The circle might remain unbroken, but it does get rather ragged during the 365-day journey from one year to the next.
In matters concerning the Ohio outdoors in 2013, hunters, fishermen and wildlife enthusiasts witnessed: the scraping of more ground to make way for more places to shop and plant and drill; the spreading of additional manure about the effects of agricultural and industrial chemicals; and the continued unfolding of the long fight against the slow vanishing of much wildlife.
All the same, the year, as is true of most, in large measure proved less discouraging than interesting, to wit:
• Boosted in part by a strong January muzzleloader season during which 21,555 whitetails were tagged during a four-day hunt, Ohio deer hunters reported killing 218,910 whitetails during the 2012-13 season that ended in early February. That was about 800 fewer than the 219,748 counted during the 2011-12 season.
• A number of Ohio’s fish taken from several of the state’s lakes and streams shouldn’t be eaten frequently for health reasons, the Ohio Department of Health said in its standing report. In a few cases, the department cautioned, otherwise edible fish should be avoided because of the toxins in their flesh.
• A 12-inch minimum-length limit on black bass went into effect. The limit affects public waters where no other special regulations exist.
• A fish biologist who has long studied the relationship between Ohio native smallmouth bass and invasive round gobies in the shallow western end of Lake Erie told an audience in Columbus that he remains unsure which species has the upper hand in their war of survival beneath the waves.
• The Ohio Division of Wildlife embarked on a program to help restore spawning lake trout to Lake Erie.
• Including the weekend youth season, hunters checked 18,391 bearded turkeys during Ohio’s four-week spring season. That was about 4 percent more birds than the 17,646 taken in spring 2012.
• The wildlife division’s plan to change deer-hunting regulations touched off a lengthy and unprecedented brouhaha involving members of the Ohio General Assembly, led by Sen. Chris Widener, R-Springfield. Changes finally put in place included the removal of deer zones in favor of county limits, the elimination of the bonus gun weekend, and the establishment of a statewide October muzzleloader hunt, during which only antlerless deer can be taken.
• Death by vehicle accounted for a record 50 of the record 169 verified sightings of bobcats during 2012, the Ohio Division of Wildlife reported. In 2011, 136 verified sightings were made.
• Columbus’ R & R Bait and Tackle, started by the Roberts brothers in 1913 and in more recent decades a labor of the Wentzel clan, celebrated its 100th anniversary.
• A large number of Lake Erie charter-boat captains got riled up when the Coast Guard, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, began ordering their Sportcraft boats back to port based on a federal law passed during the 1920s to protect domestic boat builders. The order was rescinded, but the law remains on the books.
• The Maumee and Sandusky rivers are two of four Great Lakes tributaries capable of supporting successful spawning of the bighead and silver Asian carp, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
• A survey conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Census Bureau indicated that more Ohio anglers pursue fish away from Lake Erie than at it.
• Neither the yellow perch nor the walleye hatch is likely in coming years to add significantly to the catchable cache of Lake Erie’s most sought species.
• Nutrient runoff, primarily from agriculture in the Maumee River basin, needs to be reduced for any long-term headway to be made in containing the summer outbreaks of toxic blue-green algae — also known as cyanobacteria — on Lake Erie, the International Joint Commission reported.
• Global warming might cause Lake Erie to be warmer longer during summer and fall, but climate change’s most harmful impact is that increasing spring rains will increase nutrient runoff, scientists affiliated with Ohio Sea Grant reported.
• Grass carp, an Asian species capable of digesting the vegetation that makes up wetland buffer zones along rivers, streams and lakes, were found breeding in the Sandusky River.
• Eighteen wildlife officers were being investigated by the Ohio Inspector General’s office over the possibility that they were deer hunting when they were supposed to be on duty.