MIKE BRAUN Deer check-in 'donation'

If you've already paid upward of a couple hundred dollars for the privilege of hunting deer in Ohio, would you be willing to pay a couple of dollars more after you bag a deer?
That's a question some hunters are weighing these days when they take their harvested deer to a deer checking station and then face an unexpected request for a "donation."
Not inexpensive
Deer hunting is not an inexpensive sport. Licenses, firearms or some type of a bow, ammo, camouflage and hunter orange clothing, blinds, stands and scents are just some of the expenses that deer hunters endure.
In Ohio, deer archery season is in full swing and runs to Jan. 31. The deer gun season opens Nov. 29 and runs to Dec. 5. A youth season runs Nov. 20-21, and the state's muzzleloader season is Dec. 27-30.
If a hunter is lucky enough to bag his or her deer, then there is the expense of butchering and maybe a taxidermy charge if the animal is worthy of a mount.
Once a deer has been harvested, hunters must immediately tie a temporary tag -- attached to their hunting permit -- on the deer at the spot where it was bagged. The deer must then be taken to an official state deer checking station -- in most cases by 8 p.m. on the day after harvest -- to be permanently tagged. Hunters must also fill out a deer harvest record at this time.
These deer checking stations are sites that have volunteered to perform the checking-in service for free. These sites also serve as check-in stations for turkey during Ohio's fall gobbler season.
There are hundreds of these sites across Ohio: They are grocery stores, service stations, bait and tackle shops, general or convenience stores, butcher shops, taxidermists, hardware stores, farm supply outlets, gun shops, and even a lumberyard in one county.
Treat with respect
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife urges hunters to treat the operators of these checking stations "with respect and if possible, patronize their business," according to the official state hunting regulations handbook.
"Check station operators provide this service on a voluntary basis; they are not paid for their efforts," the state's handbook further stresses.
Despite that, there is at least one area station -- Farmer Bill's at 13408 state Route 164 in Lisbon -- that is urging hunters to offer a little extra when they check in a deer, to help defray any added expenses the site might incur and to offer a "thanks" to those helping to check in the deer.
"Checking stations are an interesting issue," said Jeff Herrick, manager of DOW District Three, which covers most of Northeast Ohio. Herrick said that voluntary donations made by hunters at checking stations are between the hunters and the stations.
However, "if [the fees] are required or if they refuse to check in a deer without a donation, then we would shut them down," he said.
A concern forwarded to The Vindicator by an area hunter about the "donations" was relayed to the DOW's District Three office in the form of a question about the legality of such requests.
Undercover examination
Herrick said the concern prompted an "undercover" examination of the station in question by the DOW.
Herrick said a sign was observed at Farmer Bill's that asked for a $2 donation that was to be split between the workers checking the deer and the station itself.
"One of the girls working there said it was voluntary," Herrick said, when she was asked if a hunter could check in a deer and not pay the $2.
Herrick said that many deer checking stations benefit from the service with hunters and others also buying food, beverages, equipment among other items.
Bill Rowley, a Lisbon native who has owned Farmer Bill's for the past seven years, said the signs for donations were new this year. The store has been checking in deer for the past 10 years or so, Rowley said.
"We're doing this for the simple reason that we have to put on more help for deer season," he said. "We get lots of hunters in here, many of them going back to Youngstown. They just want to check their deer and go home."
Rowley said that it has been his experience that roughly nine out of 10 hunters stop in just the check their deer and make no additional purchases.
"They might have a family member with them or some other hunter who might buy something," he said.
Rowley said that the deer checking operation takes a lot of work on the store's part necessitating additional hiring during the gun season.
Alleviating costs
"For the gun season, I'll probably have myself and two or three more girls in here as well as my wife," he said, "I can't leave the store empty." He added that the donations were a way of helping to alleviate the added costs.
"I feel that the state is taking advantage of me," he said. "I'd like to charge, but the state won't let me. We do a lot of work, and the state does not give me a dime."
Rowley said that his store checked in more than 300 deer in 2003 on the opening day of gun season and had a 1,400-deer total for all of the 2003 seasons. "[The state] predicted we'd get about 2,000 deer checked in this year," he said, adding that state figures given to him indicated his site was the third-largest check-in station in Ohio.
"I'm just trying to recoup the costs of doing this," Rowley said. "We have a sign up that says 'donations' but we don't put a gun to anybody's head."
He said so far this year, participation in donations has been about 50-50. "Nobody's said they were upset," he said.
In addition to being a check-in station, Farmer Bill's also sells carryout foods such as ice cream and pizza, beverages and snacks, gasoline and other items.
Meat donations
John Naples, who operates Butch'r Holl'r Deer Cutting at 3245 Bellwick Rod, Hubbard, -- a check-in station in Trumbull County -- said he accepts donations -- of deer meat.
"I don't take cash donations," he said. "But I'll take meat that hunters don't want to use, and I'll cut it up for free and donate it to the game warden, the local police or Sportsmen For Hunger."
Naples said he takes in from 200 to 300 deer each year. His father, Mike Naples, started the business 40 years ago.
Lori Kyser, manager of Red's Sport Shop, 14125 Market Street Extension, North Lima, said the store did not ask for donations for checking in a deer.
"We don't charge anything," she said. "Some hunters try to give us money, but we refuse."
She said there is a collection can on the counter, but any donations are earmarked for a local farmers and sportsmen against hunger campaign.
She added that Red's can get busy during deer season. "We check in about 800 deer a year," she said. "So far this year, we've checked in 196."
braun@vindy.com