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Thursday, 06 November 2008 |
By ANGELA WEAVER
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — Ohioans can take part in a popular November pastime when the small game hunting season begins Friday.
The season for three of Ohio’s most populous game species consists of ring-necked pheasant, cottontail rabbit and bobwhite quail, as well as multiple pheasant releases.
“It’s a continuation of a tradition,” Kathy Garza-Behr with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife District 5 said, adding that pheasant hunting is something a lot of people take part in during the Thanksgiving holiday. “This is one of our most popular seasons in the state, and it’s pretty traditional.”
The Division of Wildlife aims to release more than 15,000 ring-necked pheasants on 29 public hunting areas around Ohio. Some were released Oct. 24 and 31 in preparation for the small-game season for youth hunters, and will be released on the evening of Nov. 14. The final release will be Nov. 26 for Thanksgiving weekend.
“Originally we released the pheasants in hopes they would survive the winter and we’d have a reproducing population, but they don’t have the skills to survive,” Garza-Behr said, adding that the blizzards in the 1970s were also a factor.
She said the division releases only males now.
“Occasionally there are some that survive,” Garza-Behr said.
She said the releases are paid for through the license and permit fees. The daily bag limit for ring-necked pheasants is two, being males only.
Garza-Behr said the division cautions hunters to only shoot cottontail rabbits and not the newly reintroduced snowshoe hares, which aren’t legal game in Ohio, but are also brown at this time of the year.
“The snowshoes are much larger — longer ears, longer legs, longer feet — and they have different fur coloration,” Garza-Behr said, adding that snowshoes are only found in one area in the state and that part of the state, portions of Geauga and Ashtabula counties will be closed to rabbit hunting until Dec. 7, closer to when the fur changes color.
The daily bag limit for cottontails is four.
Bobwhite quail, which Garza-Behr said is currently being reintroduced to this area, are available for hunting in 16 counties in southern Ohio, and the daily bag limit for quail is four birds.
Ring-necked pheasant season ends Jan. 11 cottontail rabbit season ends Feb. 28, 2009, and bobwhite quail hunting ends Nov. 30. The seasons close during the statewide deer-gun hunting season, Dec. 1 through Dec. 7, as well as the extra deer-gun hunting weekend from Dec. 20 to Dec. 21.
During this break, Garza-Behr said hunters can also take part in coyote hunting.
“They’d just need their deer permit and hunting license in order to hunt coyotes during the season,” she said.
Garza-Behr encouraged hunters of all ages to take part in the hunting season.
“Get out there,” she said. “The weather is going to be great for the opener. It’s a great season to introduce youth to hunting, and it’s good to get young hunters out there learning to identify the game. We’re continuing the tradition here in Ohio, and we’re glad it’s so well-received.”
For the small game hunting season, hunters need only a hunting license, and Garza-Behr said shotguns can be used. First-time hunters also must pass a free hunter education course before purchasing a license.
Licenses can be purchased in St. Marys at Kmart, 1292 Indiana Ave., The Outdoorsman, 172 E. Bank Road, and St. Marys Hardware Co. Inc, 158-174 E. High St., as well as online at www.wildohio.com. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 November 2008 )
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