COLUMBUS, OH – The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Wildlife announced that 219,698 deer were taken during Ohio's 2011-12 hunting season, compared to 239,379 in the 2010-11 season. The top three counties with the highest number of deer taken this season were: Coshocton, Licking and Tuscarawas.

Hunters showed support for the two new methods of game-reporting that were made available this year. Since deer season began on Sept. 24, 2011, 44 percent of hunters called in their numbers, 36 percent reported their numbers online and 20 percent traveled to a license agent’s location to report their game.

Ohio's first modern day deer-gun season opened in 1943 in three counties, and hunters reported 168 deer. In 1956, deer hunting was allowed in all 88 counties, and hunters harvested 3,911 deer during a one-week season.

by Jim Irvine

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine (R) has released the concealed handgun license (CHL) statistics for the fourth quarter of 2011. Ohio sheriffs set a new record issuing almost 12,000 CHLs for the busiest fourth quarter in the program's eight year history. Demand was up 12% compared to the same period a year earlier. At the end of the year, we set another all-time record of approximately 265,083 Ohio residents licensed to carry concealed firearms. The total of persons with Ohio concealed handgun licenses continues to climb above the quarter of a million mark set in the third quarter of last year and will likely approach 300,000 by the end of this year. (See chart)

There were 11,965 new CHLs, 18 temporary emergency licenses (TELs) issued and 239 licenses renewed in the October through December period last year. SB17 was signed into law by Governor Kasich and became law on September 30 of last year. Significant changes were made by allowing license holders to carry firearms in their cars under similar rules as other states and to allow license holders to carry in restaurants that serve alcohol, provided the license holder is not consuming or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Making the law work better for the law-abiding citizens who carry guns for self-defense increases demand for the license.

As previously noted, we are seeing a drop in raw renewal numbers because we have transitioned from the licenses that were valid for a period of four years to the ones that are valid for five years. There were actually no regular licenses that expired during the fourth quarter. All 239 renewals were licenses that had expired in previous quarters, but had not yet been renewed. Over 70% of all licenses issued have been renewed. The bottom line is that total renewal rates increased, rather than decreased. Raw renewal numbers will remain very low next quarter because no more regular licenses will expire until March of 2012. TELs are only valid for 90 days and cannot be renewed.

Only 33 licenses were revoked during the quarter, the lowest number we have seen in over four (4) years. The last time the revocation number was this low was the first quarter of 2007 when only 32 licenses were revoked. We have three times as many license holders today compared to 2007. Is it possible that changes made in SB17, making it easier to understand and comply with the laws for carrying firearms in restaurants and cars, led to the reduction? It will take time to see if the lower revocation numbers are an anomaly or a trend. Less than one-half of one percent of all CHLs have ever been revoked for any reason, including death or moving out of state. The establishment media loves to make a big deal about the exceptional cases where a CHL breaks the law, but say almost nothing about the more than 99% of law-abiding license holders, many of whom have used their gun to protect life.

Concealed carry works.