Ohio
Deer hunting limits may increase; trumpeter swans may be taken off threatened species list
Several regulations for Ohio wildlife are proposed starting next year, including good news for trumpeter swan populations as well as deer hunters.
Members of the Ohio Wildlife Council will host a hearing on potential changes to the 2024-25 Ohio hunting and trapping seasons on March 20, according to a news release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
The council will vote on the changes April 10.
“Everyone who would like to comment on Division of Wildlife proposals can do so online at wildohio.gov from Feb. 10 – March 13,” the news release reads.
Biologists from ODNR submitted their requests to the wildlife council on Feb. 7.
The state monitors harvests so that animal populations remain consistent and healthy.
Ohio deer hunting season 2024-25
The proposal includes bag limit increases on white-tailed deer from two kills to three for hunters in six counties: Butler, Clinton, Fayette, Greene, Madison and Pickaway.
“Deer bag limit increases are designed to slow herd growth and increase hunting opportunities,” the news release reads.
Hunters next season will be allowed to harvest only one antlered deer, regardless of where or how it is taken.
The proposed statewide deer hunting dates for 2024-25 include:
- Deer archery: Sept. 28, 2024 – Feb. 2, 2025
- Youth deer gun: Nov. 16 – 17, 2024
- Deer gun: Dec. 2 – Dec. 8, 2024; Dec. 21 – 22, 2024
- Deer muzzleloader: Jan. 4 – 7, 2025
“The wildlife council also heard a proposal to allow deer management permits to be valid until Dec. 22, 2024, the last day of the bonus deer gun hunting weekend,” the news release reads. “Currently, deer management permits are only valid until the day before the statewide seven-day gun season.”
Hunting hours will remain 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.
Other requested hunting changes would affect waterfowl and other migratory game birds, furbearers, small game and other species.
A complete list of proposal is online at ohiodnr.gov/rules-and-regulations/rule-changes/proposed-rule-changes/wildlife-proposed-rules.
‘Trumpeter swan populations have exceeded the division’s goals’
State biologists want the wildlife council to remove trumpeter swans from the Buckeye State’s threatened species list.
“The population has significantly increased, and the threatened designation is no longer needed,” the proposal reads. “After years of management and monitoring, trumpeter swan populations have exceeded the division’s goals for the species’ recovery.”
Trumpeter swans once faced extinction, according to an ODNR news release from 2021.”In 2020, wildlife biologists found 98 breeding pairs of trumpeter swans in Ohio, an encouraging increase in population,” the news release reads. “These birds nested in 20 counties, including public wildlife areas such as Killdeer Plains (Wyandot County) and Big Island (Marion County).”
Those Ohio swans had 235 young, called cygnets, in 2020.
Trumpeter swans depend on high-quality wetland habitats throughout the year, and face continued threats, including habitat loss and lead poisoning.
ztuggle@gannett.com
419-564-3508
Out of prison, Indiana’s caviar king back on Ohio River to find fishing holes taken
David Cox, of English, Indiana, says once he began setting his nets again after a two-year prison sentence and a three-year ban on commercial fishing, all of his once-secret spots were taken.
Can you eat fish from the Ohio River?
In 1975, future presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, bet 20 pounds of New England cod that the Red Sox would defeat the Reds in the World Series. If things went south for Boston, Ohio governor James Rhodes promised to send Dukakis 10 pounds of Lake Erie perch and 10 pounds of Ohio River catfish. The Reds ended up winning and the cod was sent to the Convalescent Home for Children, in Cincinnati.
At the time, people were still eating catfish from the Ohio without too much concern. The fish were also served at several restaurants along the river.
There were warnings in 1977
But two years later, in 1977, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission released the results of a study of contaminants found in the tissues of Ohio River fish. They warned anglers in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling and Gallipolis that man-made chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, had been discovered in the river fish. Later, high concentrations of mercury were discovered in the fish, too.
Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the environmental regulations that followed, the river is now cleaner than it was in the seventies. And it’s still teeming with a variety of fish, including catfish, striped bass, drum and black bass, among other species.
