Deer hunting numbers up after first day

VW independent staff/submitted information

COLUMBUS – Deer hunting numbers are up substantially in the Buckeye State.

Ohio hunters checked 19,359 white-tailed deer during the opening day of gun hunting season on Monday, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. Ohio’s seven-day gun season is open until Sunday, December 3, and a two-day gun season is open December 16-17.

This year’s opening day harvest total includes 7,676 antlered deer and 11,683 antlerless deer, a category which includes does and button bucks. In 2022, hunters took 17,197 deer on opening day of the gun season, which traditionally falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving. From 2020 to 2022, hunters checked an average of 16,616 deer during the gun season opener.

The top 11 counties for deer harvest on the opening day of the weeklong gun season were Coshocton (858); Tuscarawas (712); Muskingum (630); Ashtabula (618); Knox (587); Carroll (573); Guernsey (537); Harrison (518); Holmes (475); Licking (437), and Ashland (437).

Hunters in Van Wert County bagged 71 deer on Monday, and 117 deer in Mercer County. Paulding County hunters took 189 deer on the first day of deer gun season, and Putnam County hunters took 142 deer. Allen County hunters bagged 96 deer on Monday.

A county list of all white-tailed deer checked by hunters during opening day of the 2023 deer gun hunting season is shown below. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for opening day 2023. The three-year average of deer harvested on opening day in 2020, 2021, and 2022 is in parentheses. A three-year average provides a better overall comparison to this year’s harvest numbers, eliminating year-to-year variation because of weather, misaligned season dates, timing of the crop harvest, and other unavoidable factors. Harvest numbers below are raw data and subject to change.

Adams: 247 (227); Allen: 96 (76); Ashland: 437 (363); Ashtabula: 618 (520); Athens: 258 (307); Auglaize: 114 (113); Belmont: 354 (264); Brown: 185 (213); Butler: 61 (71); Carroll: 573 (449); Champaign: 117 (98); Clark: 49 (40); Clermont: 136 (139); Clinton: 83 (50); Columbiana: 410 (353); Coshocton: 857 (600); Crawford: 184 (154); Cuyahoga: 9 (7); Darke: 78 (72); Defiance: 284 (263); Delaware: 97 (97); Erie: 66 (63); Fairfield: 186 (188); Fayette: 38 (29); Franklin: 44 (36); Fulton: 163 (111); Gallia: 228 (244); Geauga: 188 (133); Greene: 40 (52); Guernsey: 537 (451); Hamilton: 18 (22); Hancock: 158 (129); Hardin: 130 (129); Harrison: 518 (333); Henry: 143 (127); Highland: 256 (253); Hocking: 277 (264); Holmes: 475 (432); Huron: 330 (294); Jackson: 259 (229); Jefferson: 325 (204); Knox: 587 (496); Lake: 42 (35); Lawrence: 155 (157); Licking: 437 (437); Logan: 161 (183); Lorain: 210 (133); Lucas: 32 (27); Madison: 40 (43); Mahoning: 164 (142); Marion: 85 (98); Medina: 151 (127); Meigs: 286 (276); Mercer: 117 (100); Miami: 52 (44); Monroe: 286 (247); Montgomery: 34 (42); Morgan: 360 (298); Morrow: 188 (169); Muskingum: 630 (529); Noble: 331 (299); Ottawa: 50 (36); Paulding: 189 (157); Perry: 319 (279); Pickaway: 82 (54); Pike: 161 (131); Portage: 163 (142); Preble: 62 (62); Putnam: 142 (105); Richland: 363 (324); Ross: 254 (209); Sandusky: 77 (63); Scioto: 159 (140); Seneca: 313 (231); Shelby: 94 (87); Stark: 292 (211); Summit: 42 (27); Trumbull: 395 (299); Tuscarawas: 712 (555); Union: 91 (92); Van Wert: 71 (66); Vinton: 144 (175); Warren: 45 (68); Washington: 433 (328); Wayne: 222 (181); Williams: 237 (243); Wood: 103 (77); Wyandot: 170 (193).