Hunters in seven northwest Ohio counties will be given a higher deer bag limit if the proposed regulation is accepted by the Ohio Wildlife Council in April, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Wildlife.

A proposed change to the deer zones includes moving seven northwest Ohio counties from Deer Zone A to Zone B. The counties are Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, Paulding, Van Wert and Williams.

A proposal to eliminate the requirement that hunters must purchase a regular deer permit before purchasing antlerless deer permits was heard. The sale of reduced priced antlerless permits would cease after Nov. 28, so hunters need to commit early to buying and using the extra reduced-cost permits to take full advantage of this opportunity.

Under the proposal, hunters could again buy antlerless deer permits at reduced prices for hunting in an urban zone, participating in a Division of Wildlife-authorized controlled hunt or hunting during the Sept. 25 to Nov. 28 portion of the deer season. The division is again proposing the deadline for using the antlerless permit be extended to Dec. 5 for those hunting in Deer Zone C. Cost of the antlerless deer permit remains $15.

The maximum number of deer that a hunter may take in Deer Zone A is two. Prior to Nov. 29, hunters may take up to two deer in Zone A, one of which may be on a $15 antlerless deer permit. Beginning Nov. 29, hunters may take only one deer in Zone A and antlerless permits may not be used.

The maximum number of deer that a hunter may take in Deer Zone B is four. Prior to Nove. 29, hunters may take up to four deer in Zone B, two of which may be on $15 antlerless deer permits. Beginning Nov. 29, hunters may take only two deer in Zone B and antlerless permits may not be used.

The maximum number of deer that a hunter may take in Deer Zone C is six. Prior to Dec. 6, hunters may take up to six deer in Zone C, three of which may be on $15 antlerless deer permits. Beginning Dec. 6, hunters may take only three deer in Zone C and antlerless permits may not be used.

Those hunting in urban zones and at Division of Wildlife-authorized controlled hunts would again have a six-deer bag limit, and those deer would not count against the hunter's zone bag limit.

Either a $15 antlerless deer permit or $24 deer permit and a valid hunting license are required to hunt deer in Ohio. A hunter may take only one buck in Ohio, regardless of zone, hunting method or season.



Seasons and dates

n Archery season — Sept. 25 through Feb. 6, 2011.

n Special area muzzleloader hunts — Oct. 18-23.

n Youth deer-gun season — Nov. 20-21.

n Statewide deer-gun season — Nov. 29 through Dec. 5 and Dec. 18-19.

n Statewide muzzleloader season — Jan. 8-11, 2011.

A proposed change during the Dec. 18-19 portion of the deer-gun season would allow other legal game species in season to be pursued by hunters meeting specified requirements, such as the hunter orange requirement for deer-gun season.

During the 2009-2010 season, which concluded Sunday, hunters are expected to bag a record total of about 260,000 deer. Approximately 475,000 people hunted white-tailed deer in Ohio this year.

Open houses will be held on Saturday, March 6 in each of the state's five wildlife districts to provide the public an opportunity to view and discuss proposed hunting and trapping regulations with state wildlife officials. For directions to the open houses, please call 1-800-WILDLIFE or visit wildohio.com on the Internet.

A statewide hearing on all the proposed rules will be held at 9 a.m., Thursday, March 4 at the Division of Wildlife’s District One Office, located at 1500 Dublin Road in Columbus. After considering public input, the Ohio Wildlife Council will vote on the proposed rules and season dates during its April 7 meeting.



Proposed zones

n Zone A — The zone includes 13 counties: Allen, Auglaize, Darke, Erie, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Ottawa, Preble, Putnam, Sandusky, Shelby and Wood.

n Zone B — The zone includes 37 counties: Ashland, Ashtabula, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Defiance, Fayette, Fulton, Geauga, Greene, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Lake, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Madison, Mahoning, Marion, Medina, Paulding, Portage, Seneca, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Union, Van Wert, Warren, Wayne, Williams and Wyandot.

n Zone C — The zone includes 38 counties: Adams, Athens, Belmont, Brown, Carroll, Clermont, Columbiana, Coshocton, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Gallia, Guernsey, Hamilton, Harrison, Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Lawrence, Licking, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Richland, Ross, Scioto, Tuscarawas, Vinton and Washington.



Essay contest

Ohio youth turkey hunters can enter to win a dream hunt with Governor Ted Strickland or nationally-known hunting guides during the Governor’s Celebrity and Youth Turkey Hunt according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife.

