Hillbilly hot tub a winter hit

By Dan Armitage, host of Buckeye Sportsman, Ohio’s longest running outdoor radio show

We have been wearing out our homemade hot tub this hunting season, with the jerry-rigged, propane-heated stock tank getting plenty of use after frigid evenings of deer hunting chill Maria and me to our bones. Stretching out in 104-degree water with the stars overhead and the Kokosing River gurgling past below with a bourbon-spiked hot apple cider in hand is a welcome way to end a day afield. By floating a tablet of chlorine in a simple dispenser we can use the same water several weekends in a row and the lid I made from a sheet of plywood cut to fit and covered with hunter green Naugahyde looks

good and keeps the leaves (and mice…) out.

We even splurged on a small, portable electric clothes dryer, picked up for $20 at the Johnstown Sportsman’s Club Swappers Days over Labor Day weekend. We leave it out on the deck, under the partial roof, within steps of the tub to warm our towels and robes for the ultimate in après-tubbing comfort. The dryer serves double duty keeping our deer hunting clothes scent-free; we toss our attire into the dryer with a scent eliminating dryer sheet and it comes out smelling like, well, nothing at all. Which, by the way, is what we wear while enjoying our DIY hot tub, under the cover of darkness, anyway.

Fall turkey take down a bit

Ohio hunters checked 1,054 wild turkeys during the 2019 fall hunting season, according to the Ohio Division of Wildlife (ODOW). The fall wild turkey hunting season was open in 70 counties from Oct. 12 to Dec.1. Ohio hunters took 1,131 wild turkeys during the 2018 fall season.
Wild turkeys were extirpated from Ohio by 1904 and were reintroduced in the 1950s by the Ohio Division of Wildlife. Ohio’s first modern day wild turkey season opened in the spring of 1966 in nine counties, and hunters checked 12 birds. The wild turkey harvest topped 1,000 for the first time in 1984. Spring turkey hunting opened statewide in 2000. Fall turkey season first opened in 19 counties in 1996.
Here’s a list of all wild turkeys checked during the 2019 fall hunting season. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2019, and the 2018 numbers are in parentheses.
Adams: 11 (11); Allen: 10 (8); Ashland: 15 (14); Ashtabula: 27 (39); Athens: 9 (20); Belmont: 19 (29); Brown: 11 (11); Butler: 16 (7); Carroll: 31 (22); Champaign: 7 (2); Clermont: 35 (13); Columbiana: 42 (17); Coshocton: 44 (52); Crawford: 7 (2); Cuyahoga: 0 (6); Defiance: 15 (14); Delaware: 11 (9); Erie: 8 (6); Fairfield: 7 (12); Franklin: 1 (4); Fulton: 10 (10); Gallia: 17 (32); Geauga: 24 (34); Guernsey: 31 (42); Hamilton: 9 (11); Hancock: 6 (4); Hardin: 7 (2); Harrison: 16 (35); Henry: 2 (3); Highland: 24 (26); Hocking: 15 (20); Holmes: 24 (32); Huron: 9 (12); Jackson: 14 (21); Jefferson: 24 (8); Knox: 26 (18); Lake: 7 (9); Lawrence: 6 (19); Licking: 22 (25); Logan: 7 (11); Lorain: 13 (5); Lucas: 11 (12); Mahoning: 17 (11); Medina: 13 (13); Meigs: 20 (19); Monroe: 15 (29); Morgan: 18 (28); Morrow: 9 (6); Muskingum: 16 (25); Noble: 22 (30); Paulding: 8 (3); Perry: 16 (18); Pike: 6 (18); Portage: 12 (18); Preble: 6 (9); Putnam: 3 (5); Richland: 21 (19); Ross: 17 (17); Scioto: 18 (25); Seneca: 8 (2); Stark: 19 (16); Summit: 13 (9); Trumbull: 26 (21); Tuscarawas: 40 (40); Vinton: 13 (11); Warren: 5 (4); Washington: 14 (19); Wayne: 6 (9); Williams: 21 (14); Wyandot: 2 (4). Total: 1,054 (1,131).

Metzger Marsh Road closure

Scheduled road repairs at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area in Lucas County have temporarily closed Metzger Marsh Road, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Repairs began on Dec. 9 and are estimated to continue through mid-February. During that time, Metzger Marsh Road from the main boat ramp to the fishing pier on Lake Erie will be closed weekly Monday through Thursday. The road will reopen for public access Friday to Sunday. Access to the main boat ramp will not be affected. Visitors are urged to use caution while on the area during the construction as heavy equipment and trucks hauling stone will be in use.

The construction project was initiated after high water caused damage to the area. The project includes repairing and rebuilding the shoulder of the road on the canal side. The shoulder will be reshaped, and a protective fabric and riprap will be added to prevent future damage from high water. Questions about the project can be directed to the Wildlife District Two office at 419-424-5000. For more information on Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area and other local recreational access locations, visit wildohio.gov.