Mary Alice Reporting –
Hunters were active for the seven-day gun season in Ohio and a two-day bonus weekend is coming up.
White-tailed deer hunting ended on December 3rd and hunters harvested 70,118 deer, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife.
This total is a decrease by about 1,800 deer compared to 2022.
Top counties for deer taken were Coshocton with 2,441 and then Tuscarawas County with 2,260, followed by Ashtabula and Muskingum.
Straight-walled cartridge rifles have become more popular and ODNR reports that this year, they were used to harvest 60% of checked deer. Shotguns accounted for 34%, and then 4% with a muzzleloader, 1% with archery equipment, and 1% with a handgun.
For 2023, more than 389,000 permits were issued, and of those, over 37,000 licenses were for non-Ohio residents.
A bonus gun season will be held December 16th and 17th. Meanwhile, archery remains open through February 4th.
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