Gun in hand, the hunter’s feet crunch the fall leaves in pursuit of the buck just a few yards away. But one foul shot, a change in wind, the slightest noise or sudden movement could mean going home empty handed.
For Ron Docie, 57, this scene is anything but abnormal during deer gun hunting season, a one-week period given to those hoping to bag a white-tailed deer between Nov. 26 and Dec. 2.
“To me, (hunting) is not a single event,” said Docie, an Athens resident. “It’s a lifestyle that affects you throughout the year. It becomes a part of your culture. … It’s about spending time in the woods and nature more than anything. Shooting a gun is only 3 percent of the activity. … You have to enjoy being in the woods and appreciating nature.”
The season pulls in big bucks, with Ohio ranked eighth in the country for annual hunting-related sales and 10th in the number of jobs associated with the industry, allowing an economic impact of $859 million.
“I would expect that (this year’s harvest) numbers will probably be very similar to last year,” said Mike Tonkovich, the deer program administrator for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. “The problem with very small and short seasons is if you have bad weather, it can really mess things up. An ice storm or a cold, rainy day could put a damper on the harvest.”
This year’s season saw fairer weather, and the Docie family was able to pack its freezer with enough meat to last a year, with some left over to share with friends and family. The same goes for fellow hunter and Athens resident Wes Gilkey.
For Gilkey and his family, venison is considered a delicacy, and the season is about much more than bagging a trophy.
“I think that a big misconception is that people have this image in their head of people going out and shooting away, like the Bambi scene, and all of a sudden, a hunter comes in, and they start taking shots at everything, which isn’t true,” said Gilkey, an OU freshman studying biological science. “We try to put down animals as ethically we can.”
Docie added that for many hunters, the actual act of killing is the worst part.
“I think that there is no one I know that is excited about the kill. The excitement is the hunting and the challenge,” Docie said. “Taking a life is the most challenging part to come to grips with. … This notion of sacrificing a life for something else is an interesting phenomenon. People aren’t out there to kill; it’s not like that.”
In Athens County, each hunter is permitted to bag six deer during the season, which includes a bonus weekend on Dec. 15 and 16. Few actually make that many kills though, with 72 percent of hunters tagging just one, Tonkovich said.
“We have population goals for every county in the state, and for the last six or seven years, we have had very liberal regulations,” Tonkovich said. “2013 may be the first year we will see signs of turning back some of the regulations.”
To ensure that the deer population isn’t cut too drastically, the regulation might drop to two or four deer per hunter in the 2013 season, Tonkovich said.
“We hunt deer in Ohio for several reasons,” said John Windau of the ODNR Division of Wildlife. “To provide recreational opportunity, but it is also an important management tool for us because we don’t have any natural predators that are able to control the deer populations other than vehicles. So, it’s the only way to regulate and keep the population healthy.”
lf328610@ohiou.edu
