MIKE BRAUN There will be a Ravenna deer hunt, but not for everyone

Several weeks ago the Ohio Division of Wildlife passed notice that the special controlled deer hunt that usually takes place in October and November at the Ravenna Arsenal in Portage County had been canceled.
The cancellation was brought about by the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Despite the cancellation, there will be a deer hunt conducted at the arsenal this fall. However, it won't be one that the average citizen can take part in.
Active and reserve military personnel across Ohio who have the proper security clearances will be allowed to hunt deer at the site, according to Lt. Col. Thomas A. Tadsen, Ohio Army National Guard commander at the arsenal. He added that there are about 20,000 military personnel in Ohio who would qualify to hunt at the arsenal.
Press release: A press release issued Saturday by the Guard's Columbus office said: "In an effort to manage the overpopulation to the best of its ability under current heightened security measures, the Ohio Army National Guard will authorize military personnel and permanently assigned employees who are already authorized access to hunt at the Ravenna Training and Logistics Site [Ravenna Arsenal] during the regular state deer season [Nov. 26-Dec. 2]. Hunters will be required to abide by state regulations for Deer Zone B, or as otherwise authorized by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources."
Tadsen added that those who do get a chance to hunt will do so under arsenal rules on weaponry that are more restrictive than state hunting regulations, allowing only shotguns with deer slugs for hunting. Furthermore, those taking part will hunt in pairs.
He added that the arsenal wants to have deputies from a local sheriff's department as security guards for the hunt. He said the civilian escorts used in the past don't have the necessary security clearances to work this year.
"The deputies would search vehicles coming into and going out of" the arsenal for the hunt, he explained. There will also be a state deer tag station set up at the arsenal to assist hunters who harvest a deer.
Hunters will have to pay a $5 administrative fee which will be used to offset costs for signage and security, Tadsen said.
Ongoing talks: Scott Zody, deputy director for recreation and resource management for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said talks have been ongoing with the Guard about hunting at the arsenal.
"We are now trying to work out the logistics," he said. "It is a unique situation this year due to Sept. 11," Zody said. "We are trying to maintain a good working relationship with the Guard."
He added that the ODNR was trying to strike a balance between the Guard's need to use the arsenal for training and the ODNR's need to provide hunting opportunities for Ohio citizens.
"The thing is, how do we allow hunting without alienating the Guard or the public?" he said.
Zody said he is confident an agreement on hunting at the arsenal will be reached. "We will have some sort of hunt, probably during the gun season" at the arsenal, he said.
Zody added that working in the Guard's favor is the fact that they would like to keep the hunt to antlerless deer only. "That would mean there would be better deer around the next year," he said.
Zody added that there will be further talks between him and Col. Dick Willington, overall commander of both Camp Perry and the Ravenna Arsenal.
Tadsen, meanwhile, stressed that there will be hunting at the arsenal and that such activities are mandated by U.S. Army regulations. He explained that Army regulation AR200-3 requires the arsenal to keep the deer herd under control. "This is just to control the deer herd, not for fun," he said.
Tadsen also said that since the arsenal is federal property, hunting could be conducted without state approval.
He added that further talks with state officials would focus on the use of urban deer zone permits, which so far the state of Ohio has denied. If the denial held, it would mean that arsenal hunters would hunt under a one-deer harvest restriction.
Set standards: The commander said that the ruling dictating that hunting to be carried out only by those with security clearances came from the U.S. Department of Defense. "They set the security standards," Tadsen said. "We are just trying to control the deer herd and stay within the security clearance restriction."
Tadsen said that civilians working for the Guard and even military retirees will not have access to hunt.
"Retirees are excluded because they don't have the required security clearance," he said.
& quot;We regret our inability to host the public for this event, & quot; said Tim Morgan, the natural resources manager for the arsenal. & quot;It has created a less than ideal situation for the Ohio Army National Guard. We rely on controlled public hunting to manage the deer herd and keep the deer population from getting out of control. Under normal conditions we facilitate public hunter access to most areas of the [arsenal] with security controls. It is a challenging situation."
Shut it down: Morgan added that if the security level at the arsenal is increased, as it was in the days after the Sept. 11 attack, then hunting and all other recreational activities there would be halted immediately.
"We can have these activities closed down very quickly," he said.
A similar special hunt at the NASA Plum Brook Station near Sandusky was also canceled for the same reasons.
Controlled deer hunts had been scheduled at Ravenna for youth hunters Saturday, and for adults next Saturday and Oct. 27, Nov. 17 and 24, and Dec. 8.
Those usually taking part in the special hunts are selected through a special application and drawing process. For 2001, 20,211 pairs of hunters had applied for the special hunts, and 1,044 pairs had been drawn to participate.
The Division of Wildlife said that hunters who had been drawn for any of the canceled hunts will receive a letter explaining the cancellation and their status as next year's selected hunters.
braun@vindy.com