i think that by shooting 3 additional does, it will thin the herd too much...many guys such as me like to go out and see them, its nice to have some does come in and watch them, where if you do shoot all of them, you will see less deer but more bucks...what would u rather see...more bucks and less deer or more deer with fair amount of bucks

I hunt in a unit here in Wisconsin where I can kill as many antlerless deer as I want, as long as I buy a $12.00 tag, which are pretty much unlimited with over 25,000 tags available for this one unit!!! I still don't notice that the herd is being thinned, every Doe I see has at least twins in tow!

Be careful you guys............that's all I'm gonna say. We had additional doe tags given out as a measure that was needed to control the deer population as it continued to grow. It was a deer slaughter in reality. The years since have been so lean in some areas that doe permits are now not even given out. We have been suffering the consequences of killing too many deer for awhile now.

Would be nice if Ohio was like Wis as far as deer numbers go. Some parts of the state have plenty and some have little. I hunt both out of necessity. I know first hand how quickly you can go from seeing some to seeing none in low density area's just from taking some doe's. Ohio’s coming along. Someday maybe. Until then, have bow, will travel. If we ever get to 750,000 we'll be over the hump. Until then it can go either way.

I'm with you Buckeye. I don't believe there is any need for people other than hunters to thin deer numbers. Heard from a guy in NY that were he lives S.S. not only slaughter a herd but then compound it by dumping them in the landfill.

If the herd needs to be thinned, then let the hunters do it, not hired guns. And remember, in a state like OH, just becauseyou can legally shoot more does, doesn't mean that everybody will. In IL you can shoot as many does as you want, but I know of a lot of guys that will pass on does all year long,so not to possibly ruin a chance at a buck. I have a friend that passes on many does every single day, but has only killed 1 in the past few years.

If I don't take a good buck in the first 2 weeks of the season....I likely won't take one....because I'll be shooting every doe I see. I know I'll likely bugger up my spot for a while.....but it needs doing.

NC has a deer population equal to or greater than the state of PA.....with about 1/6 the number of hunters. We have likely 1.2M deer (or more) here. I'm gonna get tired of butchering deer, this year, if all goes well.

Just ask the Hunters in PA about thining out the Herd. NUFF SAID!

Hatchet Jack

My wifes family is from putnam county and from what i can see every time i visit that part of the state it dosent need any thining. I see more deer here in a day than i do out there in a week.

This is more than likely the DNR's response to the pressure of the farming associations of the state. It was recently in the papers that they wanted the herd thinned to 250,000 which is pretty unrealistic. The extra tags really won't change the way I hunt. The month of Oct here lately has been to darn hot (50's to 60's) the past couple years and quite honestly I hate to rush the butchering of my deer, so I wait until gun season and muzzleloader season to fill the freezer with does. Oct and Nov. are the buck months for me.If the herd is cut to 250K I can see it going back to the way it was when I began deer hunting. You were on cloud nine if you saw a handful of deer during the season. I think the DNR has done a great job building a very healthy herd in the state and I hope they don't go to far in either the direction, that past 6 seasons have been great here in OH.

It sounds like Ohio is going to follow suit w/ PA. You may want to investigate the reasoning behind the additional tags. Ohio has very rich soil compared to PA. Our problem is habitat degredation by overbrowsing.
Some areas like Allegheny co. have way too many deer and they hire sharpshooters to cull the herd because access is limited and bowhunters can't kill enough does. You can get 10 doe tags there.
Other Northern big woods counties have had the habitat destroyed by deer and PA. issued additional tags to bring the herd and habitat in balance,(much to the dismay of some hunters). The problem is that it will take many years for the habitat to rebound and deer numbers are less than some hunters want. Once the habitat repairs itself it will then have the ability to hold more deer.Carrying capacity is very low in some northern areas.
The other thing Oh. does not have is 2 weeks of concurrent buck/doe rifle season. It seems to be mostly gun hunters that compain the most here in PA. My point bieng that bowhunters in PA don't complain about lack of deer so much even w/ the herd here bieng less than it was. It's because of the time spent and the methods we use.I really don't think you'll notice much difference, if statewide, Oh takes 10 or 20,000 additional does out of the herd.Because of the fertile farm land,fawn recruitment will remain good.

The Oh. div. of wildlife knows something we don't. I would check it out.
There may be habitat problems or something of that nature to prompt such a move.

Whatever you do ...don't let it become a bickering match like here in PA.