Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Ohio

Understand your concerns. CRP payments in the Dakotas and not allowing public Pheasant hunting aggravates me in much the same way.

Now that ethanol corn is king, some have told me conservation concerns and CRP land is diminishing at an alarming rate.

Been a long time since I thought the farmer is the hunters friend or we owed each other something. Times have changed.

I live and hunt primarily in McLean County, Kentucky. Not a big county, about 166,000 acres. 2/3's of the county is in the floodplain and 80% of the county is considered farmland. The county population is approximately 9,400. We're considered rural for this part of the world.

Farming is our "industry". Small game hunting is fairly open. Farmers have little objection to rabbit or quail hunting, but deer and turkeys are another story. If you want to hunt deer in the county, you better own it or lease it. I own some and lease some.

The reason I lease is simple. Deer hunting is a family tradition. I want to make sure I have plenty of options for my kids and other family members. I don't want anybody in my family denied a chance to hunt because they don't have access, now or in the future.

My goal is to buy a larger farm in the future....maybe with partners? I want to do everything in my power to keep the tradition going....

More than a few sides to the story, will reply first chance I have.

SAS

My roots are rural. Armstrong Co--Tidal, Pa. About as rural as you can get. Mom came from there and had a desire to be educated. So sometime in the middle 30s, left the farm-people thought she was crazy-and went off to college with no idea how to pay for it.
Somehow did and came home to teach in a one room school with 7 grades. Eventually we moved closer to Pittsbugh as she found better work there and Dad worked on the rivers. I've lived in both worlds.

Outdoor/hunting wise Armstrong Co has changed little as far as land availability. At one time you could hunt the entire county. It was essentially open to all. Farmer and hunter were part of a team. They let you hunt and you showed your appreciation in someway. Most of the time a thank you at the day or season end was more than enough.

Then sometime in the 80 or early 90s change was in the wind. Posted signs started showing up. Today for the most part the county is posted up hard. The I have mine attitude became more obvious. Big Buck obsession started to become more prominent. Land started to be leased. I know of 2200 continuous acres that became divided up. 1000 acres with a group and the rest by the individual I lease with. Don't really need it,in that Pa has many Game Lands that are essentially used little. However, it is familiar and close.

What other changes have occurred. Well there are fewer and fewer hunters out there each year. Especially fewer younger ones. I have to think access is part of the problem. Once we could drive, our world of hunting and the outdoors opened wide. For kids today it is shrinking.

Your desire to ensure your family traditions continue is admired. However future generations need oppotunity less our numbers decline to the point we have no voice.

Agreed.

Our situation wasn't initiated by residents or farmer greed. In the late 80's, out-of-state groups started leasing large chunks in the Beech Grove area. Our area is well known for quality and quantity. Initial leases for large chunks were in the $10/acre range. It's not uncommon today to pay $25/acre because of stiffer competition from "corporate" hunting groups.

We have no public land in the county. As residents got pushed from their old stomping grounds, they reacted.

It's going to be tough for our youth in the future. We are n the middle of redneck heaven and everybody fishes and hunts. Ties run deep and traditions will continue, but it takes a lot more effort than it did when I was a kid.....and I'm only 42.

Ohio is great for bowhunting. The season is long, the tags are cheap. A bowhunter can hunt the peak of the rut without worrying about rifles. I started in Ohio, and loved it. The only drawback for me was that gun hunting was limited to shotguns and ML's and a few pistol calibers. The gun season was also late-- right after Thanksgiving.

However, when it came time to buy land in Ohio, I went over across the river in KY. Land was cheaper, there were no stupid Sunday hunting laws. Best of all, you could hunt with a rifle.

Ohio straightened out the Sunday prohibitions a few years later, but I never regretted going to KY.

I have archery hunted Knox, Licking, and Medina counties in OH. There are some amazing deer there. If you think for a second you will just show up and shoot a nice buck your out of your mind.

I have also archery hunted in WY for speedgoats. There was nothing challenging about it. But it was fun none the less. I would like to stalk one next time with the bow.

I just wanted to give y'all some more thoughts about deer hunting in Ohio versus the surrounding states.

