Straight Shooter for Safety

“Why?” said a deer hunter I was talking to from Missouri a few years ago, as he was baffled by an Ohio deer hunting regulation. “Why would they do such a thing?” he asked. I was talking about Ohio’s change 10 years ago to allow straight-walled rifle cartridges, a big step in accuracy and consistency from shotgun slugs, pistols, and muzzleloaders. But throughout most of the country, not allowing shouldered cartridges, including some of the most traditional calibers, the 30/30 and 30/06 for example, would feel alien to deer hunters. He couldn’t fathom hunting deer without them.

What is a Shouldered Cartridge?

Image from Ohio Department of Natural Resources 2025-26 Hunting Regulations https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/ohiodnr.gov/documents/wildlife/laws-regs-licenses/Ohio%20Hunting%20and%20Trapping%20Regulations%20ENGLISH.pdf 

I touched on this topic more than a decade ago, but apparently, Ohio hunters couldn't wait for the change. Sales for straight-walled cartridge rifles have soared. Cartridges available aren't just the standard high-power revolver options, but a range of new offerings created specifically for the purpose, as well as the grand daddy of them all, the 45/70. As of last year, the newly allowed rifles were second only to crossbows, which have a much longer opportunity with the number of days allowed. The numbers dwarf those taken with shotguns. Handguns are just for those looking for an extra challenge now. And hunting accidents continue to decline. You can read more in my column, Ohio hunting regulations prioritize safety — and accidents are declining.

Legal Ohio Deer Hunting Firearms

Shotgun: 10 gauge or smaller shotgun using one ball or one rifled slug per barrel (rifled shotgun barrels are permitted when using shotgun slug ammunition).

Muzzleloading rifle: .38 caliber or larger.

Muzzleloading shotgun: 10 gauge or smaller using one ball per barrel. 

Handgun: With 5-inch minimum length barrel, using straight-walled cartridges .357 caliber or larger. The barrel is measured from the front of the cylinder or chamber to the end of the barrel.

Straight-walled cartridge rifles in the following calibers: All straight-walled cartridge calibers from a minimum of .357 to a maximum of .50. Shotguns and straight-walled cartridge rifles can be loaded with no more than three shells in the chamber and magazine combined.

Ohio Deer Harvest 2024-25 by Implement

Crossbow: 78,254 (33%)

Straight-walled cartridge rifle: 77,027 (32%)

Shotgun: 34,338 (14%)

Vertical bow: 30,839 (13%)

Muzzleloader: 17,092 (7%)

Handgun: 587 (less than 1%)

I don't currently personally have a straight-walled cartridge rifle and I'm not in the market, but these would be on my short list for reasons that don't extend out of my head into actual experience.

Marlin 1894 in 44 Magnum

Savage 110 Trail Hunter in 350 Legend

Ruger No. 1 in 45/70 Government, (if they ever make it in that caliber again)

A (New) Traditional Bird

 Rooster! Wild ringnecked pheasants were not present on the first Thanksgiving Day table. Nor were they on the menu for anyone in North America returning home after the Civil War. It wasn’t until the late 1890s and early 1900s that pheasants were introduced across the country. With the right environment, their populations took off, quickly becoming a favorite in the field and on the table from coast to coast. Thanksgiving Day pheasant hunts became a family tradition in many homes. This was especially true across the agricultural center of the country during the middle of the last century.  The number of phesants has declined significantly since then.

There are a lot of variables in nature. Weather, predators (including humans), all play a role. But given the right habitat, wildlife populations can bounce back. This is especially true of pheasants. Polygamous roosters and relatively large brood sizes can repopulate areas quickly. Across the country, we saw numbers increase in correlation with the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) through the late 1980s to mid ‘90s. That program pays farmers to take highly erodible and environmentally sensitive land out of production. Pheasants probably liked it more than farmers. The program moved the landscape closer to that 50/50 grass/crop land and bird numbers responded. When the program was reduced or the land was not reenrolled, numbers dropped. It’s a pretty simple equation. 

Ready for a Comeback

Iowa has gone through similar swings lately, pulling back to the positive slide dramatically with back-to-back best seasons in more than two decades. The right habitat, combined with a mild winter, dry spring to aid ground nests, resulted in a 43% increase in observed pheasant numbers in one year. Of course, it takes pheasants to make pheasants, but given the right circumstances, they can take care of it. 

Read the column in its entirety here, This bird used to be plentiful in Ohio, now it is harder to hunt 

Ohio Department of Natural Resources Pheasant Status

Pheasants Forever Upland Forecast

Ohio Pheasant Releases

Ohio Private Land Hunter Access

Sleep Champions

“I haven’t slept for 10 days, because that would be too long,” said comedian Mitch Hedberg. Sleeping for 10 days straight might be excessive for humans, but I think I know some people willing to test that theory, especially with the time change, less sunlight overall, and the deep grey of winter approaching. For some wildlife in Southwest Ohio without a holiday to-do list to prepare for, retiring to their favorite sleeping chamber for an extended period is the only thing on their schedule. It’s how they survive. While many think of hibernating bears, true hibernation is just one strategy to avoid the relative cold of Ohio winters.