But even though PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, they are still found in fish, since they remain in the sediment in the bottom of the river. “Organisms live in the sediment and fish feed on them,” Rich Cogen, the executive director of the Ohio River Foundation told The Enquirer. Mercury is also a big problem, according to Cogen.
So the question is: Can you eat fish caught in the Ohio River?
The short answer is yes. But it depends on what species you are eating and where along the river you caught it.
There are also very strict limitations on how frequently you should eat them, according to the web site for the Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, part of the Ohio Department of Health.
In areas of the river between the Belleville Lock, located 204 miles downstream from the river’s origins in Pittsburgh, to the Indiana border, the advisory agency currently recommends consuming Ohio River fish no more than once a month max. That area includes Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Lawrence, Meigs and Scioto counties.
Here’s where to check
Recommendations change throughout the year, but you can keep up by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s Sport Fish Consumption Advisory page, which provides updated information on when certain fish, usually bottom feeders such as carp, are deemed too dangerous to eat at all.
Here’s who should take a pass on Ohio River fish
The agency also warns that people who are more likely to have health effects from eating contaminated fish, includingchildren younger than 15 years old, pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to avoid Ohio River fish altogether.
Just because you have to limit the amount of fish you eat, doesn’t mean the river is a bad place for fishing, as long as you limit your intake or do catch-and-release fishing. Just make sure you have a proper fishing license before casting your line.
Have a question for Just Askin’? Email us.
The Just Askin’ series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, except maybe Google.
Do you have a question you want answered? Send it to us at justaskin@enquirer.com, ideally with Just Askin’ in the subject line.
It isn’t over until it’s over. That’s the case for both the UCLA Bruins football program recruiting and for quarterback Brady Edmunds. Edmunds is currently committed to head to Ohio State but he took a visit from UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy earlier this week.
Kennedy met Edmunds on Thursday despite the fact that the quarterback has been committed to the Buckeyes since December of 2024 but could the UCLA Bruins be making a run at flipping the quarterback?
Edmunds has only had an official visit with Ohio State but could UCLA heave a heat check on the 6’5” quarterback? New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney is off to an unbelievable start to his recruiting with the Bruins and flipping a recruit of Edmunds’ caliber would be his most impressive move yet.
247 Sports has Edmunds as the No. 16 quarterback in the class, which would give UCLA a clear predecessor for Nico Iamaleava whenever the Bruins current starting quarterback decides to head to the professional level.
It’d be a full circle moment for the Bruins, as Edmunds was originally recruited to Ohio State by former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who bailed on UCLA to go run the Buckeyes offense. Ohio State is a great spot for a developing quarterback, as the Buckeyes produce tons of NFL talent, especially at the wide receiver position, which would help Edmunds put up some gaudy numbers in Columbus.
Chesney and the Bruins have geography on their side, Edmunds attends Huntington Beach High School in Southern California, which could potentially become a factor if Edmunds views UCLA as a program on the rise that’d be much closer to his friends and family than out in Ohio.
Time will tell if Kennedy’s visit will make a difference but UCLA’s recruiting has made waves in the first offseason under Chesney and the new regime.
-
World7 minutes agoEurope Day: 40 years of ties between Spain and the European Union
-
News38 minutes agoFrontier Airlines plane hits person on runway during takeoff at Denver airport
-
New York2 hours agoMan Dies in Subway Attack; Mamdani Orders Inquiry Into Suspect’s Release From Bellevue
-
Detroit, MI3 hours agoPatchy dense fog turns to stronger thunderstorms for Metro Detroit to start the weekend
-
San Francisco, CA3 hours agoWhere to watch Pittsburgh Pirates vs San Francisco Giants: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 9
-
Dallas, TX3 hours agoFC Dallas vs Real Salt Lake Preview: Lineups, Storylines & What to Watch
-
Miami, FL3 hours agoMiami Area Gets First New Manufactured Home Community in Decades
-
Boston, MA3 hours agoWhat we know about wrong-way driver killed in head-on collision with state trooper in Lynnfield – The Boston Globe