Special to The Vindicator

Special to The Vindicator
DEER RESULTS: The 2002 deer harvest at the Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant in Portage County resulted in a larger harvest than the limited access deer hunt held there in 2001. Last year's hunt, curtailed due to security concerns after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, resulted in 137 hunters harvesting 40 does, 14 button bucks and four bucks (The 2001 hunt was restricted to hunters drawn from military ranks.) This year's hunt, held Oct. 12, 19, 26, Nov. 9, 16, 23 and Dec. 14, resulted in the following harvest numbers: 86 bucks, 210 does, 110 button bucks, 131 female fawns; a total of 537 deer harvested by 1,601 hunters. Hunters had one extra day this year, and the military-connection restriction was lifted. Those who took part this year were selected via an application and permit process. According to officials at the plant, officially called the Ravenna Training and Logistics Site, the main reason for allowing hunting there is to keep the deer population in check and avoid large population shifts from year to year. Such shifts had happened in previous years. "Our military mission is to manage the training site to provide maximum availability of training lands for military training," said Lt. Col. Tom Tadsen, commander of the RTLS. The above and at right photos of deer harvested by hunters participating this year were provided by the RTLS staff. Identification of individual hunters was not provided.