had I been so inclined, I could have killed numerous doe's and at least three bucks that most would term "substantial." But I didn't pull the trigger. And I only painted one buck with the crosshairs of my scope. Eleven doe's were harvested on the farm by the invited guests. All but one were taken out of Beckers blind on the edge of the clover field.
I suspect the numbers for the week long gun season here will be down from last year. But if they are, it will not be from lack of deer. It will be due to the weather. It was a pretty miserable week and old Mother Nature threw us a little bit of everything.
The buck that I painted with the crosshairs is a buck we know well and have tons of documentation on him from his early days. We call him the "wrestler" because he is a stocky brute and he is far and away the dominant buck out at the farm. My buddy has set his sights on this buck and in deference to him; I did not pull the trigger. Well, that's not entirely true. I did think about how badly he wants this buck but the truth of the matter is I still want the palmated buck and I am far from ready to give up on him.
I hope he survived Sunday. I know he was alive at 2:06 AM on Sunday morning. The cuddy's time stamp and one caught him.
We will still have one more weekend coming up to hunt with the slug guns. And right after Christmas we have a short muzzleloader season. But I don't think the palmated buck will fall to a hunk of lead. At least I hope not.
The palmated buck is old. He is already in decline. He did not improve his rack from last year. It looks almost identical and if anything, it may be just a smidge smaller. Don't get me wrong, it is still magnificent, but this, as the movie title says, is as "Good As It Gets."
This buck needs to fall via an arrow from my Phoenix. It needs to be close. And it needs to be personal.
I am tired from hunting every day for a week during this gun season. I am going to take three days off and start back hunting this buck again on Thursday. I will hunt him very hard from that day until I take a break and spend the Christmas holidays with the kids and grandchildren in Chicago.
For me, it is already very personal.