Anyone ever hunt thus public Land in Ohio . Or hunt. Conesville coal mine land? Planning a scouting trip in a month or 2 and then planning my first out of state deer hunting this fall. Thanks guys
I haven't but the AEP Conesville power plant is one of my customers. My main contact hunts and his son is a very good hunter but I believe they only hunt with firearms.
I can ask him about the area and see what in sights he may have. I'll shoot you a PM when I hear back from him.
Hunted them both in the mid/late 1990's. Have sum buddies that have recently hunted the Woodbury holdings and they said it gets a lot of pressure.
Back when I hunted those areas, I preferred the Willsville lake(I think) off 83 south of conesville. Very thick overgrown strip mines w/ plenty of agriculture amongst it. We would spend a week there during the rut and maybe see 1/2 dz cars but again that was in the 1990's
Thanks overbo that's what I am finding about Woodbury
Deer are all dead in Woodbury.... That's not far from an exaggeration...
Any public land for that matter...
Any public land in the state of Ohio is hammered by hunters and slim pickens now. They killed less than half of the deer this year of what they killed during our week long statewide firearm season a decade ago. Yeah, less than half, which is a good indicator of the overall population numbers...
The annual week long statewide firearm season for the 2002-2003 season was:
133,391
This year's week long statewide firearm season kill number is:
65,485
So 133,391 in 2002-2003 to 67,906 in 2014, is a difference of 67,906 less making it over 50% less killed...
Heck they killed 10 thousand less this year than last year...
These are facts, and that is how severe our population has declined the past decade...
Even the armchair journalist realize it now:
"
By D'Arcy Egan, The Plain Dealer
on January 15, 2015 at 4:44 PM
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio's white-tailed deer hunters are mad as heck and want to tar and feather the Ohio Division of Wildlife decision-makers for encouraging a major slump in this year's deer hunting success.
Sportsmen's complaints will be heard at Deer Hunting Summits, held at five ODOW district offices around the Buckeye State on Saturday, Jan. 24 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. That includes the Akron District Office, 912 Portage Lakes Dr., Akron.
Before you go, reserve a seat by calling 330-644-2293 by Friday, Jan. 23. There should be room. On Wednesday, only a handful of people had registered for the summits.
Don't expect Mike Tonkovich, Ohio's head of deer management, to agree the Buckeye State needs a lot more deer. Tonkovich and his crews will develop new deer management goals this spring after this year's complaints, promising to look at loosening the controls to allow the herd to grow a little this year. But not too much.
Deer hunters complain the ODOW has simply allowed too many deer to be killed in recent years, depleting the population.
"The criticism we've received is an expected reaction," said Tonkovich. "Hunters are dissatisfied, but so were farmers with crop damage and motorists who had hit deer. We live in an agricultural state with 11 million people.
"The first time the deer harvest hit the 170,000 mark (in 2001), it was a record and everyone was excited. After harvesting more than a quarter-million deer (in 2009-2010), the harvest of about 170,000 deer this year is being considered a shame and a disgrace, the end of deer hunting in Ohio as we know it."
Tonkovich said a buck harvest that had peaked at about 90,000 antlered deer would shrink to about 65,000 this year. Ohio hunters may have been killing more bucks in recent years, but there was a sort of disconnect in 2006 and 2007. More bucks were being harvested, but the number of bucks qualifying for trophy status with the Ohio Big Buck Club did not increase.
Deer hunting in Ohio has radically changed over the last couple of decades. While gun hunters once killed 90 percent of the deer during their short week-long season, bowhunters now harvest more than 50 percent of the deer aided by a four-month campaign. More deer are now taken with crossbows, which were first allowed in 1979, rather than compound bows or traditional longbows.
No one seems to remember a promise made long ago that the crossbow hunting season would be trimmed if crossbow hunters began to take more than their share of deer.
Making Ohio hunter success more difficult has been a loss of public hunting grounds, from mismanaged wildlife areas to vast southern Ohio tracts once opened to the public by timber, coal and electric companies. The situation is so dire that ODOW surveys of resident hunters show only about 5 percent now hunt public land only. Resident hunters who sometimes hunted public land fell from 49 percent to just 32 percent from 2000 through 2012.
"
Zbone---Thank You!! Ten years ago I told a friend that it wouldn't be long before the Ohio Division of Wildlife did to deer hunting what they had done to rabbit hunting in the state. 15 years ago we had great rabbit hunting in the area---coyotes, hawks, owls, cats you name it and no efforts towards habitat and now it is rare that I see a rabbit in my neck of the woods. DOW has allowed 9 deer a year per hunter---with 8 of them being does for way too long. Their politics--cater to insurance and agriculture and never mind the hunters that are paying the way. Muzzleloaders are no longer "primitive weapons" when people shove a 209 primer in them, stuff them with a modern propellent, and seat a saboted high performance bullet and shoot out of a scoped platform. This year showing more brilliance they allowed rifles to be used---wise move not to allow them 40 years ago, but allow them now that the state is more populated than ever. Add to that the allegations of DOW letting out of state gamewardens use Ohio addresses to avoid out of state fees and wardens hunting on the clock and it looks rather hopeless. It will be time to quit when they add a season for stumps...
