Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Outdoors. News Radio seven hundred w
Speaker 1: l W Cincinnati, home of the Cincinnati Reds and the
Speaker 1: best Bengals coverage. Chip Hard here and uh want last one,
Speaker 1: Tom Cross. Uh he's back in the woods again, which
Speaker 1: is actually a good place for him. And uh it's
Speaker 1: it's very calming for the wildlife out there when when
Speaker 1: he's in the woods because uh uh he has no
Speaker 1: chance whatsoever, but hopefully he is catching this on his
Speaker 1: way in. Do you like that, Danny?
Speaker 2: That's very good.
Speaker 1: All no harm will come to his quarry today. Correct.
Speaker 1: Jim Samuel, welcome back to the Big Outdoors and uh
Speaker 1: you uh you. You visit with me a couple of
Speaker 1: times of years, particularly when there's important subjects and and
Speaker 1: I have to and I need to turn to you.
Speaker 1: You are a member of the Ohio Wildlife Council. And
Speaker 1: for the for those that are not familiar, what does
Speaker 1: a person that is on the council, what is the
Speaker 1: responsibility that you have to the sportsman of Ohio.
Speaker 3: We'll chip, good morning, thanks for having me back on
Speaker 3: the show. The Wildlade Council is an eight member board.
Speaker 3: We are appointed by the Governor of Ohio and our
Speaker 3: job is to assess the rules on seasons, dates, bag limits,
Speaker 3: things like that that come from the Division of Wildlife,
Speaker 3: and we vote to approve or not approve those rules.
Speaker 3: And it really I see our role though, as to
Speaker 3: try to be a voice for sportsmen in that rule process.
Speaker 3: So I try to get out and you talk to
Speaker 3: you talk to a lot of different groups around the state.
Speaker 3: When I'm in a council meeting, I try to respond
Speaker 3: to the rules and with what I'm hearing from from
Speaker 3: hunters and anglers and trappers around the state, and you.
Speaker 2: Know, maybe make a rule better.
Speaker 3: And and and uh, you know, keep keep everything going going.
Speaker 2: Well for for Ohio's hunters and anglers.
Speaker 1: Well, before we get onto the subject of the day,
Speaker 1: which is tremendously important, what are you finding more sportsmen uh,
Speaker 1: participating in providing a voice or an opinion on the
Speaker 1: rules coming down the road than you did, say, three
Speaker 1: or four years.
Speaker 2: Ago at one hundred percent?
Speaker 3: You know, obviously there sadly there are fewer hunters and
Speaker 3: not the same number of anglers across Ohio. But as
Speaker 3: far as folks speaking up about rules and things like that, yes.
Speaker 2: It's it's been a tremendous increase.
Speaker 3: I've been on council for seven years and really just
Speaker 3: you know, just this last meeting we had, it was
Speaker 3: the largest penants I've ever seen in a meeting.
Speaker 2: Uh. And you know, only.
Speaker 3: The second time that that we've hit our maximum numbers
Speaker 3: of public speakers allowed. And then when you get to
Speaker 3: the comment periods where where hunters and anglers can comment
Speaker 3: either uh, you know, either going online or showing up
Speaker 3: the meetings uh and making public.
Speaker 2: Comments about the rules. Uh.
Speaker 3: You know, we've I have not seen anything like it
Speaker 3: in my seven years. But you know, in the last
Speaker 3: let's say a year and a half, folks have really
Speaker 3: been getting engaged.
Speaker 2: And that's important.
Speaker 1: It is because you know, for for as long as
Speaker 1: I can remember, the sportsman was always like, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: a silent partner, so to speak, and maybe just because
Speaker 1: they didn't feel that their their voices were heard, or
Speaker 1: maybe just maybe even just a little bit lack of
Speaker 1: days ago. But I'm glad that that has turned itself
Speaker 1: around because as they're as you mentioned, you having fewer
Speaker 1: hunters but about the same number of fishermen. You know, what,
Speaker 1: what rules are proposed and inevitably are passed. You know,
Speaker 1: people need to be knowledgeable about that. It's like taking
Speaker 1: part in the political process.
Speaker 3: Absolutely. And you know, we've also had some really important
Speaker 3: issues coming up. You know, we just went through the
Speaker 3: five year process for changing the waterfowl zones in uh
Speaker 3: in Ohio, and you know that, to me, that was
Speaker 3: probably the best process I've seen thus far in my
Speaker 3: years on council.
Speaker 2: A lot of a lot of interaction.