Ohio is very liberal regarding crossbows. They are considered on a par with any other archery equipment. I never minded that. Some people thought crossbows were anathema. In KY you have to have to be physically disabled and have a doctor sign a form. I have such a form. Bow hunting in Ohio for 20 years, I never saw a crossbow.

Indiana is not as friendly to non-residents, and there are a lot more tags to buy if you want to hunt from the beginning to the end of all the seasons. IN allows straight-wall pistol cartridges in rifles. That is a step Ohio should take.

In all three (OH, IN, and KY) the public land is very crowded during deer season, especially on the openers. I hunted a WMA out by Seaman, OH one year. The fog lifted about 10 AM, and all you could see for a mile or more were orange dots flitting amongst the trees. On the other hand, I've never heard so much shooting on the opener as I did one year at my place in SW Bracken County, KY. 3 shot strings per minute sustained for 4 hours. That is a lot of hunters, but then that is also a lot of deer.

All in all, I would recommend any of the upper Ohio Valley states for good deer hunting. Any county that drains into the Ohio basin is going have deer.

Wrong. The rifle rule has nothing to do about straight walls. This is from the regs:

I stand corrected. I haven't hunted IN since the new law went in. Some of these are not really familiar to me. Which ones are bottle-necked?

Of that list I know the 44-40 has a neck. Many a legal wildcat are being used that conform to these rules that are bottlenecked like the 358WSSM or 358 Hoosier. That list is not all-inclusive nor very exhaustive...

Ok. I double-checked. 458 SOCOM has a bit of a neck too. Cool. I didn't know.

Ah! KY makes it so easy. Any centerfire cartridge .22 and greater. Sure, that makes 25 ACP legal, but who would . . .?

Nevermind. I saw a thread on here a few years ago that was about a guy trying 25 ACP on a whitetail. Not the best idea.

Grew up hunting the farms of northeast Ohio as well as the hollows of steel country. Killed and saw some great bucks.

Short actionsmoker. I believe that we are just getting started in Kentucky as our reputation as a trophy destination grows the outside hunters are going to drive up lease prices to where many wont be able to find a place. While its nice to have the trophy potential we have, I'm afraid there will be a stiff price to pay.

I tend to agree. Times have changed.....and not for the better.

Pa is fortunate in that we have around 1.5million acres of state game lands-purchased from licence sales for the most part-combined with millions more of national and state forests. Get back in and for the most part you will see few hunters. The Allegheny NF alone is around 500,000. In addition most land owned by timber companies is open to hunting.

Although with no motorized access, it can make for a long haul out.

I don't like this leasing thing at all. Guys are finding a hot spot , bastardizing it till there is nothing left and then looking for the next one. Once they leave the damage is done . I blame the television for this, everyone thinks they are friggin Chuck Adams or Lee and Tiffany. Hurry hurry get over here or buy this and that and you too can kill monster bucks like these. You used to hear a lot about Pike CO. Ill not so much anymore ,then it was Kansas , then Iowa , now Kentucky and Ohio and the new and upcoming places they are gonna rape the chit out of and then run off . You fellas would be wise to just keep your pie hole shut when you kill something good and share it with your friends and family and keep it that way for yourself.

With posted land increasing every year, for some it is a necessity. I have been on the present lease of 1200 acres for 10-12 years. Prior to that it was coal company land until they went under. Hunted it and the surrounding land for 40 plus years prior. Now the surrounding land is pretty much posted up.

Camps are great, but they can become a prison when animal populations decline, or someone leases out the land close by.

Unless one is willing to travel and live out of a motel close to a large Game Land or NF/SF, leasing becomes an attractive option. Actually the motel option is one of the best deals going. Open land, small town restaurants close by and a place to hang your hat that you don't have to pay for all year when you are not using it. With one or two hunting Buds, it is almost like camp. Except some frown on you pizzing in the parking lot.

The people who sign on to our lease shifts from 15-20 every year and the truth is most are not serious hunters. They hunt a day or two and perhaps a Saturday. After the first couple days it is not rare to be the only one hunting. Especially in the afternoon.

Love Ohio... i'm gonna move there one day. I just haven't found the women of my dreams " owns 300+ acres and has her daddys money" there yet.

Seems as if I remember a country song that went along those lines.