WOODS ABLAZE WITH ORANGE - Hunters Flock To Woods

(11/22/2005)
The woods were ablaze with orange yesterday as lots of hunters took to the Calhoun woods looking for that big buck.

It was a fairly warm day for the first day of season, but lots of hunters, including hundreds, if not a thousand or two Ohioans, hit the back roads at dawns early light.

It was the first day of West Virginia's buck and doe season.

A steady stream on SUVs and trucks came into the county starting last Friday night, many of them with attached trailers hauling four-wheelers.

On the road to Hur, you could quickly spot novice or first-time hunters, some of which were unable to ease to the berm to make that crucial pass on narrow country roads.

Deer season is important to more than just the hunters. Most checking stations are at gas stations and convenience stores, so people buy goods when they check in their deer.

Hunters have been lined up at Foodland's deli starting last Friday, and the store's parking lot was filled over the weekend as hunter's headed to "Deer Camp."

While 51 of the state's 55 counties took part in the antlerless deer season last year, only 41 are taking part this year.

Ohio's deer season begins next week.

An early report on the deer kill will follow.