DALE SUNDERLIN
Star Beacon
August 25, 2008 04:00 am
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Ohio hunters will again enjoy a 60-day duck-hunting season and a six-duck bag limit this year. The 2008-09 waterfowl hunting season dates have been approved by the Ohio Wildlife Council.
Most are the most liberal regulations allowed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.
The waterfowl hunting seasons are set to open Oct. 18 in both Ohio’s north and south zones. Hunters 15 years of age and younger will have the opportunity to enjoy a special statewide season Oct. 4-5.
The duck-hunting season in the North Zone is October 18 through Dec. 7, with a second season open Dec. 20 through Dec. 28. In the South Zone, duck season is open Oct. 18 through Nov. 2, with a second season opening Dec. 6 and running through Jan. 18, 2009.
The daily bag limit for ducks is six, which may not include more than four mallards (no more than one may be female), one black duck, one pintail, three wood ducks, two redheads, and three mottled ducks. Due to continuing low breeding populations of lesser scaup, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has offered a mixed scaup bag limit with 40 days of a one-bird limit and 20 days of a two-bird limit.
As a result, Ohio hunters can take one scaup ( North Zone from October 18 - Nov. 17 and Dec. 20 - Dec. 28; South Zone from Oct. 18 - Nov. 2 and Dec. 26 - Jan. 18), or two scaup (North Zone from Nov. 18 - Dec. 7; South Zone from Dec. 6 - Dec. 25). Possession limits after the first day are twice the daily bag limit. Hunting season for canvasbacks will be closed.
The daily bag limit for mergansers is five, of which only two may be hooded. The daily bag limit for coots is 15. Possession limits after the first day are twice the daily bag limit.
In the Lake Erie Canada Goose Zone, the goose season is Oct. 18 through Nov. 30 with a second season opening Dec. 3 and running through Dec. 28. The goose season for the remainder of the North Zone is Oct. 18 through Nov. 30, with a second season Dec. 17 through Jan. 11, 2009. In the South Zone, goose season is Oct. 18 through Nov. 5 with a second season Dec. 6 through Jan. 25, 2009.
The daily bag limit for Canada geese is two. Light geese (snows, blues, Ross’) have a daily bag limit of 10, and white-fronted geese and brant have a daily bag limit of two. The possession limit for brant and geese is twice the daily bag limit after the first day. The Late Canada Goose Season will not be offered this year.
People planning to hunt waterfowl are required to answer several questions for the Harvest Information Program (HIP) survey when purchasing their hunting licenses.
A state wetland habitat stamp endorsement and a valid and signed federal duck stamp are required when hunting waterfowl, in addition to an Ohio hunting license. The 2008-09 hunting licenses and wetland stamps are on sale now and remain valid through Feb. 28, 2009.
Copies of this season’s waterfowl hunting regulations, which include maps of the zones (Publication 295, Waterfowl Hunting Regulations), will be available in mid-September to hunters at all license vendors, online at wildohio.com and at Division of Wildlife district offices in Akron, Athens, Columbus, Findlay and Xenia, or by calling 1-800-WILDLIFE. (Portions reprinted by permission from the Ohio Division of wildlife)
Feedback welcomed
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife will welcome the public to its annual Open Houses on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, from noon until 3: p.m. Normally held in the spring of the year, this is the first anyone form the division can remember scheduling these meeting for this time of year.
“Anyone interested in providing input and participating in Ohio’s professional wildlife management process is welcome,” David M. Graham, chief of the Division of Wildlife, said.
Graham adds that fish and wildlife biologists along with law enforcement officers will be on hand to answer questions.
Open houses will be held at the same day and time in Akron, Athens, Columbus, Findlay, Huron, and Xenia. Information recorded at these open houses is forwarded to the division’s central office in Columbus, where proposed rule changes to the Ohio Administrative Code are considered.
Again, Open Houses will be held on Saturday, Sept. 13 from noon to 3 p.m. in each of the state’s five wildlife district offices to provide the public an opportunity to view and discuss proposed fish and wildlife regulations with state wildlife officials. Directions to the open houses can be obtained by calling 1-800-WILDLIFE or visiting wildohio.com on the Internet.
Issues at hand
Topics for the Open Houses are proposed rule changes to the Ohio Administrative Code, and include:
n The prohibition of possessing or propagating wild boar.
My comment — This one is a very hot topic with several Southern Ohio preserve owners taking issue with the Division in trying to basically, put them out of business.
The Division has been very tight lipped on how the actual proposal reads and what sort of timelines and compensation preserve owners will be given, if any. I do know that preserve owners are concerned about their lively hood and plan on putting up one heck of a fight.
The Division is sighting habitat destruction and disease control, Pseudorabies and Swine Brucellosis. as their underlying reason for the ban. Disease wise neither of which has been found in the state of Ohio within the last 20+ years, according to the preserve owners.
As for habitat destruction, the preserve owners are contending that much if not all of it is done by feral hogs that have gotten loose from area farms where the owners just do not contain them properly.
One preserve owner went so far as to say, “Heck, this is a poor area. People can go to the livestock auction and pick up a slew of piglets for darn near nothing, fatten them up over the summer and have something to survive on during the winter months. If a couple of them get out, they figure so what. I’ve got six or eight more in there, why worry about the two that escaped
“That’s where the habitat destruction is coming from, not our wild boar.When one of ours gets out, we try everything possible to get it back in, that’s money out of our pocket!”
This may be a rough fight for both the Division and the preserve owners and the outcome may well affect our right to hunt wild boar in the state of Ohio.
n Establishing a minimum fence height for captive white-tailed deer, and requiring mandatory tissue testing of captive deer 12 months of age or older that die or are killed on a permit holder’s premise.
n Giving the ODNR Division of Wildlife authority to enforce the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact agreement. States participating in the agreement share information about fish and game violators and honor each other’s decision to deny licenses and permits. For example, if an Ohioan is convicted of a wildlife violation in a participating compact state, the individual’s right to hunt and fish also can be suspended or revoked back home, providing a similar action would have resulted had the violation occurred here in Ohio.
n Fishing regulations regarding blue catfish bag limits, stream smallmouth bass length limits, and striped bass regulations.
A statewide hearing on all the proposed rules will be held at 9 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 25 at the Division of Wildlife’s District One Office, located at 1500 Dublin Road in Columbus.
My call
If you have any interest in the hunting and fishing rules, laws, and regulations in the state of Ohio you better try your best to go to the meeting in Akron at our Division 3 Headquarters. It’s located at 912 Portage Lakes Drive Akron 44319 and the phone number is (330) 644-2293.
I’ll even go you one better — here’s the driving directions on how to get there. From Northeast or Ashtabula County area, Take I-90 West to I-271, I-271 South to I-77, I-77 South to I-76 (Canton), I-76 West to I-277/US-224 (Canton), I-277/US-224 East toSR-93 (Manchester Rd.), SR-93 South to Portage Lakes Dr., Left on to Portage Lakes Dr., District office is3⁄4 mile on right
It’s just like voting in a political election. You do not have any right to grip and moan about the way things are if you do not vote. So, if they ban wild boar preserve hunting in the state of Ohio and you didn’t go and voice your opinion on it, I don’t even want to discuss it with you.
Remember, pass it on or it will surely pass on.
Sunderlin is a freelance writer from Geneva. Reach him at djss@roadrunner.com.
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DALE SUNDERLIN Star Beacon