“Hamilton County Parks has a similar program that was started last year. Just getting it off the ground was a success,” Kohler said.

In that first year, 247 hunters applied, 147 hunters passed muster and 23 deer were taken.

For more information, contact the Hamilton County Park District, 10245 Winton Road, Cincinnati, OH 45231. Phone (513) 521-7275, or check the agency’s Web site at HamiltonCountyParks.org.

CLEVELAND-AKRON UNIT
The Cleveland-Akron Urban Deer Unit is in all of Lake and Cuyahoga counties and portions of Summit, Lorain, Medina, Wayne, Stark, Portage and Geauga counties.

Boundaries for this unit begin in Lorain County where state Route 58 intersects the Lake Erie shore, south on state Route 58 to state Route 303, east to I-71, south to state Route 18, east on state Route 18 to state Route 21, south on state Route 21 to U.S. Route 30, east on U.S. Route 30 to state Route 44 and then north on state Route 44 to Lake County.

Though this may seem to be a large area, public access is minimal -- only one state-owned tract is in the unit.

“The only one in this urban area is the Auburn Marsh Wildlife Area. We restricted that to archery only,” said Dan Kramer, a District Three wildlife management supervisor.

Only a portion of this wildlife area west of state Route 44 is in the Urban Deer Unit, according to Kramer. But another new opportunity has opened up recently.

“We just struck an agreement with the city of Akron to manage its watershed property,” Kramer said. “Most hunters don’t know that there are several thousand acres surrounding LaDue Reservoir that are open to hunting.”

About a quarter of this area lies in the Urban Deer Unit. Previously, a permit was needed to hunt here, but that will no longer be the case.

YOUNGSTOWN UNIT
The Youngstown Urban Deer Unit, also in District Three, lies in portions of Trumbull and Mahoning counties. Its boundary begins where the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line meets the Ohio Turnpike, continues northwest on the Ohio Turnpike to state Route 5, east to state Route 82, east to the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line and then south along the state line to the starting point.

Public access is limited in this unit. According to Kramer, the only public tract is 40 acres in Trumbull County.

Urban Deer units may never be major destinations for deer hunters. Hunting them demands considerable knowledge of the areas and requires hunters to make connections with landowners. Some industrial complexes allow hunting, but these are not places that visiting hunters are likely to find appealing.

The Ohio Division of Wildlife maintains a list of landowners who file deer complaints and makes this list available to the public. But this does not guarantee access to their land, nor does it guarantee that there is no law against hunting there.

“The vast majority of people who hunt in these areas are also landowners,” Kramer said.

Nonetheless Kramer calls the program a success: “It has been quite successful. Wherever communities have allowed it, hunting has certainly helped to control the deer population.”