The benefits of deer season

  When most people think of the most deadly animals, they tend to picture Jaws lurking under the water's surface ready to tear apart helpless surfers. But in reality, great white sharks only make up for less than one human death per year.

  Then it has to be the alligator, right? There are many shows that dramatize the stories of alligator attacks and the carnage that is left after their attacks, but alligators have only led to 18 human deaths in 60 years.

  The animals responsible for the most human deaths are deer, which account for more deaths than sharks, alligators, and bears combined.

Dangers on the roads

  Car collisions with deer result for over 10,000 injuries and 150 deaths each year.

  While silently stalking Ohio's highways, a deer can dart in front of oncoming traffic at the blink of an eye. Their ability to run at speeds of up to 36 miles per hour make it difficult for motorist to maneuver out of the way.   

  "I saw the deer coming but I had no time to do anything," said deer collision victim Abbie Bell. "By the time it jumped out in front of me, I was freaking out so much that I just closed my eyes and waited for the thud."

  Lucky for Bell, the deer just clipped her front headlight resulting in minimal damage and no injuries.

  While most deer collisions happen when deer jump in front of cars, deer can be dangerous even when they are dead.

  "Amazingly, I totaled my car when I hit a dead deer on the side of the road," said deer collision victim Adam Dumolt. "I had to swerve off of the road because a [semitrailer] started to merge into my lane and I hit a deer lying on the shoulder of the highway."

Deer are increasing in number

    Due to deer overpopulation, the state of Ohio ranks fourth in most deer collisions in the United States, making the danger of car accidents higher than it has been in the past.

  The normal deer population should be around 25 deer per square mile, but some cities in Ohio are reporting as many as 200 deer per square mile. Ohio's deer population has exploded from 40 years ago when there were 17,000 deer to an amazing 700,000 deer in 2009.

 The dramatic increase of the deer population has caused more problems than just car accidents. Deer are eating crops from farmer's fields, costing them money and time trying to rid the deer from their property. Deer are also causing an increase in illnesses such as lime disease.

The Fight to Control Deer Population

  Ohio's best defense against the booming deer population is actually one of its most popular sports: hunting.

  Although typically viewed with a negative stigma, deer hunting does an adequate job of controlling deer populations each year. During the 2009 haunting season, 230,000 deer were harvested. Statistics show that on the first day of the 2006 deer season, 39,629 deer were killed.

  The popularity of deer hunting has helped locally to contribute to cutting back on deer overpopulation. Muskingum and the surrounding counties of Coshocton, Guernsey, and Licking are all in the top 10 deer producing counties in the state.

  Although hunting season cuts back on a large portion of Ohio's deer population problem, it is still not enough. Lately more measures have been put into place to help knock out some of the population.

  Some cities have been taking measures outside hunting to cut back on overpopulation issues. Last year, parks around Akron hired sharpshooters to kill extra deer that were populating the area. The sharpshooters were able to kill 119 whitetail deer, which produced 5,100 pounds of meat for the needy.

The truth about hunting

  Despite the good that comes out of deer hunting, the sport is still looked at as a redneck fad that is barbaric. This could not be further from the truth.

  A nurse by day, local hunter Brandon Rexroad spends a great deal of time and money on hunting each year. A normal hunting season for him consist of countless hours camouflaged in  a tree stand waiting to cross paths with what he hopes will be a trophy buck.

  "It truly is addicting," said Rexroad. "The thrill of it [hunting] is what makes all the work worth it. There is nothing more relaxing then waiting to get a perfect shot."

  As relaxing as deer hunting may be, the price for a day away from work and everyday problems adds up fast.

"I just spent over $800 on my new bow set up," said Rexroad. "That's not even counting the money I have on camo, tree stands, and processing fees. The coast of a full season adds up fast."

  The money that goes into hunting is an overlooked positive that many anti-hunters fail to acknowledge. It has been reported that deer hunting brings in an extra $1.5 billion dollars to boost Ohio's economy. The businesses that benefit the most from this boost includes sporting goods stores, hotels, and local restraints.