Although last year's total take of 252,017 deer set a new Buckeye State record, another record was set as well: an all-time record of 89,962 antlered bucks harvested during the 2008-09 season.

Ohio's deer season continues to gain in popularity with the state's hunters, due in no small part to the very real possibility of bagging a once-in-a-lifetime trophy buck.

Although Ohio's hunters have known about the state's quality deer hunting for years, when John Shmucker's "Amish Buck" made headlines two years ago, Ohio's non-resident license sales grew by nearly 7,500, plus an increase in outfitters, guides, and leasing along with it.

It's not just the big 140- to 160-class whitetails that draw the attention; it's the monster bucks, deer in the 200 and 300 classes that prove Ohio is one of the select states where world-class bucks are a reality.

"Twenty years ago, most hunters would take any buck, but nowadays most deer hunters are passing up the smaller yearling (18-month-old) bucks and waiting for something bigger," said Mike Tonkovich, deer biologist for the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

That causes some problems for biologists trying to gain insight into the state's deer herd.

"In the past, the buck harvest was always a reliable indicator of the deer population," said the biologist, "but today we are beginning to wonder if the buck harvest is truly a reflection of the overall deer population."

A SHIFT IN DATA
Historically, yearling bucks made up approximately 65 percent of the overall buck harvest. Now, yearling bucks make up 45 to 50 percent of the total buck harvest.

"The number of yearling bucks in the buck harvest data is down considerably," Tonkovich said. "Hunters are being more selective about what they shoot, which brings into question the overall buck mortality rate."

The lack of accurate buck mortality numbers has some biologists wondering if the current data is a true representation of the deer herd.

"One of the things we're struggling with is trying to make sense out of what the harvest data really means," Mike Tonkovich said. "Today, with so many deer and so much interest in antlers, we're not really sure what the numbers mean anymore."

Harvest data alone doesn't tell the full story on local deer populations. Some counties might show a decline in the buck harvest, but that could be a result of less hunting pressure or hunters being more selective.

"This gets back to the limitations of data based entirely on a harvest system. You hope its representative of the deer population, but it may not be because of changes in hunter behavior," Tonkovich said. "Traditionally, when the buck harvest went up, it was a good indication that the overall deer population was up. When the buck harvest went down, it signified the deer population was down. The same thing used to be true for deer-vehicle collisions. Buck harvest up, deer vehicle collisions up."

A look at the current data reveals that in deer zones C and B, yearling bucks make up nearly 50 percent of the total buck harvest. In Zone A, yearling bucks make up over 60 percent of the total buck harvest.

"When we look at the age of deer coming out of Zone A, the data shows that the deer are much younger than other parts of Ohio," Tonkovich said. "Obviously, deer are not living as long, which means hunting pressure is much higher."