I live 2 miles from Woodbury and hunt it a lot as well as some hunting on the AEP lands.
Early bow season does not see a lot of pressure.
HOWEVER...starting 1st of November--after gun season it is almost over-run. Pressure goes up so dramatically that I am very picky about where I will go then.
The deer herd is dramatically cut from even just 3 yrs ago, let alone 10.....10 yrs ago, I would see multiple deer every hunt. Maybe not in range, but I was ALWAYS seeing multiple deer. during gun season, it was nothing to see groups of 15-20 at a time getting pushed around. THIS YEAR: I only saw a couple deer up to gun week; I saw 3 during Mon-Tues--shot 1.
I believe that there has been too many yrs of too generous of bag limits & heavy advertising of the area by ODNR + the new call-in check system makes it way to easy to cheat system if so desired. I talked to the owner of a local gas station/check-in station and she said that several groups of longtime out-of-state hunters told her they won't be back at least for a couple yrs....hunted all week for nothing.
That said: there are still deer in the area. By no means have they disappeared. But you have to be willing to get away from the crowds; find the spots others over-look (not always the furthest away; maybe just over-looked). And don't expect to see herds of whitetails running around. Even now, late season.....I'm seeing groups of 3-5...not 20 at a time like it used to be around here...
Make sure you come before the snow melts or you will not believe how few tracks you will see.
I have turkey hunted it, and saw more decoys than I heard gobbles!!! Very overrun!
I also feel like every law that is being passed benefit those who's ethics are at a low standard. In my opinion, and everyone has one, the new method of checking in deer is horrible. To many loop holes for someone that is so inclined not to check his deer and keep on hunting. Why all of a sudden do we need silencers on guns? Way to many opportunities to harvest not 1 or 2 but 3 or 4 deer in a single year. It seems as though the animal does not get the respect and dignity that they deserve. I guess I am just a 63 year old man that does not like what he sees happening.
After reading these posts it seems that I may have missed my chance at enjoying an out of state hunt.... Kinda bums me out I've waited a long time for this
Just released today they are now moving statewide 2-day firearm youth season up into early October and adding another statewide firearm season in mid December...
Survivors will not have time to settle down between firearm seasons and with stay nocturnal most of the bowseason due to the blasting in each month...
Wow this is sad
The new rules seem to me to go out of their way to encourage massive poaching. They clearly want to thin the herd more.
Earlier youth season???? Longer gun season????? I cannot ethically say what I would like to, about what they are doing to the whitetail here in Ohio. Just when you think you have seen it all.
Yup sounds JUST like Michigan. :(
I think that the upcoming rules will only serve to reduce the herd size even more. We had very few deer in Ohio back in the 60 s and at the rate we're going we'll soon be in the same boat. Farmers and insurance companies stand to benefit, but as hunters who pay to play we are getting less buck for our bang. Even during our peak herd time I don't recall seeing any real signs of surpassing carrying capacity. I'll still hunt, but I do miss seeing deer. It is disheartening as Ohio used to be a place that attracted out of state hunters-- now I'm looking at other states...
QuoteOriginally posted by Zbone:
Just released today they are now moving statewide 2-day firearm youth season up into early October and adding another statewide firearm season in mid December...
Zbone, where did you hear this at? Do you have a link?
QuoteOriginally posted by Huntingnut:
QuoteOriginally posted by Zbone:
Just released today they are now moving statewide 2-day firearm youth season up into early October and adding another statewide firearm season in mid December...
Zbone, where did you hear this at? Do you have a link? [/b]
Never mind, I found it. I'm just about sick of our DNR.
Also rumored they are raising nonresident pricing...
Problem is, the people making the rules and bag limits are sitting at a desk and not in a tree stand! Sadly ........it's not just ohio
I don't mean sound mean, or aggressive in any way by saying this but I have to wander after reading through this thread, are most of yall hunting in the parking lots?! I hunted at Grand River last fall (the worst according to sources for deer density, and people problems) and had no trouble at all getting on deer. I worked my butt off, and would walk 15-20 minutes straight away from parking areas before I even started looking for deer sign.
I found not only tons of sign, but got on deer. I only got to hunt there 2 evenings(had access to private land as well) due to time constraints, and saw deer both evenings. I was there in the first week of November (it was hot) but still saw a dang stud daddy (140-150") 9pt with a locked-down doe, right beside the road, on public ground.
I am plum jacked up for next year, and have already decided to pass on the private land I have access to due to the confidence I had on public ground.
I know some folks don't have the blessing of being young and healthy as I do, but if you put in the time and boot wear, there are good deer to be found. I hate to see folks read this thread from non-big buck states (As mine, NC) and pass on an opportunity that is as inexpensive and readily available as OH.
Next year, I plan on multiple trips to multiple Public areas(if Grand River was the worst, I cant wait to try others) as well as multiple times of the year.
Like I said, please don't take my post as a know it all kid undermining locals as that is not my intention at all, I just want to put it out there that if a man works for it, it is a great time and great opportunity. Take this as you will, as a 100" buck to me is a good deer with a bow for me, and that is what I am hunting for, and more so than that-a great time with friends and family.
Dalton