Ohio’s 2012-13 fishing, hunting and trapping licenses and permits will be on sale starting March 1, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Wildlife.

“Ohio’s new license sales system performed very well in its inaugural year,” said Scott Zody, chief of the Division of Wildlife. “Customer identification (ID) numbers should be used whenever possible to help streamline the license purchasing process. People can find the number at the top of last year’s license.”

License sales for the 2012-13 license year will be from March 1, 2012 through Feb. 28, 2013. The start date for licenses will no linger be February 15 as it past years.

Licenses purchased online or at retail outlets will be printed on paper that can be folded down to credit card size, but will not be waterproof and must be protected. Licenses and permits will be printed along with additional information relevant to the license or permit purchased.

Each license buyer must have a Social Security Number (SSN) recorded in the system. People who purchased licenses last year can now use their customer ID number and will not have to supply their SSN again.

SSNs are required to purchase a recreational license, regardless of age, for the purpose of child support collection enforcement under Federal Statute 42. As a recreational license provider, the Division of Wildlife is obligated to comply with this law and cannot issue a license or permit without the SSN of the purchaser. The division will see that a proper security system is in place to protect SSNs and any databases that contain them.

The license will be valid March 1 through Feb. 28, 2013. The 2011-12 licenses will expire on Feb. 29. Licenses and permits can be purchased online at wildohio.com and at hundreds of agent outlets throughout the state. A complete list of participating license sales agents can be found at wildohio.com.



Bearing it all

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Wildlife, 152 black bear sightings were reported in Ohio last year. Of that number, state wildlife personnel confirmed 60 sightings, which is a slight decrease compared to the 64 confirmed sightings in 2010.

The 2011 confirmed sightings occurred in 19 different counties and involved an estimated 38 different black bears. Most of the reported bear sightings were in northeastern counties. Ashtabula and Geauga counties led the state, reporting 20 and 22 sightings, respectively.

Sightings occurred in every month of 2011; however, the majority of bears were reported in May through August, which is the peak of black bear breeding and dispersal of young male bears.

Thirty-six of the 152 sightings involved destruction or nuisance behavior, such as damage to bird feeders, beehives and garbage containers. An estimated 20 individual bears were involved in these cases. Across the state there were four reported sightings of sows with cubs and one sighting of lone cubs.

For comparison, in 2010 state wildlife officials confirmed 64 of a total 164 black bear sightings. The confirmed sightings were in 23 counties and involved about 31 different black bears. A record of 165 bear sightings were reported in 2002.

The Division of Wildlife began formally keeping records of black bear observations in 1993. Since that time, bears have been reported in 58 counties and confirmed in 50 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

Native to Ohio, the black bear is listed as endangered in Ohio and protected by state law. To report a possible sighting, call 800-WILDLIFE.



Mail Pouch (Not Tabackie, either)



Hello Dale:

My name is Fred Ruffo and I am what you would call a novice deer hunter. I do bow hunt and gun hunt Ohio and Pennsylvania. I pass up shooting doe in my woods because I feed them in my back yard and they are considered our pets, although if a buck would come along I probably would shoot it.

When I was young, I killed scores of deer but after many years of hunting (like 60) I have gotten soft and sometimes I wonder why I would kill such a beautiful animal. I watch the outdoor shows sometimes and wonder how those hunters can be so happy and excited when they kill a deer. I realize that these hunters pay big money to kill these penned up deer for TV shows and that these deer are raised for that reason. Sorry I digress, that’s another subject.

Getting back to the hunting in Ohio, I think it is a good thing that Mother Nature caused a low kill in Ohio and Pennsylvania. I am glad we don’t rely on ODNR to control the kill (4 deer per person WOW!) I couldn’t imagine any normal family eating that much meat in one year. I hope that O.D.N.R. doesn’t fallow the way of the Pennsylvania Game Commission and kill off all the deer only for the money. Pa. is now losing a lot of money with low license sales and the loss of hunter’s spending money in the small towns because of their lack of foresight.

I have a camp in Cherry Grove, Pa. The last six years, I have seen the deer herd dwindle to almost a rare sighting. My friend and I hunted the last Thursday, Friday and Saturday gun season. We sat in our blinds a total of 30 hours between us, scanning over a 200 acre valley and not seeing one deer and hearing very few shots.

This is the same area that 10 years ago, we would see 50 to 75 deer and always bag a buck or doe. I just hope that ODN.R does not make the same mistake; I know it is all about the money. (They must remember to pass it on or it will surely pass on.)



Thanks,

Fred Ruffo



Fred,



First off I wouldn’t call you a novice. From the way this note reads, you’ve been doing it for a while, with a certain amount of success and a fair degree of perceptiveness on the situation at hand.

Don’t remorse about your feelings when you harvest a deer or any other animal. It’s the natural progression of a true hunter. When we reach a certain age we realize just how beautiful the animals we peruse are. But... on the other hand we also realize that if they are not managed and kept in check, population wise, that over population, starvation and disease will over take them. And that my friend is a worse death than the sting of an arrow or the thump of a gun could ever compare to.

I use to watch the outdoor shows with a passion, notice the words “use to.” 90 percent of those shows are “canned hunts.” Meaning just as you said, they are at high fence operations or in area’s that are strictly managed for big deer and have them concentrated in a core area. They’re happy when they harvest a big deer because they know their rating will sky rocket. I have virtually stopped watching their shows for that simple reason, big buck after big buck, big deal, it’s phony, and it’s not real-world hunting.

