By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

DUBLIN, Ohio — New plans for a Web-based licensing and permit system are in the works for the Ohio Division of Wildlife. One part of the system would allow hunters to check harvested deer and turkey over the telephone, on the Internet or in person at a license vendor.

Dave Graham, division chief, came to the Ohio Farmers Union (OFU) annual convention to tell farmers about the new system (which probably won’t come online until sometime in 2011) and other deer hunting issues.

Licensing and permit system

“The idea (with the new licensing and permit system) is that the person who is hunting can stay in the field longer and kill more deer,” Graham said. “It makes it easier for them to tag the deer and stay out in the field.”

One idea that is still in the discussion stage would be to allow landowners to make a tag on their land when the deer is killed, he said. At their convenience, landowners could pick up a temporary and permanent tag, just like a paying hunter, for deer or for turkey. That would allow them to have the same benefit on the farm as hunters who buy a tag, Graham said.

“You can kill a deer or a turkey,” he said. “You’re going to be able to temporary-tag that animal right there on the site; you’re going to then be able to call in, right there in the field if you’ve got a cell phone, or you can take it back to your house and make the call from a landline, or you can go on the Internet and you’ll be able to check this deer or turkey without having to make that special trip to town to tag it before you can continue to hunt.”

The tag would be free, Graham emphasized. Landowners would not be charged for tags. Ohio is 97 percent privately owned; the division is totally dependent on the goodwill of landowners for hunters to be able to get on the farm and hunt.

Animal rights activists

With the new system, Graham even sees benefits in opposing animal rights activists. Ohio has 300,000-400,000 hunters in the state; the number of landowner/hunters is not known – possibly another 250,000, he said.

“Now you’re talking about a number that borders on a half a million or more,” Graham said.

“That’s a formidable group of folks when it comes to fighting off legislation by the anti-hunters that want to stop people from hunting,” he added.

“We share a common foe in terms of animal use. They want to stop hunting because they think that’s an easier target. They also are against confinement livestock and about any other type of animal ownership.”

Too many deer

Despite having a highly successful deer season this year, Graham admitted there are still issues with numbers of deer in some parts of the state.

“What it comes down to in the end is many people cannot get on the property where the deer are to harvest the deer,” he said. “Access is key, and we’re trying to get farmers and hunters together to raise that comfort level.”

Landowners are the masters of the domain when it comes to hunters on their property, he said.

“Hunters are going to do what you tell them to do,” he explained. “If you want does killed and you tell them to kill does before they kill that big buck or they can’t come back and hunt, I promise you that they’ll listen to you.”

The division also has a written permission slip which protects landowners from being successfully prosecuted under the recreational user law – and that law has never been successfully challenged.

FHFH

Another new idea Graham mentioned was a statewide food pantry. Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) is the group working with the Division of Wildlife on that program.

“In the first year of operation we put $150,000 of division money up for match,” he said. “The idea is to match that on a county-by-county basis to create a food pantry where a hunter can donate a deer that they don’t want to utilize themselves.”

Regulations in many counties are so liberal that a hunter can harvest up to six deer. Yet the average hunter kills one or two deer because they cannot use any more meat than that.

“This food bank idea offers a lot of hope for those people who are successful – hunters who can kill that third, fourth and fifth deer when they know they can donate it to feed the hungry,” Graham said.

Ohio Farm Bureau has been working to secure matching funds and Graham said he hoped the OFU would join in. “The more farmers we have, the better to get on top of the deer population,” he said.