Hunters checked 73,399 white-tailed deer during Ohio’s 2015 deer-gun season, Nov. 30 through Dec. 6, a significant increase over the 2014 harvest of 65,484 deer.
During the 2013 deer-gun season, 75,408 deer were checked. To date, for the 2015 deer hunting seasons, hunters have checked 152,554 deer. Last year at this same time, hunters had harvested a total of 148,821 deer.
Because the year-to-date harvest is only slightly higher, the increase in this year’s deer-gun season can most likely be attributed to better weather conditions compared to the 2014 deer-gun season. A smaller contributing element could be the fact that there was no 2015 antlerless muzzleloader season in October.
Two days—December 28 and 29—remain of deer-gun season. The muzzleloader season is January 9 to 12, 2016; archery season remains open through Feb. 7.
The Division of Wildlife remains committed to properly managing Ohio’s deer populations through regulatory and program changes. The goal is to provide a deer population that maximizes recreational opportunities, while minimizing conflicts with landowners and motorists.
Until recently, deer populations in nearly all of Ohio’s counties were well above goal. In the last few years, through increased antlerless harvests, most counties are now at or near goal. To help stabilize deer populations, bag limits were reduced, and antlerless permit use has been eliminated in most counties for the 2015-2016 season.
More information about deer hunting is available in the Ohio 2015-2016 Hunting and Trapping Regulations or at wildohio.gov. The updated deer harvest report is posted online on Wednesday at wildohio.gov/deerharvest.