Deer season off to a successful start
Ohio deer hunters are off to a strong start in the state's annual deer gun season.
Hunters tagged 21,754 deer on Monday's opening day, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Recourses Division of Wildlife.
Coshocton County led the way with 850 deer tagged, while Tuscarawas County was a solid No. 2 with 729.
During the past three years, hunters took an average of 13,349 deer statewide on opening day. Gun season is open until Sunday, Dec. 5, and again for two days on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 18-19.
The weather for this year’s opening day was ideal for deer hunting: mostly to partly sunny and cool temperatures. In 2020, during a snowy and rainy gun opener, hunters bagged 10,905 deer.
“This fall has reaffirmed once again that Ohio is a top deer hunting state, thanks to decades of stable deer management practices,” said Division of Wildlife Chief Kendra Wecker. “This year’s weather cooperated for an outstanding opening day harvest, generating about 1 million pounds of venison and feeding Ohio’s families.”
The top 10 counties for deer harvest on the opening day of Ohio’s gun season include: Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Ashtabula (725), Knox (679), Muskingum (677), Holmes (650), Guernsey (642), Carroll (607), Licking (572), and Ashland (504). In 2020, Coshocton County also led the state on opening day with 356 deer taken.
Ohio archery hunters have taken 79,538 deer through Monday, Nov. 29. Plus, Ohio’s young hunters checked 7,634 deer during the 2021 youth gun season, Nov. 20-21.
Ohio deer hunting has come a long way from the first gun hunting season in 1943, when 168 deer were taken.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Deer gun season off to a successful start