Speaker 3: Uh. The division modified their their proposal several times based
Speaker 3: on the reaction of hunters and it, you know, and
Speaker 3: people have more data. You know, the more data you
Speaker 3: have probably the more accurate we can be. So I
Speaker 3: think it's great to see a lot of you know,
Speaker 3: sort of citizen scientists hunters out there who gather their
Speaker 3: data and bring it to the division and to council,
Speaker 3: and we see a really good process.
Speaker 2: Uh. In the outcome, Well.
Speaker 1: I'm hoping I played my part and others out there
Speaker 1: as outdoor communicators have played their part and I and
Speaker 1: I do hope, and I not hope. I know they'll
Speaker 1: continue to do. So we are going to hit a break, Jim,
Speaker 1: so you said tight, and we come back. We're going
Speaker 1: to take on the biggest topic of the day facing
Speaker 1: deer hunters in Ohio. So you said, tight, Chip Hart,
Speaker 1: I guess. Jim Sanuel, Ohio wild Left Council, seven hundred
Speaker 1: WLW Cincinnati, seven hundred WLW Cincinnati, stick around. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be as always, a hell of a fun day at
Speaker 1: the Big One and sports and sports and sports Gary
Speaker 1: Jeff Walker up at uh oh right after the news
Speaker 1: at the bottom of the hour. He'll take you to nine.
Speaker 1: Uh what's that guy? What's that? What's that lawyer's name?
Speaker 1: Danny Mike Shoot it, I've got Allan, Mike Allen, Michael
Speaker 1: k Allen. It could be junior. But then he'll take
Speaker 1: you at noon and uh ken Brew and then sports,
Speaker 1: sports and the sports and more sports cards and let
Speaker 1: them rip. Jim Samuel, welcome back with the Ohio Wildlife
Speaker 1: Council the subject of the day. And I'll tell you
Speaker 1: what I have heard more about this, seen more social
Speaker 1: media posts on this about the EHD that has you know,
Speaker 1: struck Ohio. Of course we still have that area up
Speaker 1: kind of northwest central northwest Ohio with the cw D subject,
Speaker 1: and you know, continued watching that. So what was it
Speaker 1: three or four? Three or four weeks ago we had
Speaker 1: new rules come out of the council on I guess
Speaker 1: an adjustment to deer that can be taken in the
Speaker 1: southeast area.
Speaker 3: Absolutely. So we're talking about epizootic camorrhagic disease EHD.
Speaker 2: And this is this is an issue.
Speaker 3: That I you know, never seen anything like it, especially
Speaker 3: as you said, social media and response from the not
Speaker 3: just the hunting public, but you know, all folks involved
Speaker 3: in in you know, outdoor activities. But yeah, so it's
Speaker 3: really hitting Southeast Ohio very hard. Three counties in particular, Athens, Washington,
Speaker 3: and Miggs. Just to put some numbers on this, so
Speaker 3: far in twenty twenty five, there have been over eighty
Speaker 3: two hundred reports of dead and sick beer. Compare that
Speaker 3: to let's say twenty twenty two or twenty twenty four
Speaker 3: where we had other outbreaks. You know, you get fifteen hundred,
Speaker 3: maybe two thousand reports. Eighty two hundred this year and
Speaker 3: more than sixty percent of that has been reported just
Speaker 3: from those three counties. So pretty serious issue down there.
Speaker 3: We had a a wild Buff Council meeting kind of scheduled,
Speaker 3: not the normal schedule. We had a meeting that the
Speaker 3: division called down there. A couple of weeks ago, we
Speaker 3: went to Athens. We went to the district headquarters down there,
Speaker 3: so we were in the impacted area. I think that
Speaker 3: was great because we were able to have a lot
Speaker 3: of folks come and have their voice heard. The rule
Speaker 3: that the division proposed was to lower the bag limit
Speaker 3: from three deer to two deer in those three hardest
Speaker 3: hit counties and to have that rule take effect before
Speaker 3: deer gun season. So happy to see the division and
Speaker 3: folks taking this seriously. A lot of comments not just
Speaker 3: from council but especially most importantly from the locals in
Speaker 3: the area was they were happy to see movement, what
Speaker 3: actually would like to see the rule tighten even more.
Speaker 3: A number of folks even called for closing the deer
Speaker 3: season in some counties. But I do think we're going
Speaker 3: to see some changes to that proposed rule. The Division
Speaker 3: is looking at dropping it down to one deer in
Speaker 3: some of those impacted counties and maybe expanding it beyond
Speaker 3: just those three. So I think it's really good that
Speaker 3: we're moving in that direction. Hunters still have until October sixteenth.
Speaker 2: To make their to make comments, so you.
Speaker 3: Know, if you want to have your voice heard, get
Speaker 3: out there. Go online to the Division of Wildlife to
Speaker 3: their rules section. You know, you can enter your comments
Speaker 3: online or you can do it and do it in
Speaker 3: writing by email.
