Last week’s column about the 2026-27 Ohio deer regulations linked season and county limits with recent or ongoing disease outbreaks.
Left unexplained, except for a vague inference, was the decision to authorize a six-deer limit inside the so-named Deer Surveillance Area (DSA) that comprises all of four counties northwest of Columbus and parts of five others, including Union and Delaware.
Liberal hunting rules within the DSA have been established to help slow the spread of a persistent, deadly deer malady known as chronic wasting disease. The Ohio Division of Wildlife previously had instituted increased testing of deer taken in the expanding DSA.
THE GREAT OUTDOORS: More on Ohio hunting and fishing
The six-deer limit is likely to help reduce deer numbers, which might slow the spread of diseased whitetails, although not by a lot, explained Clint McCoy, the wildlife division’s deer program administrator.
“The six-deer limit in the DSA isn’t expected to affect the harvest very much since so few hunters harvest that many deer in a season,” he wrote in an email last week. “However, given that we have expanded opportunities for landowners to remove deer after the season on their properties in the DSA, we have some folks who are willing to shoot additional deer during the season when conditions are more favorable.”
By having to wait “until after the season” to take additional deer, however, hunters might be discouraged by complications that include weather, access to processing and bucks mistakenly being targeted as “antlerless” after shedding their racks.
Another significant change that will go into effect will be the season-long use of discounted deer management permits statewide.
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“Unless you want a buck, you can hunt antlerless deer for $15 per permit all season long,” McCoy said.
The key to managing deer populations is to reduce the number of births, and one key to reducing the number of births is to reduce the number of does. So, while McCoy didn’t say so, the widespread use of discounted permits could ease concerns about the increasing size of the state’s deer herd by encouraging the taking of does.
The increasing inclination of hunters in recent years to take bucks and eschew does is seen as one cause of problematic herd growth.
Turkey update
Wild turkey hunters, though not heading toward any spring record, are taking considerably more bearded birds than during recent seasons.
Through May 10, hunters checked 13,496 birds. That’s 1,045 more, or an increase of 8.4% from a comparable point last spring, and 783 more, or an increase of 6.2% from the three-year average.
Hunters in 83 counties, including those in central Ohio, have until sunset on May 24 to take a spring limit of a single bearded bird.
Tuscarawas led all counties through May 10 with 380 birds checked, followed by Belmont with 363, Adams with 360, and Highland, Monroe, Gallia, all with 358. Licking topped central Ohio counties with 212, followed by Delaware with 78, Union (55), Fairfield (43), Pickaway (11), Franklin (10) and Madison (six).
Parting shots
An American big-game hunter who’d amassed a collection of mounts gathered worldwide was killed and his guide seriously injured after being crushed by a group of female elephants in Gabon. The elephants, who were accompanied by a calf, apparently reacted to being surprised by the hunters, who were targeting a species of antelope. … About 500,000 hatchery-raised rainbow trout were released at several Lake Erie tributaries recently. The annual releases provide the backbone of the steelhead fishery. … The level of toxic PFAs, also known as “forever chemicals,” in Great Lakes Fish appears lower than the level of a decade ago, a recent study concluded.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio is encouraging hunting in the state’s Deer Surveillance Area
Reporting by Dave Golowenski, Special to The Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
