COLUMBUS — Ohio’s hunters harvested 71,650 white-tailed deer during the annual gun hunting week that concluded on Sunday, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Over the last three years, hunters checked an average of 65,566 deer during the same weeklong period.
Deer hunting occurs in all 88 counties and an estimated 310,000 hunters participated during Ohio’s weeklong deer-gun season.
The top 10 counties for deer taken during the gun week are: Coshocton (2,281), Tuscarawas (2,198), Ashtabula (2,167), Muskingum (2,085), Knox (2,006), Guernsey (1,890), Licking (1,875), Carroll (1,664), Holmes (1,648), and Ashland (1,536). Coshocton County also led the state in 2019 with 2,325 deer checked, while hunters took 63,567 deer statewide.
Straight-walled cartridge rifles continue to grow in popularity each year since they became legal hunting implements in 2014. During the deer-gun week, straight-walled cartridge rifles were used for 44% of checked deer. Shotguns accounted for 47% of the total. In addition, 6% were taken with a muzzleloader, 2% by archery equipment, and 1% with a handgun.
Through Dec. 6, 79,499 deer have been taken by Ohio archery hunters. Ohio’s youth hunters checked 5,795 white-tailed deer during the 2020 two-day youth gun season Nov. 21-22.
Upcoming
For Ohio hunters who missed the deer-gun week, there are still more options to pursue deer. Hunters can enjoy two more days of deer-gun season on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 19-20. Muzzleloader season is open Jan. 2-5, 2021, and archery season is open until Feb. 7, 2021.
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By county
Below is a county list of all white-tailed deer checked by hunters during the 2020 deer-gun hunting week is shown below. The first number following the county’s name shows the deer harvest numbers for 2020, and the three-year average from 2017-19 is in parentheses:
Adams: 1,026 (1,018); Allen: 402 (317); Ashland: 1,536 (1,251); Ashtabula: 2,167 (2,006); Athens: 1,255 (1,391); Auglaize: 386 (314); Belmont: 1,237 (1,169); Brown: 1,002 (855); Butler: 412 (297); Carroll: 1,664 (1,551); Champaign: 468 (381); Clark: 218 (185); Clermont: 807 (616); Clinton: 217 (248); Columbiana: 1,342 (1,214); Coshocton: 2,281 (2,353); Crawford: 646 (556); Cuyahoga: 45 (47); Darke: 362 (256); Defiance: 984 (698); Delaware: 410 (413); Erie: 352 (234); Fairfield: 823 (664); Fayette: 128 (123); Franklin: 184 (137); Fulton: 393 (307); Gallia: 1,015 (1,148); Geauga: 595 (549); Greene: 264 (218); Guernsey: 1,890 (1,822); Hamilton: 178 (157); Hancock: 666 (472); Hardin: 665 (486); Harrison: 1,416 (1,407); Henry: 415 (336); Highland: 1,154 (905); Hocking: 1,079 (1,226); Holmes: 1,648 (1,448); Huron: 1,180 (997); Jackson: 938 (1,098); Jefferson: 873 (772); Knox: 2,006 (1,748); Lake: 197 (164); Lawrence: 639 (800); Licking: 1,875 (1,575); Logan: 821 (688); Lorain: 745 (630); Lucas: 153 (117); Madison: 202 (165); Mahoning: 604 (585); Marion: 428 (382); Medina: 775 (598); Meigs: 1,133 (1,210); Mercer: 364 (280); Miami: 253 (213); Monroe: 1,114 (1,164); Montgomery: 201 (139); Morgan: 1,313 (1,299); Morrow: 753 (587); Muskingum: 2,085 (2,070); Noble: 1,287 (1,272); Ottawa: 190 (118); Paulding: 551 (418); Perry: 1,094 (1,113); Pickaway: 221 (298); Pike: 675 (694); Portage: 679 (567); Preble: 334 (278); Putnam: 386 (299); Richland: 1,490 (1,220); Ross: 1,139 (1,054); Sandusky: 371 (245); Scioto: 739 (778); Seneca: 852 (805); Shelby: 402 (354); Stark: 952 (835); Summit: 227 (153); Trumbull: 1,260 (1,160); Tuscarawas: 2,198 (2,151); Union: 415 (310); Van Wert: 281 (209); Vinton: 849 (1,022); Warren: 368 (286); Washington: 1,362 (1,480); Wayne: 896 (771); Williams: 731 (619); Wood: 412 (316); Wyandot: 905 (689).