Speaker 1: Okay. And so the rule change if it goes into effect,
Speaker 1: regardless of whether it's two deer or one, that that
Speaker 1: happens for the gun season, correct or is it December first?
Speaker 1: Of my memory serves me correctly till the end of
Speaker 1: the season.
Speaker 2: Yes, sure, correctly.
Speaker 3: You know, some of us really hoped that it could
Speaker 3: have been implemented earlier, because, as we all know, more
Speaker 3: folks are bow hunting these days. Yes, as it is now,
Speaker 3: the rule would go into a fact December first, which
Speaker 3: is you know, opening of deer non season, and then
Speaker 3: that would be an effect for for the whole rest
Speaker 3: of the deer season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, boy, I got let's see. You know, I've watched
Speaker 1: that map evolve just from the postings you know online,
Speaker 1: you know, from from the division.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: And I think there's another source or to you know,
Speaker 1: the sharing and all that, and that that map just
Speaker 1: continued to get more blotched with red uh and and
Speaker 1: and it was really incredible that, you know, and how
Speaker 1: short of a period of time that that you know,
Speaker 1: it was it was growing like leaps and bounds. So
Speaker 1: we're going to take this up to a greater extent
Speaker 1: after the break. So Jim Samuel sit tight, Chip Hart
Speaker 1: The Big Outdoors News Radio seven hundred w l W,
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Back at the Moment Radio seven hundred w l
Speaker 1: W Cincinnati, Home of the Best Bengals cover Jim the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati read. Uh Jim Samuel Hawai a Wildlife Council as
Speaker 1: we were talking off air that you know, I don't
Speaker 1: think it's I don't think that this uh the AHD
Speaker 1: EHD is over yet, but it may have peaked I
Speaker 1: know on my property in particular. Probably just let's just
Speaker 1: take a stretch of maybe seventy five acres along a
Speaker 1: creek bed. I found a ten point buck. This goes
Speaker 1: back three weeks, and then two weeks later we found
Speaker 1: five does. And it's kind of interesting because never before,
Speaker 1: in in prior situations with EHD, was I finding does.
Speaker 1: So it's like and the and the bucks of course
Speaker 1: they were they were in velvet when they seemed to
Speaker 1: be really hit and you know, I don't know as
Speaker 1: uh just my I guess opinion. You know, once that
Speaker 1: the the antlers hardened. It seemed, you know, and there
Speaker 1: that that animal was directing all of its energy back
Speaker 1: to its body and particularly maybe the immune system that
Speaker 1: it moved on from bucks to dose because a lot
Speaker 1: of I guess, uh, the bucks I've seen it were found,
Speaker 1: uh you know, they've been out there a little while
Speaker 1: so and of course it doesn't seem like the buzzards
Speaker 1: really hit them that hard either. It was like they
Speaker 1: knew something was wrong, but eventually, you know, they had
Speaker 1: their breakfast.
Speaker 3: So yeah, that that that is an interesting thing to
Speaker 3: me that we don't see the we don't see the
Speaker 3: buzzards and coyotes going after these these diseased beer. But yeah,
Speaker 3: you know, as you said, you know, maybe it's hit
Speaker 3: its peak.
Speaker 2: Hopefully it has.
Speaker 3: You know, the rain and cooler temperatures we had a
Speaker 3: week or so ago was was good, but really it
Speaker 3: won't be over until you have that first frost and
Speaker 3: it kills off the midges that are that are the
Speaker 3: ones that spread the disease. But you know, to your
Speaker 3: point about you know, immunities or how the deer are reacting,
Speaker 3: you know, it's interesting you see a lot of fawns
Speaker 3: because of the lost from that they get from from
Speaker 3: from the dough that a lot of fauns have been
Speaker 3: appear to be you know, immune or making it through
Speaker 3: this bad area. But the other important thing about why
Speaker 3: we're looking at reducing bad bad limits and a lot
Speaker 3: of people I know a lot of hunters who have
Speaker 3: land and over in those impacted areas Athens, Washington County
Speaker 3: where they're just you know, they're not going to hunt
Speaker 3: it all this year or they're definitely not going to
Speaker 3: take does. And the reason is this Southern deer don't
Speaker 3: really get impacted by EHD. They've they've got an immunity
Speaker 3: to them because you know, just the different temperatures down there,
Speaker 3: there's more exposure. So so the focus on not taking does,
Speaker 3: especially in that hardest hit area, is if they've you know,
Speaker 3: if there's a dough that you're seeing in Athens or
Speaker 3: Washington or Megs or maybe Morgan County that has made
Speaker 3: it through this this pretty serious outbreak, it's a really
Speaker 3: good chance that that that dough has immunity, and those
Speaker 3: are the ones you want to see breeding and uh,
Speaker 3: you know and bringing the new fawns in next spring
Speaker 3: so that hopefully that immunity can spread throughout the herd.
