Duck and goose seasons swing into action all over Ohio on Saturday, and waterfowl hunters again will be hoping for nasty weather.
Duck and goose seasons swing into action all over Ohio on Saturday, and waterfowl hunters again will be hoping for nasty weather.Duck and goose seasons swing into action all over Ohio on Saturday, and waterfowl hunters again will be hoping for nasty weather.
“When you have a strong northerly front coming in with big winds and cold weather, think about duck hunting,” said Dave Sherman, Ohio’s head of waterfowl management at the Division of Wildlife’s Crane Creek Wildlife Station. “That is the type of weather needed to push migrating waterfowl through Ohio from their northern nesting grounds.”
When Ohio experiences unusually balmy weather during duck season, as happened during the 2009 season, duck hunting is mediocre at best.
“We usually get a week or two of warm weather during the duck season to slow the hunting,” Sherman said. “Last fall, we had a couple of months of mild weather.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service surveys report Ohio hunters bagged about 115,000 ducks last year, well below the 170,000 in 2007. Here are the Ohio dates for the 2010-11 seasons:
Duck
• North Zone Duck Season: Saturday-Nov. 14 and Nov. 20-Dec. 19.
• South Zone Duck Season: Saturday-Oct. 31 and Dec. 11-Jan. 23.
Canada Geese
• Lake Erie Zone Goose Season: Saturday-Nov. 14 and Nov. 20-Jan. 2.
• North Zone Goose Season: Saturday-Nov. 28 and Dec. 18-Jan. 16.
• South Zone Goose Season: Saturday-Nov. 7 and Dec. 11-Jan. 30
The top two ducks in a Buckeye waterfowler’s bag are mallards and wood ducks. Sherman said surveys predict a good season for mallards, with good nesting success in Ohio and Ontario. Wood duck numbers are slightly lower this year because of dry conditions in late summer.
To help hunters connect with migrating waterfowl, the Division of Wildlife is posting weekly waterfowl movement reports on its wildohio.com website. Waterfowl managers are expanding the surveys to include all of Ohio, not just the north, by adding waterfowl surveys of many wildlife areas.
“We want to improve our reporting system,” Sherman said. “We might need some time to get all of the bugs out, but feel it will give hunters an advantage.”
Black powder hunt: The special early primitive weapons deer hunt in three Southeastern Ohio areas kicks off a six-day season Monday. Last year, hunters killed 474 deer during the short season at the Salt Fork Wildlife Area, Shawnee State Forest and Wildcat Hollow. Hunters must adhere to Ohio’s blaze-orange requirements.
Out and about: The Lorain County Beagle Club will hold its annual fall turkey shoots starting Sunday and running through Dec. 19. The shoots will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Gore Orphanage Road, two miles south of Ohio 18 in Brighton. For more information, call 440-984-2125. . . . The German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Ohio has an AKC hunter’s trial Oct. 23-24 at Monigold’s Pheasant and Quail Ranch in Newcomerstown, with entries still open, reports Cindi Chilbert (440-285-8931). . .. The All- Breed Hunter’s Trial at the Huron Township Conservation Club has been moved up a week to Oct. 24.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: degan@plaind.com, 216-999-5158