Wildlife division offers free day at shooting ranges
Most hunters own guns, but many gun owners don’t hunt. Non-hunting gun owners restrict gun use to such activities as target shooting, self-defense training, collecting, displaying, group bonding and growing their appreciation for firearms aesthetics.
After taking over a year ago as chief of the Ohio Division of Wildlife, Mike Miller told The Dispatch that one of his goals would be to reach out to those large numbers of non-hunting gun owners. Specifically, Miller hoped to raise awareness about the division’s shooting facilities scattered throughout the state.
Perhaps with outreach in mind, the wildlife division, with support from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, has declared Aug. 11 as Free Range Day. For the first time, all of the wildlife division’s shooting ranges will be open for use on Saturday at no cost.
Five ranges, including two accessible to central Ohio dwellers, will offer new or beginning shooters hands-on instruction from noon to 4 p.m. at no cost. Equipment, ammunition and hearing and eye protection will be provided. The ranges scheduled to have wildlife division staff onsite include:
• Deer Creek Wildlife Area, corner of Ohio Rt. 207 and Cook Yankeetown Road NE, Mount Sterling
• Cardinal Shooting Center, 3389 County Road 225 (just off I-71), Marengo
Note that the shooting range at the Delaware Wildlife Area remains closed for updating. To locate a list of all wildlife division shooting ranges, visit wildohio. gov and click on the link for Hunting, Trapping and Shooting Sports.
Logan lottery
In Ohio’s realm of special archery deer A doe stops in the middle of Winter Road in Delaware last week before running off into a corn field. hunts, one premier permit grants access to chase whitetails on Transportation Research Center property in Logan County.
As with getting a prize deer, landing a permit takes at least a little luck.
A lottery drawing for chances to hunt TRC land is scheduled for Aug. 15 at the West Mansfield Conservation Club, 700 S. Main St., West Mansfield. Registration starts at 5 p.m., and the drawing is scheduled at 6 p.m.
To be eligible, hunters must be at least 18 and possess a valid 2018-19 license and deer permit. Youths may participate in the hunt but not in the drawing. A total of 13 slots, covering permit winners and hunting partners, will be up for grabs.
Hunting slots will be set for Saturdays and Sundays from Sept. 29 through Nov. 25. Attendance at a mandatory pre-hunt meeting is required, though a meeting date won’t be given until after the drawing.
Dove shoot
The application deadline is Aug. 15 for a special mourning dove hunt pairing for experienced and newbie hunters. The hunt is scheduled Sept. 1 near Urbana in Champaign County.
Hunters must apply as a mentor and newbie
tandem by phoning the wildlife division at 614-644-3925.
The mentor must be at least 21 and possess a valid hunting license. The newbie can be any age but: must never have held an Ohio hunting or apprentice license; or, having previously held a hunting license, has not completed Harvest Information Program (HIP) certification in the last five years. The new hunter also must possess an up-to-date regular or apprentice hunting license.
Both applicants must provide customer identification numbers, telephone numbers and email addresses (if applicable). Participants will be selected through a random drawing.
Parting shots
A free program open to anyone age 12 and older offering instruction on the basics of archery shooting is scheduled Aug. 29, 5 to 8 p.m., at Hocking Hills Archery Range, 20307 Ohio Rt. 664 South, Logan. To register, phone Chelsea Gilkey of the wildlife division’s District 4 office at 740- 589-9930 by Aug. 27. … The Trump administration has granted 38 permits to 33 hunters during the past two years for the importation of lion parts taken during trophy hunts in Africa.