The Ohio deer-hunting seasons, which opened yesterday with the four-month-long archery season, promise to be as good as it gets with plenty of deer statewide and plenty of hunting opportunities.

Most counties across the state are above target levels for deer numbers, and if there is any fly in the ointment it would lie in whether a hunter has good territory in which to hunt, inasmuch as 94 percent of the state is in private hands.

If you are landless, do not overlook the large tracts of public land in southern Ohio, especially away from parking areas and easy-access sites. Our crew annually puts venison in the freezer from public land. But it takes some leg work, pre-season, boots on the ground.

For starters — and start now — maps of state wildlife areas and state forests and select state parks can be found online at state.dnr.oh.us. Maps of the sprawling checkerboard of southern Ohio’s Wayne National Forest can be found at fs.usda.gov/wayne, and American Electric Power’s huntable ReCreation Lands can be found at aep.com.

Getting back to season prospects, “it’s a rather bland forecast,” summed Mike Tonkovich, the deer biologist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife. “It’s going to look a lot like it has the last several years.”

Bland in this case is a good thing, especially for veteran hunters who remember the days when the state deer herd still was in the building phase and limits were strict. Today’s hunters are relatively spoiled in terms of allowable liberal bag limits.

About 345,000 bowhunters — more than half of all Ohio deer hunters — are expected to hunt with archery tackle, more than half of them likely using increasingly popular crossbows.

Last year bowhunters took 85,012 deer, which is seven percent below 2009. Crossbow hunters took 44,123 of that number and longbow hunters took 40,889 deer. Bowhunters accounted for more than a third of the 239,475 deer taken during the state’s combined 2010-11 archery, muzzleloader and gun seasons.

Tonkovich said he typically runs an annual harvest total through a population model to assess prospects. From 2007 through 2010, the numbers come up with about 250,000 deer killed out of a pre-season population of 750,000 animals. He noted that harvest and the next season’s population forecast “are very closely linked.” If the current trend continues another year or two, Tonkovich would be willing to consider the herd has reached stability with its habitat. “I’d say so.”

Hunters, he added, are “doing great” in terms of taking deer overall. “A biologist couldn’t ask for a better breakdown.”

Ideally, the biologist said, he would like to see the kill ramped up for a couple of years to the 275,000 range, which would reduce the herd size somewhat. That would improve the quality of individual animals. To explain: Think of available habitat and food as a pie, of which each deer has a slice. More deer equals smaller slices and smaller slices equals smaller deer.

In general, the biologist said, food availability is the key limiting factor for deer, for less browse is available as forestland matures and deer-productive undergrowth and brushy cover decline somewhat. In the western half of the state the key is the social pressure of deer numbers on farmland. For sure, he stressed, “I need hunters to turn in their deer surveys.” Annually he sends out 24,000 questionnaires to deer-permit buyers, to assess their hunting in detail.

Last year Licking County led the state in both the vertical bow and crossbow kill. Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Ashtabula, and Holmes rounded out the top five counties in crossbow, while Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Muskingum, and Knox completed the list of top five counties in vertical bow kill.

For the first time this year, hunters are not required to take deer to a check station for physical inspection and tagging. But they still must report the kill, using one of three options to complete an automated check: Online at wildohio.com or ohiogamecheck.com; by telephone at 1-877-TAG-ITOH, or at all license agents. A list of these agents can be found by calling 1-800-WILDLIFE.

Game-checks can be done on-line and by telephone seven days a week and during holidays. Landowner hunters who are not required to purchase a deer permit must use the Internet or any license agent to check their deer. Hunters who tag their deer as a landowner harvest cannot use the phone-in method.

As has been the case in recent high-deer years, hunters are encouraged to take does again this season, using the reduced-priced antlerless deer permit. The wildlife division again is collaborating with Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) to help pay for the processing of venison to be donated to the needy. More information about this program can be found online at fhfh.org.

Hunters are required to have a valid Ohio hunting license and a valid deer permit. A $15 antlerless deer permit will be valid through Nov. 27 in Zones A and B, and in Zone C through Dec. 4, which is the end of “shotgun week.” The $15 antlerless permit may be purchased only until Nov. 27.

The archery season remains open until Feb. 5, 2012, including the week of deer-gun season, which is Nov. 28 through Dec. 4. An additional weekend of gun hunting is set for Dec. 17 and 18. Early muzzleloader season is Oct. 17 through 22 at Salt Fort and Wildcat Hollow public hunting areas and Shawnee State Forest only. Statewide muzzleloader season is Jan 7 through 10.

Archers may hunt one half-hour before sunrise to one half-hour after sunset, except during the statewide gun, youth, and muzzleloader seasons when the hours are one half-hour before sunrise to sunset. Archers hunting during the statewide gun, youth, or muzzleloader seasons must meet the hunter orange requirements of those seasons.

Contact Steve Pollick at: spollick@theblade.com or 419-724-6068

First Published September 25, 2011, 4:00 a.m.