SIDNEY — The fall season is almost here and with it comes deer hunting season.
“Hunting is one of the safest sports,” said Shelby County Sheriff John Lenhart during his weekly interview. “But it still has 100 deaths every year. And more than 1,000 people are shot accidentally. Most of those injuries are self-inflicted.”
Falls also contribute to injuries, he said. a hunter can trip while walking or fall out of a tree stand. “Six thousand people fall out of a tree stand annually,” he said. “A few people also get gored by the deer. They shoot the deer and they don’t give the deer a chance to die. The deer tries to protect itself and get away and it goes the hunter.”
Lenhart said in 2019, 184,000 deer were killed in Ohio. He said 15 million licenses are issued every year, with 390,000 of them in Ohio.
“Licenses ca be purchased online, at Walmart, at Ernst’s in Fort Loramie and Meyers Garage in Newport,” said Lenhart of a few of the local locations that sell licenses. A regular license is $19 and a deer permit costs an additional $31.50.
Along with deer hunting season comes reports of hunters trespassing on land where they owner hasn’t given them permission to hunt, said Lenhart.
“Get permission to hunt before you go on the property,” said Lenhart. “Bow hunting season starts Sept. 26. Get online and make sure you’re following all the hunting rules. Always wear orange when you’re hunting.”
Lenhart said the sheriff’s office annually receives calls fro property owners about hunters who have purposely or accidentally gone hunting on the property.
“I urge the property owners to post signage that states ‘no trespassing.’ They can also put fencing around their property,” said Lenhart. “I would discourage them from putting up traps to catch the people trespassing. Instead, put up cameras to record them.”
Trespassing he said, is a fourth degree felony with punishments of 30 days in jail and a $250 fine.
Lenhart encourages property owners to call the sheriff’s office concerning trespassers and not take the law into their hands.
“Call the sheriff’s office and give them a description of the car and the person hunting,” he said. “Don’t take law into their own hands.”
