Hunters bag their deer quickly

December 01, 2008 11:20 pm

— A lack of snow, which aids tracking, didn’t seem to bother hunters who bagged deer on the first day of gun season.
Today may be a different story. An expected snow fall should help hunters track deer throughout Ashtabula County and northeast Ohio.
Area checking stations Monday reported a brisk business.
“We were out there (Saybrook Township) about 6:30 this morning and we got one about 11 a.m.” said Mike Williams of Saybrook Township.
“It was pretty decent (the weather). I was expecting a lot worse,” Williams said.
Jim Buckmaster of Austinburg Township said the first day of deer-gun season went well on two fronts.
“I went out at a quarter till 9 and got (a deer) at 12:30, but I walked 200 acres,” he said.
Buckmaster said he also had less trouble with unauthorized hunting on his property this year. State law dictates hunters carry a written letter detailing hunting approval, but often times people don’t bother to carry their permission letters or even try to receive permission, he said.
“(Other years) I spend half the time chasing guys off my property,” Buckmaster said. He said part of the problem was alleviated this year when a group of hunters spent $185,000 to purchase 121 acres along Interstate 90 and are posting it for their own use.
Buckmaster said people would start along Interstate 90, on land that wasn’t posted, and just continue onto other people’s property.
Jesse Kehres of the Golden Dawn in Jefferson spent much of the day checking in deer. “We hear a lot of stories from their hunting (trips),” he said.
Kehres reported 95 deer checked in by 3 p.m.

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