Read the complete column here: https://www.daytondailynews.com/lifestyles/not-just-bears-these-are-ohios-true-hibernators-and-winter-survivors/T4XVWFQQMFDIZELAZGHZXBLW4Q/ 

Witness Ohio's Sleeping Champion - the Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel - in a non-sleeping moment. 

 

Resources

https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/animals/mammals/woodchuck-goundhog  

https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/animals/mammals/thirteen-lined-ground-squirrel 

https://championcitysupply.com/blogs/news/story-behind-the-crow

https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/animals/birds/american-crow 

While Black Bears are known for hibernating, it’s a strategy to beat the weather. Bears in Florida, for example, don’t hibernate. They have other weather to worry about. 

How to Not Hit a Deer

Comedian Ron White had this to say about deer hunting: “If you ever miss one, it’s because the bullet is moving too fast. Slow that bullet down to 55 miles per hour, put some headlights and a little horn on it, and the deer will actually jump in front of the bullet.”

Sometimes it seems that he might be right. Like every other mammal, there are
surely varying levels of intelligence and road-crossing ability among Whitetail deer. But it might go out the window during the fall. Deer car collisions are no joke in Ohio, especially during November. According to the Ohio State Patrol, 47% of deer vehicle collisions in our state happen from October to December. November alone accounts for 22%. 

Read the complete column here, Deer Collisions Rise in November, Here's How to Steer Clear

Ohio Deer Strikes by County

dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/statepatrol.ohio.gov/DeerCrashBulletin_2024.pdf

Deer Harvest by County

dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/ohiodnr.gov/documents/wildlife/wildlife-management/020225deerharvest.pdf

Photo by Greg Byman on Unsplash

Outdoor Sports Equinox

The Sports Equinox hit U.S. sports fans last week with overlapping seasons and same-day games across leagues. In what used to be an infrequent occurrence, the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS all had games.

For sports fans, it was both a dream and a conundrum — which to watch? With the current mix of broadcast and streaming, changing TV channels wasn’t as easy as a single button on the remote.

While the technical fall equinox happens in September, where equal hours of sunlight and darkness shine on the equator, for outdoor enthusiasts in Southwest Ohio, the “outdoor equinox” of overlapping opportunities happens reliably in the first week of November. It's the greatest time of the year.

Read the complete column here, ‘Sports Equinox’ hits outdoor enthusiasts, too

My Favorite Week

If it isn’t clear by now, the first week of November is top of my list of favorite weeks in the year.. Whatever your passion, I hope you make time to get out and enjoy what Southwest Ohio has to offer. 

I guess “best week” could be up for debate. But for me in Southwest Ohio, the first week of November is near or top of my list, for a number of reasons. 

1. We’re usually past the first frost, and typically the weather is crisp. Cool enough for the dogs to put in a good shift, especially in the morning. It means you only sweat if you want to work up a sweat.
2. It means fewer flying biting bugs, but you should never let your guard down about ticks. 
3. There is some color left to the trees, but vistas are starting to open up to a golden hue. In other words, before “stick season,” when everything is just brown. 
4. It’s a great time to knock out fall chores before the holidays and winter weather sets in. 
5. It’s election week,k and we get to vote. 
6. I don’t love the time change; it puts a sense of urgency to the evenings and gives a little extra light before most of the civilized world is moving, especially on weekends. 
7. A bonfire at night makes sense.
8. Pheasant and bobwhite quail seasons open. Grouse and woodcock seasons are still open. 
9. If you’re a deer hunter, archery season is open and the rut is about to peak.
10. You can still go fishing if you want, and fish are often in the biting mood. 
11. Hiking is best with crunchy leaves and a forest that looks like a world of Fruity Pepple cereal.

Freshwater Barracuda

Apex predators capture the imagination of the outdoors wherever they’re found. We humans have tipped the scales in our favor through brains and tools to stay on top and out of the jaws of everything from lions to grizzly bears to sharks. But we recognize their dominance in their environment.

In the freshwater reservoirs and streams of Ohio, that top-of-the-pyramid king is the Muskellunge, Esox Masquinongy, or just muskie.

Often called the fish of 10,000 casts, it could take that long to hook one. Or it could be the second cast, like Audrey Porto pictured with her father managed at C.J. Brown Reservoir. 

Read the complete column here: The apex predator hiding in Ohio waters — and how to catch one

Resources

Fish Ohio

https://ohiodnr.gov/buy-and-apply/hunting-fishing-boating/fishing-resources/fishohio-program

Muskie Log

https://apps.ohiodnr.gov/MuskieLog/welcome.aspx

Woodcock Keep Moving

The first woodcock I ever saw while holding a shotgun launched from near my feet to eye level in a Champaign County woodlot and flew straightaway. Since it was early November, we were focused on cottontails.

Nobody in our party of four was quite sure what it was, or if it was legal to shoot. So no one did.

It wasn’t a pheasant. It kind of looked like a snipe (the real kind). It was still years before the National Harvest Information Program had started, so we hadn’t declared we were after any migratory birds when we bought our license, or were asked if we’d be hunting woodcock.

While it hadn’t done any of the swervy acrobatic things that the woodcock I had read about were known for, and that made them difficult targets, we decided that that’s what it was.

Read the complete column, Hunters might be able to catch this migratory bird in the next few weeks