You can buy your licenses with a credit card at wildohio.com or you can go to your favorite tackle shop or discount store ... maybe. The reason for hesitation is not all vendors from previous years decided to adopt the new system, since it requires availability of a computer. Not every dealer chose to put out the funds for a computer. About 300 of the 1,200 2010 vendors declined to participate this year.
“We looked at it, but decided it wasn’t worth it,” said Gene Marciniak of Gene’s Marine, one of the top bait dealers at Indian Lake. “People I talk to say they’re buying their licenses online anyway.”
Jeremy Landrey, who owns Spillway Bait on Ohio 362 at Lake Loramie, said he decided to buy the computer, even though his writing fee is $1 per license.
“I can use the computer for other aspects of my business, so I think I will get enough use out of it,” he said. “And I didn’t think it was right for people to camp at the state park and not have a place nearby to buy a fishing license.”
Of those who did sign up, not all have been trained to use the new system, although they should have that training during the next few weeks. Ohio’s Walmart stores, which sold 37 percent of Ohio licenses last year, will not be online until early March.
Licenses will be printed on plain paper this year. Those purchased at a vendor will be on green paper. Licenses printed at home will be on any paper you put in your printer.
Some vendors will either laminate the license for you or sell you a plastic holder. If you print your license at home, you can laminate it yourself. Lamination is not mandatory, but is suggested.
No CWD in Ohio
For the ninth straight year, testing of Ohio’s deer herd has found no evidence of chronic wasting disease, a degenerative brain disease that affects elk, muledeer and white-tailed deer.
State and federal officials collected 588 samples last year from hunter-harvested deer, primarily during the gun season. All tests were also negative for bovine tuberculosis.
CWD has been found in 16 states and two Canadian provinces with the closest to Ohio being West Virginia. Wisconsin has been hit the hardest of all states where CWD has been found.
More bears
More black bear sightings — 64 — were confirmed in Ohio during 2010. That’s up from 51 confirmed in 2009.
The total number of sightings was 164, but wildlife personnel could not confirm 100 of them.
The confirmed sightings of 2010 occurred in 23 different counties and involved an estimated 31 different black bears. Athens and Portage counties led Ohio, reporting 13 each.
Twenty-nine of the 164 sightings involved damage or nuisance behavior, such as damage to bird feeders, beehives and garbage containers.
Black bears are listed as endangered and protected by state law.
Outdoors columnist Jim Morris can be reached through his Website at www.examiner.com/outdoor-recreation-in-dayton/jim-morris or by e-mail at sports@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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