Hunt Ohio Farms program links landowners with responsible hunters for mutual benefit

                        
Between 1991 and 2006, the state of Ohio lost 11 percent of its forest acreage. As forest acreage decreases, whitetail deer lose more and more of their natural habitat. To compensate, they gravitate to farmers’ fields and orchards to sustain themselves. With each of Ohio’s approximately 700,000 deer consuming an average of 2,000 pounds of forage each year, the number becomes staggering in its impact on agriculture. Soybeans and corn are the most favored crops for deer to feast on.
To address this problem, the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) are collaborating to provide a pilot program in Tuscarawas, Carroll, Harrison, and Jefferson counties. The program, titled Hunt Ohio Farms, uses the power of the Internet to link farmers/landowners experiencing problem deer populations with licensed hunters searching for a place to harvest deer.
Dan Kramer is the wildlife management supervisor at the Division of Wildlife District Three office in Akron. He is concerned with Ohio’s lack of public lands available for hunting.
“Ohio is public land poor in the amount of public land. We rank about 47 out of 50 states. We don’t have a great deal of public land, although there is a fair amount of public land in Holmes County, where Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area is available for public hunting, with part of it in Wayne and part of it in Holmes counties,” Kramer stated. “Wildlife management has to take place on private property. To have an effect, we need to get hunters access to private property. We can establish seasons, etc., but the private landowner has to allow land access or hunt themselves for that to occur,” said Kramer. “The Farm Bureau has established that the deer population is too high. We have worked with them about deer damage and economic loss issues for years, giving permits to reduce does out of season.
“Essentially, this hunter access program is an opportunity for these agricultural folks, the landowners, to step up and allow more access to their property. Hunters register online and landowners hold the cards there. Landowners can search the database and choose who they may wish to allow hunting. We’ve had a lot of response from landowners and potential hunters,” explained Kramer.
“Ohio has more deer than it can manage,” said Chris Henney, OFBF’s director of legislative relations. “Experts estimate that the deer population is more than 700,000. Ohio Farm Bureau policy calls for reducing that number to 250,000.”
Kramer thinks the program is a good idea. “Farmers can choose and potentially meet with the hunters they select from the database. Hunters provide information on their age, how long they’ve been hunting, how far they’re willing to travel. The hunter still needs written permission by law. That will be another opportunity to say yea or nay. It puts all the cards in the landowner’s hands to have the tools to theoretically choose who will reduce his deer population.”
Michelle Specht is the Farm Bureau director for the four counties involved in the pilot program. “Last fall, area farmers and landowners were sent a survey to see if they were interested in having someone hunt on their land. The overall response was very good,” stated Specht. “Then, last winter, we called in about 12 farmers and landowners, and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources staff facilitated a session, along with the Ohio Farm Bureau, to determine what was going to be on the hunters’ questionnaires. They asked what they were looking for in hunters to hunt on their farms.” The online registration form was developed accordingly.
“The farmers can look at the hunters’ profiles, but the hunters cannot contact the farmers,” continued Specht. “This is the kind of program to match the hunters out there with landowners and farmers.”
Interested farmers and potential hunters can go online to www.huntohiofarms.com, where they can review an information page and set up an account.


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