To enter the contest, Ohio youth hunters must write an essay on the topic, “My Best Hunt Ever.” The essay must be typed and limited to 300 words. Youth hunters between the ages of 14 to 17 years old before March 1, 2010 are eligible to participate. All entries must be sent to the Division of Wildlife via the electronic submission form available at wildohio.com. Email entries will not be accepted. Past essay winners are not eligible to participate. Entries must be submitted by March 15.

Nine lucky Ohio youth hunters will be able to participate in this annual turkey hunt on May 8. The specific location of the hunt will be announced later. A parent or guardian must accompany the young hunter for the overnight trip, but will not be a participant of the hunt.

Winning entrants will be notified by April 16. Three alternate winners will be selected in case of cancellations. A 2010 youth hunting license and turkey permit will be required for all winning entrants.

Judges will be selected by the Division of Wildlife, and the judges’ decision will be final. All essays become the property of the Ohio Division of Wildlife and may be published in Wild Ohio Magazine or other publications.



Elusive Eight Point

Brian Burns had decided to stalk hunt the morning of Nov. 21, 2009. At least he was going to give it a try for the morning. The woods were exceptionally quiet that day, the leaves were damp which made it easy to slip along unnoticed and hopefully walk up on something. As Brian’s covert operation continued he worked his way through the terrain peering deep into brushy areas and blow downs in hopes of spying a patch of brown or a pair of eyes gazing back at him.



Surprise!

As he eased along suddenly a deer stood up, a buck, 40 yards he guessed. Brian raised his Hoyt Reflex Ridgeline compound bow and took aim, no time to waste, he released. Once Brian shot he watched as his antlered speedster ran up the ravine and out of sight. Brian knew full well he had hit him given the fact that as he watched him run off he could see his arrow buried in the buck’s side.



Enlist some help

Brian knew he had to give him some time so he made the trek back to his house and waited for an hour before he went to retrieve his “Elusive Eight Point.” While he sat and waited he decided to enlist the help of some family and friends. His dad, Thomas, mom, Diane his boss from work, Tim Phillips, and Tim’s son, Tristen, all came along to aid in the retrieval.



Waiting game

When they arrived at the scene Brian’s dad went up to the point of the ravine and found large puddles of blood, he also found what was left of Brian’s broken shaft. Brian crept around the bottom of the ravine. As he rounded the corner “Mr. Elusive” blew and stood up, he had heard Brian but couldn’t place his position. He had been lying in an area laden with large fallen trees and thick brush. Brian was about 20 yards from him and that’s where he stayed for the next 10 minutes while the bruiser tried to pick him out. Brian managed to stay still and hold his ground.



More waiting

Finally, the buck got tired and he laid back down. Undaunted Brian ended up kneeling down and holding his position for the next 20 minutes in an effort to let him bleed out; his tracking crew did the same. Ultimately, Brian had Tim and his son circle around the backside of his fallen prey just in case he was to get spooked, thus pushing him towards Brian instead of taking off in the other direction.



Down for the count

Tim managed to get around the back of him, but Mr. Elusive heard a noise. He was slow on the rise and only took two steps then went back down. At that point Brian knew he was exhausted and wasn’t going anywhere. Brian walked to his right, put himself in a clear lane at 15 yards and threw one last arrow into him.



Shocked... pumped

When Brian walked up to him he was shocked because at first sight, he didn’t realize how big of a buck he really was. Needless to say he was pumped considering this was only his second season of bow hunting. Brian also knew it doesn’t happen very often that you get the opportunity to see and harvest a deer like him.



Brian’s stats

Brian Burns arrowed his Elusive Eight Point on Nov. 21, 2009 at 10 a.m. in Rock Creek Township during the early Ohio archery season. He was stalk hunting with his Hoyt Reflex Ridgeline 32 compound bow which had a draw weight of 63 pounds., a 29-inch draw length, and 75 percent letoff.

He was blasting out Carbon Express, Lightweight Forward arrows, mounted with Fixed Blade Montec Striker, 3-blade, 100-grain broadheads.

He stuck him the first time at 40 yards and again at 15 after an initial 60 yard travel. Brian was wearing Scent Loc Camo and as said, stalk hunting.

His Elusive Eight Pointer had a 19-inch spread, weighed in at 180 pounds and was checked in at Jefferson Golden Dawn.

Remember, pass it on or it will surely pass on.



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