Serious Ohio deer hunters hunt all year long with activities including landing permission with landowners, practicing shooting archery and/or firearms on a regular basis, distance scouting through binoculars and planning actual hunts.
Other activities might include applying for special hunting opportunities, with applications for these limited spots available very soon.
Deer dates
Ohio’s Wildlife Council has recently approved the coming deer season dates and other deer management strategic regulations.
Archery season is set to open Sept. 29 and run through the winter months until closing Feb. 3, 2019.
The year’s two-day youth deer season will be held Nov. 17-18.
This year’s week-long deer gun season, as always, will follow the Thanksgiving weekend running Nov. 26 and ending Dec. 2.
Ohio hunters will once again enjoy a two-day bonus gun season Dec. 15-16.
Black powder season is set to run four days, Jan. 5-8, 2019.
Limits
The majority of bag limits and other regulations will remain the same with some exceptions, mostly having to do with county-by-county deer herd management and the use of antlerless tags. Statewide hunters can still kill up to six deer by juggling county limits.
Jefferson County’s bag limit is dropped to two deer for the season from its previous three deer-bag limit to allow the herd to grow.
In other management moves, only antlered deer may be taken by hunters on public hunting areas following the week-long gun season which ends Dec. 3.
In addition to that change to public hunting area regulations, no more than one antlerless deer may be harvested from any or all of these areas. The exception on this one is if allowed while on an authorized DOW controlled hunt.
The Wildlife Council is an appointed eight-member group that typically represents various stakeholders, including public input, to approve seasons, regulations.
Perch
In other news, Ohio’s Lake Erie perch anglers ought to be elated to hear that there has been a moratorium imposed on netting across much the central basin.
Perch fishing has have been drastically affected in the last two years, with declining catch rates reaching dismal results. More news on this to follow.
The only good perch fishing news has been that anglers in the western basin from Toledo to Marblehead have been enjoying the best fishing in years.