And have you noticed the women involved, OMG! Big breasted, blonde bimbo’s with their hair done just right, eye shadow, eye liner, and makeup perfect to a tee. Sitting in a tree stand or a turkey blind, yeh right! Maybe the Johnny come lately hunters both men a women will relate to them but guess what, I’ve been around for a while and I can see through their B.S. That crap doesn’t make it in the real woods and any hunter worth his salt knows it. I know, I know, don’t ruin the fantasy; it’s only a TV show.

As for the harvest, I totally agree, I’m glad it’s down. Four deer per person is quite a lot and a lot of venison to consume, ya need a few kielbasa or chicken and some pork in there every once in a while just to break up the monotony. I also certainly agree about the doe harvest also and the money aspect.

They report that the four-tag system is starting to work at decreasing the herd. They also report that at the beginning of the season the herd was estimated to be at 750,000 deer where as a few of years ago it was only at 650,000 and hunters were seeing more deer then than they are now. In fact in the record harvest year a total of 261,314 deer were killed during Ohio’s 2009-10 hunting season. Since then and even before I have been seeing less and less deer in my area.

Where are these 750,000 deer? Not in Ashtabula, Trumbull or any of the other rural Northeast Ohio counties. They’re in the urban areas, where we can’t hunt, that’s where they’re at. So what are we going to do?

We’re going to keep killing the deer in the rural area where we’re allowed to hunt and deplete the herd while the urban area’s where we can’t hunt keep multiplying, over populating, etc. etc. etc. As you said we can only hope that the ODNR. doesn’t make the same mistake as Pennsylvania. Then again we don’t have DR.

Alt running our system as Pa. did. He came right out and said he was going to deplete the doe population and make Pa. a big-buck state. Then, once he accomplished the derogation of the doe herd he turned tail and took off to Texas. Need I say any more?

Enough soap box preaching my friend, we’re obviously 2 old timers who just want things to be the way they use to be and ya know what, we’re right. Change is not always good, look what Obama has done to us with his idea of change! And you’re also right, they, we, all of us need to remember to pass it on or it will surely pass on.



Your Friend in Camo,

Dale





Datebook

Wild Game Dinner — Peoples Church of the CMA will be holding its annual Wild Game Dinner on Friday, Feb. 24. The premeal seminar will start at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will be serves at 6. The guest speaker this year will be Gary Miller of the Outdoors Truth Ministry. Tickets are $15 per person, presale only, no tickets sales at the door. For information or tickets ,contact the church office. People’s Church of CMA, 300 South Ridge East, Geneva, Ohio 44041. Phone 466-2020.

50/50 Fun Shoot — Amboy Rifle Club will be having a 50/50 Fun Shoot on February 25, 2012 at the Amboy Rifle Club located at 100 Hawthorne Road, Conneaut. This is for .22 caliber pistols only, either revolvers or semi automatics. The festivities will start at 11 a.m. and go until there are no more shooters. Some of the contests consist of 5-card Draw, black jack, ping pong ball on a string and shooting the middle hole of a CD. Cost is $5 per match and all winnings will be distributed that day.

Friends of the NRA Banquet — Western Reserve Friends of NRA, fifth annual fundraiser, Giant Reverse Raffle, Friday, May 25, 2012, LaMalfa Party Center, 5783 Heisley Road, Mentor, OH. Doors Open 6:00 p.m. Open Buffet 7-9. Tickets: $100 per person before March 15th, $120 after March 15; additional meals $45. The price of the ticket this year will include: Dinner and a chance at the Reverse Raffle Main Board. Advanced ticket sales only; no at-the-door sales. Call 888-752-9119 or email westernreserveFNRA@gmail.com.

A Giant Reverse Raffle will replace the live auction, and will include a Main Board Grand Prize consisting of the Gun of the Year (a Benelli Ultra Light 12 GA shotgun), a Weatherby Vanguard S2 .300 Weatherby Magn“Wall of Gifts” um rifle and a Taurus .357 Protector revolver. Additional unique NRA merchandise will be awarded to every 20th number drawn for the Main Board. There will also be sideboards available to win unique special rifle, shotgun, and handgun packages.

A first time “Wall of Guns” will offer guests even more opportunities to win firearms during the evening. With this new game, similar to the “Steel for a Steal” game at the 2011 NRA National Meeting, there is no limit on the number of winners or even winners desiring the same firearm. Firearms won at this game can also be shipped to the winner if they reside outside of Ohio. Raffles will be held every 15 minutes. Multiple raffles will be run concurrently.

New to this year’s event is also a Wall of Gifts”for accessories and non-shooting related prizes. Anyone interested in donating merchandise or gift cards to this new event should contact Judy Meyer, 759-7555, dustybob1937@att.net.

Fifty percent of the proceeds from the Annual Fundraising event fund grants made to local community organizations for projects and programs that promote firearms and hunting safety, marksmanship skills, and educate the general public about firearms in their historic, technological, and artistic context; or contribute to the general well-being of the public at large. The recipients of 2012 grants are: Weslaco Sportsman’s Association, Boy Scout Troop 75 (St. Mary’s Mentor), Erie Shores Council, Boy Scouts (Toledo), South Cuyahoga Sportsmens Assn. (Youth Sporting Clays Program), Newark High School JROTC (Air Rifle Team), and Greater Western Reserve Council, Boy Scouts (range improvement).

The other 50 percent goes into national programs for youths and others (log on to www.nra.org to view more details). ny club can apply in October for grants made the following year.

Sponsorships are welcome. Contact Bill Mawby (216) 496-9975, mawby.bill@gmail.com for additional information about the various levels and this year’s unique Sponsor Premiums.

This year, attendees are welcome to stay at the Holiday Inn Express adjacent to LaMalfa at a Preferred Room Rate (save 25 percent). Use code “Reverse Raffle Rate” when making reservations.

Sunderlin is a freelance writer from Geneva. Reach him at djss@roadrunner.com.