Ohio Hunting Opportunities Expand in 2006-2007

Ohio hunters will have expanded deer hunting opportunities this fall, an extra weekend of deer gun on December 16 & 17.

Statewide muzzleloader is 12/27 through Sat 12/30.

Early youth upland season is Oct 21 & 22 and Oct 28 & 29.

Early youth deer season is 11/18 and 11/19.

Commercial fisherman on Lake Erie must notify DOW 30-minutes before they dock. They can no longer mix fish from Western Basin and Central Basin on the same boat.

Sept 1 opens squirrel, dove & Canada goose.

Click 'Read More' Below for details from Ohio DOW Press Release

The additional weekend of deer-gun hunting will fall on Saturday, December 16 and Sunday, December 17. The traditional week-long deer-gun season will begin on Monday, November 27 and run through
Sunday, December 3. Deer-archery season will run from Saturday, September 30 through Sunday, February 4, 2007.

Statewide muzzleloader season will open on Wednesday, December 27, and run through Saturday, December 30. Early muzzleloader hunts will be open Monday, October 23 through Saturday, October 28 at Salt Fork, Shawnee and Wildcat Hollow. Muzzleloader hunts at these areas are by special permit only, with a random drawing held prior to the season for a limited number of antlered and unlimited number of antlerless permits.

Last year’s three deer-hunting zones remain in place. A three-deer limit (Zone C) will cover 38 central, south, southeastern and southwestern counties. The 30 counties of Zone B will have a two-deer limit, and the 20 northwestern counties of Zone A will have a one-deer limit. A hunter may take only one buck in Ohio, regardless of zone, hunting method or season.

The youth deer-gun season is set for Saturday, November 18 and Sunday, November 19. Young hunters can bag only one deer of either sex in any county of Ohio during this special season. Any deer taken will be part of the young hunter’s total season limit.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has never been found in Ohio’s deer herd. Still, to minimize the risk of CWD appearing in Ohio, reasonable measures were passed for the disposal of hunter-killed deer, elk and moose carcasses from CWD-affected areas before they are brought back to Ohio. The regulations require the meat from an animal from a CWD-infected area to be de-boned and wrapped with no part of the spinal column or head attached. Hunters can bring back antlers or antlers
attached to skullcaps as long as all soft tissue has been removed. Also acceptable will be hides and capes without the head or lymph nodes attached and finished taxidermy mounts from known CWD-infected areas.

A pattern of corrupt activity demonstrated by some commercial fishing operations has resulted in approved regulations that will tighten the rules on the industry. One change** prohibits commercial
fishermen from having yellow perch from the Central and Western basins of Lake Erie on their boat at the same time. Commercial fishing vessels are now required to notify the Division of Wildlife at least 30 minutes prior to docking with the fish they have netted. They are also now required to have additional color coding for their nets.

September 1 will again mark the kick-off date for the state’s fall hunting seasons - with the opening of squirrel, dove, Canada goose, rail, moorhen and snipe hunting.

Migratory waterfowl hunting rules and season dates will be set in August within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2006-07 framework, which will be supplied later this summer.

A COMPLETE LIST OF THE NEW 2006-07 HUNTING REGULATIONS AND DATES IS
AVAILABLE AT http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife

For Further Information Contact:

Dave Risley, ODNR Division of Wildlife

(614) 265-6330

-or-

Dave Scott, ODNR Division of Wildlife

(614) 265-6338