The extra weekend of gun hunting for white-tailed deer concluded Dec. 20, resulting in 15,203 deer taken by hunters. During the same two-day period over the last three years, hunters checked an average of 12,461 deer.
After 71,650 deer were checked by Ohio hunters during the weeklong deer-gun season, Nov. 30-Dec. 6, the total harvest during for all nine days of the 2020 gun hunting season was 86,858 deer.
Hunters harvested an average of 78,027 deer during the nine days of gun hunting over the past three years. Deer hunting occurs in all 88 counties and an estimated 310,000 hunters participated during Ohio’s deer-gun seasons. Ohio hunters have purchased 399,466 deer permits through Dec. 20.
“Hunting license and deer permit sales are on the upswing this year as more people are going out to deer hunt in Ohio,” said Division of Wildlife Chief Kendra Wecker. “Our state’s deer herd is in excellent condition and it is great that this valuable resource is doing so well.”
The top 11 counties for deer taken during the two-day deer gun season include Tuscarawas (598), Ashtabula (572), Coshocton (521), Knox (442), Licking (442), Carroll (422), Guernsey (421), Harrison (369), Columbiana (367), Muskingum (364), and Trumbull (364). Ashtabula County was tops in the state during the 2019 extra gun hunting weekend with 529 deer checked, while hunters took 13,703 deer statewide.
Straight-walled cartridge rifles became legal deer hunting implements in Ohio in 2014, and continue to grow in popularity. During the deer-gun week and two-day gun weekend, straight-walled cartridge rifles were used for 45% of checked deer. Shotguns accounted for 44% of the total. In addition, 8% were taken with a muzzleloader, 2% with archery equipment and 1% with a handgun.
Through Dec. 20, Ohio archery hunters have taken 82,125 deer and Ohio’s youth hunters checked 5,795 whitetails during the two-day youth season, Nov. 21-22. Hotspots for deer hunting are found mostly in the eastern regions, including Ashtabula, Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Muskingum, Guernsey, and Knox counties.
Ohio offers more deer hunting opportunities including muzzleloader season, open Jan. 2-5, 2021 and archery season, open through Feb. 7, 2021.
Find more information about deer hunting in the 2020-2021 Hunting and Trapping Regulations.
Past year’s harvest summaries and weekly updated harvest reports can be found on the Deer Harvest Summary page.
ODNR ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR website at ohiodnr.gov.
Editor’s Note: A county list of all white-tailed deer checked by hunters during the 2020 two-day deer-gun hunting season is shown below. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2020, and the three-year average of deer harvested in 2017, 2018, 2019 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, crop harvest, and other unavoidable factors. Harvest numbers below are raw data and subject to change.
Adams: 214 (168); Allen: 75 (75); Ashland: 331 (276); Ashtabula: 572 (460); Athens: 250 (203); Auglaize: 74 (64); Belmont: 247 (222); Brown: 189 (156); Butler: 108 (71); Carroll: 422 (336); Champaign: 106 (78); Clark: 54 (40); Clermont: 178 (132); Clinton: 48 (54); Columbiana: 367 (281); Coshocton: 521 (399); Crawford: 94 (95); Cuyahoga: 13 (4); Darke: 51 (59); Defiance: 179 (168); Delaware: 88 (77); Erie: 60 (60); Fairfield: 166 (125); Fayette: 19 (21); Franklin: 39 (27); Fulton: 54 (55); Gallia: 189 (141); Geauga: 192 (118); Greene: 77 (52); Guernsey: 421 (268); Hamilton: 58 (37); Hancock: 102 (97); Hardin: 111 (122); Harrison: 369 (259); Henry: 50 (66); Highland: 213 (177); Hocking: 211 (163); Holmes: 355 (307); Huron: 222 (213); Jackson: 175 (180); Jefferson: 222 (148); Knox: 442 (328); Lake: 54 (38); Lawrence: 133 (86); Licking: 442 (299); Logan: 143 (164); Lorain: 184 (175); Lucas: 14 (21); Madison: 51 (44); Mahoning: 181 (144); Marion: 85 (74); Medina: 176 (150); Meigs: 281 (189); Mercer: 57 (57); Miami: 57 (52); Monroe: 201 (174); Montgomery: 48 (34); Morgan: 240 (157); Morrow: 125 (115); Muskingum: 364 (291); Noble: 247 (175); Ottawa: 42 (35); Paulding: 104 (107); Perry: 199 (168); Pickaway: 45 (54); Pike: 110 (103); Portage: 187 (158); Preble: 63 (83); Putnam: 52 (48); Richland: 292 (272); Ross: 212 (166); Sandusky: 64 (65); Scioto: 148 (150); Seneca: 158 (183); Shelby: 83 (78); Stark: 270 (219); Summit: 69 (43); Trumbull: 364 (299); Tuscarawas: 598 (400); Union: 56 (65); Van Wert: 40 (48); Vinton: 162 (151); Warren: 65 (66); Washington: 282 (190); Wayne: 192 (167); Williams: 154 (147); Wood: 69 (68); Wyandot: 112 (109).
2020 Total: 15,203
Three-Year Average Total: (12,461)
For more information, contact:
Brian Plasters, Division of Wildlife
(614) 601-3836