Speaker 3: And you know, the whitetail in Ohio can become more
Speaker 3: immune to EHD like the like the whitetail are in
Speaker 3: the southern part of the country.
Speaker 1: Again, I never really thought about it or heard it.
Speaker 1: But do they really know that there is an immunity
Speaker 1: that a deer can acquire to fend off something like this.
Speaker 1: I haven't talked to a biologist about it, but you know,
Speaker 1: I'll put that on my list to catch up on.
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's a year round type of discussion.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I am certainly not the expert on that, but
Speaker 3: I have heard from the experts. So when we had
Speaker 3: our council meeting in Athens, we had two physicians come
Speaker 3: and testify. We had a veterinarian testify also with us
Speaker 3: that day was the state veterinarian, doctor Summers from the
Speaker 3: Ohio Department of Agriculture, and all of them well, and
Speaker 3: then also Doc Meckling, a great veteran of the Ohio
Speaker 3: Wildlife Council, who of that marian himself. All of them
Speaker 3: have talked about, you know, the immunity response that some
Speaker 3: deer have to EHD, and and again the ones we
Speaker 3: want to protect are those dose so that when they're
Speaker 3: putting out the faunds, you know, next spring. We hope
Speaker 3: the ones that have some immunity are the ones that
Speaker 3: are building up the herd for the future.
Speaker 1: In the right bucks to handle the job, right, I hope,
Speaker 1: So I would look forward to that, and that can't
Speaker 1: hurt at all. So we're going to hit a break
Speaker 1: here in just a second. But what's your council schedule
Speaker 1: going forward?
Speaker 3: So again, there's that comment period for all hunters until
Speaker 3: October sixteenth, and then we will have our next meeting
Speaker 3: on October twenty second. I think that's probably when we'll
Speaker 3: take a final vote on this and.
Speaker 2: Look forward to have you know, a new rule in
Speaker 2: effect very soon.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, hey, could you sit tight and hang in
Speaker 1: there for a couple more minutes and have a couple
Speaker 1: of questions also going forward?
Speaker 2: Absolutely?
Speaker 1: All right, sit tight. Jim Samuel my guest with the
Speaker 1: Ohio Wildlife Council, seven hundred WLW, Cincinnati, Back in the moment, Andy,
Speaker 1: We're back the Big Outdoors News Radio seven hundred WLW.
Speaker 1: Since name, I guess has been Jim Samuel. He visits
Speaker 1: with me, oh a couple times a year especially in
Speaker 1: times of necessity or maybe just to catch up. So Jim,
Speaker 1: if an individuals, if a sportsman has an issue, can
Speaker 1: it come directly to the council or does it need
Speaker 1: to go through the Divisional Wildlife. I'm kind of curious
Speaker 1: because I've never.
Speaker 3: Asked technically it needs to go to the Divisional Wildlife. Obviously,
Speaker 3: I am more than happy, and I know every other
Speaker 3: council member is more than happy to have hunters reach
Speaker 3: out to them. I talk to a lot of groups
Speaker 3: and individual hunters myself. I take their feedback so that
Speaker 3: when I'm speaking a council usually I'm parroting what I'm
Speaker 3: hearing from a lot of folks out there. But yeah,
Speaker 3: you can go to the website for the Division Wildlife
Speaker 3: and right there you can send an email to council members.
Speaker 3: And again, we love to hear, we love to hear
Speaker 3: from folks, but probably the most effective thing is for
Speaker 3: folks to be getting there getting their comments and their
Speaker 3: thoughts directly to the Divisional Wildlife because they're the experts,
Speaker 3: they're the ones that put these rule packages together. We're
Speaker 3: just here to kind of assess it and you know,
Speaker 3: hopefully maybe massage it a little bit again based on
Speaker 3: the feedback we're getting from hunters.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and from what happens around the whole state, not
Speaker 1: just maybe an isolated situation or I guess subject matter
Speaker 1: right exactly. All right, Jim, we thank you for your
Speaker 1: time and we'll wait that final decision and I'm sure
Speaker 1: i'll have it in my hands probably an hour after
Speaker 1: it happened. So with that, thanks very much, and we'll
Speaker 1: catch up down the road.
Speaker 3: Thanks, good luck to you and all your listeners out
Speaker 3: there in the woods.
Speaker 1: Fantastic, But that I'm out of here. Gary Jeff is
Speaker 1: next after the Neonest Hippard the Big Outdoors seven hundred WLW, Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: Be safe in the woods and safe on the one