More than 17,000 deer killed in bonus gun hunt – Outdoor News

Columbus — Hunters across Ohio checked 17,373 white-tailed deer on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21-22, during the state’s additional weekend of deer gun hunting, according to the Ohio DNR (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Last year, hunters tagged 15,470 deer during the gun weekend, with a three-year average of 13,417.

During the additional gun weekend, hunters checked 4,491 antlered deer (26% of the total) and 12,882 antlerless deer (74%). The antlerless total includes does, button bucks, bucks with shed antlers, and bucks with antlers shorter than 3 inches.

The top 10 counties for deer harvested during the 2024 additional gun weekend were: Ashtabula (580), Coshocton (574), Tuscarawas (515), Knox (491), Licking (454), Richland (447), Carroll (429), Muskingum (402), Harrison (400), and Guernsey (380).

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Legal hunting equipment during the gun season includes specific shotguns, straight-walled cartridge rifles, muzzleloaders, handguns, and archery equipment. Straight-walled cartridge rifles have been legal for deer gun hunting since 2014. Deer checked by hunting implement includes:

• Straight-walled cartridge rifle, 66% (11,413 deer)

• Shotgun, 27% (4,723 deer)

• Muzzleloader, 4% (706 deer)

• Archery equipment, 2% (433 deer)

• Handgun, less than 1% (98 deer)

Hunters have checked 115,014 deer during nine days of gun hunting and two days of the youth season. Youth hunters checked 10,449 deer on Nov. 16-17, and the weeklong gun season total was 87,192. The season total for deer checked through Sunday, Dec. 22 is 209,459, which includes all deer harvested with archery equipment and firearms since the season began in September.

Nonresidents have purchased 39,861 hunting licenses this season, many of them to enjoy Ohio’s deer hunting opportunities. The most popular states that hunters traveled to Ohio from include: Pennsylvania (7,643 nonresident licenses), Michigan (4,962), West Virginia (3,581), North Carolina (3,191), and New York (2,996).

Hunters still looking to pursue deer can take part in the ongoing archery season, which continues until Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. An either-sex deer permit is required after Sunday, Dec. 22, as deer management permits are no longer valid. Check the 2024-25 Hunting and Trapping Regulations for more information about deer hunting.

Weekly reports and yearly summaries can be found on the Deer Harvest Summary page at wildohio.gov.

The free HuntFish OH app is available for deer hunters to buy licenses and permits, view wildlife area maps, check sunrise and sunset times, see county bag limits, and more. Hunters can check game even without cell signal and display licenses and permits digitally via the app.

A county list of all white-tailed deer checked during the 2024 deer gun hunting weekend is shown below. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2024, and the three-year average of deer taken in 2021, 2022, and 2023 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, crop harvest, and other unavoidable factors. Numbers below are raw data and subject to change.

Adams: 240 (207); Allen: 128 (89); Ashland: 372 (313); Ashtabula: 580 (393); Athens: 219 (202); Auglaize: 108 (85); Belmont: 353 (248); Brown: 209 (168); Butler: 100 (95); Carroll: 429 (346); Champaign: 156 (117); Clark: 71 (52); Clermont: 182 (145); Clinton: 85 (55); Columbiana: 370 (284); Coshocton: 574 (455); Crawford: 151 (105); Cuyahoga: 18 (15); Darke: 103 (61); Defiance: 134 (145); Delaware: 103 (92); Erie: 91 (63); Fairfield: 187 (140); Fayette: 40 (24); Franklin: 44 (43); Fulton: 93 (64); Gallia: 181 (166); Geauga: 158 (132); Greene: 60 (53); Guernsey: 380 (324); Hamilton: 51 (42); Hancock: 189 (117); Hardin: 131 (109); Harrison: 400 (260); Henry: 70 (67); Highland: 258 (197); Hocking: 164 (187); Holmes: 343 (300); Huron: 282 (191); Jackson: 184 (174); Jefferson: 262 (205); Knox: 491 (346); Lake: 79 (38); Lawrence: 130 (106); Licking: 454 (351); Logan: 221 (170); Lorain: 256 (170); Lucas: 34 (23); Madison: 60 (41); Mahoning: 208 (144); Marion: 97 (69); Medina: 248 (189); Meigs: 264 (208); Mercer: 94 (66); Miami: 85 (50); Monroe: 252 (174); Montgomery: 61 (43); Morgan: 252 (212); Morrow: 185 (133); Muskingum: 402 (354); Noble: 209 (202); Ottawa: 80 (41); Paulding: 84 (107); Perry: 237 (192); Pickaway: 94 (63); Pike: 146 (112); Portage: 181 (153); Preble: 114 (82); Putnam: 84 (61); Richland: 447 (269); Ross: 238 (185); Sandusky: 100 (67); Scioto: 184 (144); Seneca: 264 (156); Shelby: 120 (90); Stark: 299 (220); Summit: 69 (52); Trumbull: 282 (262); Tuscarawas: 515 (438); Union: 109 (67); Van Wert: 83 (52); Vinton: 125 (130); Warren: 87 (68); Washington: 313 (228); Wayne: 248 (194); Williams: 238 (156); Wood: 101 (72); Wyandot: 196 (137).

2024 total: 17,373

3-year average total: 13,417

Source: https://www.outdoornews.com/2025/01/13/more-than-17000-deer-killed-in-bonus-gun-hunt/