Deer-gun totals down in Ohio but increased locally

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Statewide totals from Ohio’s deer-gun season, December 2-7, were down compared to last year but Van Wert County and the surrounding area “bucked” the trend.

Newly released figures from the Ohio Department of National Resources Division of Wildlife show hunters in Van Wert took 396 deer last week, up from a three-year average of 334. Weeklong totals were also up in Mercer County, 547 deer compared to an average of 447; Auglaize County, 616 deer, 516 average; Allen County, 616, 488 average; Putnam County, 537, 467 average, and Paulding County, 556, 530 average.

Throughout Ohio, hunters checked 85,448 deer between Monday and Sunday. In 2024, hunters harvested 87,191 deer during the seven-day gun season. According to ODNR, the three-year average for the gun season is 76,409. During the deer gun week, hunters checked 27,934 antlered deer (33 percent of the total reported) and 57,514 antlerless deer (67 percent).

The top 10 counties for deer taken during the gun season were Coshocton (3,307); Ashtabula (3,031), Tuscarawas ((2,764); Muskingum (2,581); Knox (2,558), Carroll (2,440); Licking (2,046); Ashland (2,037), Columbiana (1,968), and Harrison (1,912).

Harvest totals for this year were lower than average in Athens, Meigs, Morgan, and Washington counties as a result of an unprecedented outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) in that region over the summer. Coinciding with the start of the seven-day gun season, the bag limit in those counties was reduced in response to the disease outbreak.

Since the deer archery hunting season opened in September, archery and firearms hunters have taken 187,283 deer through Sunday, December 7. Hunters have another opportunity to take a deer with a firearm during the additional gun weekend, Saturday and Sunday, December 20-21. The muzzleloader season is January 3-6, 2026. The archery season remains open until Sunday, February 1, 2026.

A county list of all white-tailed deer checked by hunters during the 2025 deer gun hunting week is shown below. The first number following the county’s name shows the deer numbers for 2025, and the three-year average from 2022, 2023, and 2024 is in parentheses. A three-year average provides a better overall comparison to this year’s numbers, eliminating year-to-year variation because of weather, misaligned season dates, timing of the crop harvest, and other unavoidable factors.

Adams: 1,301 (1,107); Allen: 616 (488); Ashland: 2,037 (1,584); Ashtabula: 3,031 (2,152); Athens: 316 (1,257); Auglaize: 616 (516); Belmont: 1,579 (1,408); Brown: 1,100 (916); Butler: 370 (302); Carroll: 2,440 (2,054); Champaign: 608 (538); Clark: 280 (236); Clermont: 792 (654); Clinton: 411 (314); Columbiana: 1,968 (1,579); Coshocton: 3,037 (2,617); Crawford: 888 (707); Cuyahoga: 74 (53); Darke: 442 (389); Defiance: 810 (834); Delaware: 490 (450); Erie: 461 (319); Fairfield: 890 (768); Fayette: 218 (176); Franklin: 164 (167); Fulton: 630 (456); Gallia: 1,340 (1,264); Geauga: 970 (746); Greene: 305 (266); Guernsey: 1,871 (1,949); Hamilton: 146 (129); Hancock: 923 (701); Hardin: 770 (609); Harrison: 1,912 (1,567); Henry: 581 (501); Highland: 1,332 (1,115); Hocking: 1,182 (1,137); Holmes: 1,826 (1,610); Huron: 1,606 (1,256); Jackson: 1,075 (1,074); Jefferson: 1,487 (1,152); Knox: 2,558 (2,104); Lake: 297 (182); Lawrence: 741 (745); Licking: 2,046 (1,718); Logan: 963 (809); Lorain: 953 (780); Lucas: 186 (138); Madison: 230 (202); Mahoning: 905 (642); Marion: 498 (372); Medina: 966 (770); Meigs: 344 (1,230); Mercer: 547 (447); Miami: 330 (278); Monroe: 1,076 (1,293); Montgomery: 246 (177); Morgan: 714 (1,435); Morrow: 1024 (796); Muskingum: 2,581 (2,306); Noble: 1,002 (1,323); Ottawa: 265 (207); Paulding: 556 (530); Perry: 1,308 (1,160); Pickaway: 403 (371); Pike: 749 (725); Portage: 982 (742); Preble: 414 (338); Putnam: 537 (467); Richland: 1,887 (1,492); Ross: 1,255 (1,092); Sandusky: 467 (364); Scioto: 1,000 (853); Seneca: 1,335 (1,047); Shelby: 574 (498); Stark: 1,394 (1,109); Summit: 267 (212); Trumbull: 1,852 (1,431); Tuscarawas: 2,764 (2,418); Union: 496 (415); Van Wert: 396 (335); Vinton: 821 (748); Warren: 391 (302); Washington: 313 (1,728); Wayne: 1,257 (982); Williams: 1,107 (818); Wood: 527 (422); Wyandot: 1,029 (739).