Muzzleloader plans for deer
January 8th, 2006 by Administrator
Muzzleloader plans for deer
Rain and unseasonably mild weather may have put a damper on a potential record muzzleloading-rifle deer season last week, if preliminary results are any judge.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife is reporting a statewide bag of 23,056 deer, which is about nine percent below the record 24,765 taken in the same season a year ago.
Another record muzzleloader season was thought possible this time around, given that the 116,855 deer taken in the post-Thanksgiving “shotgun week,” according to an early tally, was under a forecast bag of about 125,000. So some unsuccessful shotgun hunters were expected to join dedicated muzzleloading enthusiasts.
But hunters out last week found temperatures as balmy as the mid-60s in southern Ohio. Heavy downpours also soaked the woods, muffling sound and perhaps inhibiting a prime deer sense, hearing. In turn deer generally stayed very tight to cover and moved only reluctantly.
In any case, muzzleloading has grown steadily in popularity over the last 20 years, with up to 200,000 hunters afield now. In 1985 the statewide muzzleloader or black powder season accounted for five percent of the all-seasons deer bag. Today it accounts for about 12 percent.
Top counties in last week’s muzzleloader hunt, with 2004 figures in parentheses, include Tuscarawas, 930 (1,114) deer; Washington, 836 (910); Jefferson, 775 (843); Coshocton, 715 (883), and Harrison, 714 (920).
Top counties in the northwest quarter’s 20-county Wildlife District 2 included Richland, 258 (255); Huron, 213 (243); Seneca, 160 (182); Wyandot, 139 (161), and Crawford, 131 (152). The bag across the district was down from 2004 in all counties except Hancock, Henry, Richland, Van Wert, and Wood. The Lucas County bag was among those down significantly from the 2004 muzzleloader season, with just 51 deer taken compared to 104 a year ago.
That said, Ohio deer hunters still may turn in an all-seasons bag that falls within the state’s pre-season forecast of between 204,000 and 216,000. So far they have taken 190,718 by preliminary tally, including a record 41,859 in the first six weeks of archery season, a record 8,722 in the state’s weekend youth-deer season, 116,855 in shotgun season, and the statewide muzzleloader bag. Another 226 deer were taken in the early muzzleloader season on three southern public hunting areas.
Last year bowhunters took some 20,000 deer after the first six weeks of the season. But Mike Tonkovich, the wildlife division’s deer specialist, said last year’s large late-season archery kill was unusual and he expects a more typical archery return of about 10,000 to 12,000 additional deer to be taken by season’s end on Jan. 31. That would make for a season-long archery take of 52,000 to 54,000 deer.
“Total package [for all seasons] we’re right where we needed to be,” Tonkovich said. He agreed, however, that the mild, wet weather may have dampened some additional muzzleloading enthusiasm and kept some hunters home.
“When I saw the weather I said I would be happy with 22,000 for the muzzleloading bag.”