Families get in on the hunt

By MIKE BRAUN
VINDICATOR OUTDOOR EDITOR
MECCA -- Among some of the hunters who brought their deer to be checked at Monty's Mosquito Lake Restaurant and Carry Out, the family deer-hunting tradition continues.
Those who came to this deer-checking station on state Route 88 in Trumbull County were among the 1.5 million hunters who marched into forests and fields in Ohio and Pennsylvania on Monday as deer season began in both states.
Amy and Brian Turner, a brother-sister hunting team from North Bloomfield, said they have been hunting together for some time.
Traditional hunt
"It's a traditional hunt for us," Brian Turner said. "We used to go out with our dad and brother."
Brian stood by proudly as an Ohio Division of Wildlife employee checked his sister's button buck, her second deer ever.
"I got my deer with a bow back in October," he said. His sister said she was just glad to be out hunting. Last year at this time she was in the hospital after injuring her back when she took a tumble down a cliff while hiking.
Bob Clark and his brother, Michael, both of Greene, were also at Monty's checking in a deer.
Bob had left his wife, Debbie, in a tree stand out in the woods waiting for a bigger deer while he helped his brother bring his buck into the station.
"We're all going out to Killdeer [Plains Wildlife Area] for the special women's hunt," Michael said. "Our wives got picked for that hunt, and they're excited about it."
Family of hunters
Farther down the road, at the Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area, Reno Reda, a wildlife officer with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said he had run into a family of hunters earlier in the day.
"There was a father, his two daughters and his son all out hunting," Reda said. "We're seeing a lot more family units out there hunting, both male and female."
Reda, a Youngstown native, said there are quite a few more youths taking the state-mandated hunter education courses as well. "That is a very good thing," he said.
Reda expects a record harvest this season. The snow cover will help hunters, he said, by making it easier to track the deer.
Back over at Monty's, a steady stream of vehicles with deer strapped to their roofs, fenders and trunks attested to that possibility.
The namesake of the checking station, Monty Dickson, said there were about 34 deer checked in by about 10 a.m. or so.
Chronic wasting disease
Meanwhile, chronic wasting disease -- a progressive, fatal (to the animal), degenerative disease of the brain affecting elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer -- didn't seem to be a concern to the hunters checking in at Monty's.
"It's not transmitted to humans," said Bob Clark. "And it's not a problem if you cook the meat properly anyway."
Reda said a checking station in Ashtabula County, the Wright Place at state routes 46 and 6, would be testing for CWD, as a precaution.
He stressed that no sign of CWD has been found in Ohio and state officials say it is unlikely it will surface. There is no evidence that CWD affects humans, state literature on the disease notes.
Reno added that deer brought to Ohio check stations have been routinely tested by the Ohio Departments of Agriculture and Health for diseases and parasites, primarily bovine tuberculosis and the ticks that spread Lyme disease.
The disease has not been found in Pennsylvania either, but state game commission officials will test 500 randomly selected deer killed by hunters to see if the deadly disease has made its way to the state.
The disease is in Wisconsin and northern Illinois and is found in several western states.
Ohio hunters have through Sunday to harvest a deer with a firearm, while those who look to shoot a deer in Pennsylvania get until Dec. 14.
After that date, archery and primitive weapons seasons go back into effect on specific dates in both states.