Blade Outdoors

Opening day deer numbers show big spike

The weather -- that constant wild card in the plans of any hunter -- was in a cooperative mood for the opening day of the Ohio deer gun season on Monday (Nov. 26), and hunters harvested nearly 25 percent more white-tailed deer. The count by the Division of Wildlife came in at 29,297 whitetails taken on opening day. In the 2011 season-opener, hunters were greeted with wind and rain and harvested 23,600 deer.

When we look at the harvest reports from individual counties for the 2012 opening day, the usual suspects line up with the best numbers. The hill country of Coshocton (1,199), Muskingum (1,102), Tuscarawas (1,091) and Guernsey (858) counties remained at the top of the list. Those top three were the same as in 2011. Locally, the deer harvest numbers from opening day pretty much matched up with the available amount of huntable land in these counties --Lucas: 26; Williams: 354; Wood: 67; Wyandot: 239, Sandusky: 70; Hancock: 174; Seneca: 254; Ottawa: 24; Henry: 123; Van Wert: 76; Paulding: 191; Erie: 61; Defiance: 340; and Crawford: 164.

The deer gun season is open through Sunday (Dec. 2), and then reopens for the weekend of Dec. 15-16. The state expects about 420,000 hunters to take part in the gun season.

 

Trek into history in the Hocking Hills

We carried a feature on the history of some of Ohio's first hunters and fishermen in the Sunday, Nov. 18 paper. The account was vivid and very interesting as related by Wehyehpihehrsehnhwah, a Shawnee who traces his ancestors to the area we know now as the Wayne National Forest and Hocking Hills State Park. In conjunction with Hocking Hills Adventure Trek, Wehyehpihehrsehnhwah gives live talks about the ways of his people and delivers them in incredible settings, such as the ancient saltpeter caves etched into the walls of canyons in the Hocking Hills area. More information is available at the www.hockinghillsadventuretrek.com website, or by calling 740-777-2579. The comany also offers guided hikes with professional naturalists through what is one of the three most bio-diverse regions in the world.

 

St. John's hopes fishing program catches on with area educators

On Nov. 19, St. John's Jesuit  will host area educators interested in getting certified to teach the National Fishing in Schools Program. The program, which is active in more than a dozen states, uses a “Cast a Fly, Catch A Student” curriculum that has been approved by many states and allows middle school and high school students to earn education credits while learning to fly fish, tie knots, and explore aquatic entomology. Students also learn about the importance of water quality and habitat conservation. “We invite parents and educators from schools across Ohio and Michigan to join us," St. John's principal Bryon Borgelt said. "Together, we can teach young adults the lasting benefits of outdoor skills for stewardship and conservation of natural resources for future generations.” Call St. John's at  419-865-5743 for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trumpeter swans make area appearance

Reader Ron Beltz reports seeing a group of trumpeter swans resting and feeding at his pond on Corduroy Rd. He said they are regular visitors each year on their migration route south from their summer grounds in Canada. Trumpeter swans are the largest of all native North American wildfowl, standing about four feet tall, with a wingspan of six to eight feet. Ron reported that the swans were spending a lot of time tipped in the feeding position, with their necks down in the water and their feathery behinds pointing straight up. They will stay in that position for more than a minute, feeding on submerged aquatic vegetation and tiny invertebrates.

 

 

Feisty female featured in Tuesday column

The Nov. 6 outdoors column in The Blade will look at the life of Teri Reinhart, a hunter, angler, activist and quite possibly a political innovator who brought together two prominent outdoors factions and found they have a lot of common ground. She was of the "Green & Camo" party. Teri got involved in protecting our water and our environment -- a movement where women have done a lot of the heavy lifting -- and made it her life's work. Only bone cancer was able to stop this red-headed whirlwind, whose passion for environmental causes and her camouflage jacket confused some, but made many others smile.