Deer season recap: See a county-by-county count of deer harvested in Ohio

Craig Webb, Akron Beacon Journal
·4 min read
Ohio's deer harvest this past season was the highest in a decade.
Ohio's deer harvest this past season was the highest in a decade.

Ohio's deer harvest for this past hunting season was the highest in a decade.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says hunters in the state checked 213,928 white-tailed deer during the 2023-24 deer hunting season that ended on Feb. 4.

This marked the second straight year the state's deer harvest was more than 200,000.

This season’s count was the highest in more than a decade. There were 217,018 deer in the 2012-13 season.

Ohio hunters were issued 415,710 deer permits across all hunting seasons. Pennsylvania had the most out-of-state hunters with 8,808, followed by Michigan's 5,874 hunters.

Top 10 Ohio counties for deer harvest

For the second year in a row, Coshocton County led the state in the number of deer harvested.

The Top 10 counties include:

  • Coshocton: 7,740

  • Tuscarawas: 7,023

  • Ashtabula: 5,887

  • Muskingum: 5,789

  • Knox: 5,625

  • Licking: 5,429

  • Holmes: 5,324

  • Guernsey: 5,220

  • Carroll: 5,038

  • Trumbull: 4,703

Ohio's deer by season

The harvest during Ohio's archery season exceeded 100,000 for the first time ever.

The deer harvest numbers by season:

  • Archery season: 100,951

  • Weeklong and two-day gun seasons: 85,587

  • Four-day muzzleloader season: 12,712

  • Two-day youth season: 10,039

  • Controlled firearm hunts: 4,639

Ohio's most popular hunting methods

  • Crossbow: 75,462 (35%)

  • Straight-walled cartridge rifle: 60,333 (28%)

  • Shotgun: 31,901 (15%)

  • Vertical bow: 29,696 (14%)

  • Muzzleloader: 16,010 (8%)

  • Handgun: 526 (less than 1%)

Ohio's deer harvest by type

  • Does: 99,584 (46.5%)

  • Antlered bucks: 92,051 (43%)

  • Button bucks: 18,973 (9%)

  • Bucks with shed antlers or antlers shorter than 3 inches: 3,320 (1.5%)

Ohio's county by county deer harvest numbers

Here's a listing of the deer harvest county by county for the past season. The number in parentheses represents the three-year average.

  • Adams: 3,100 (3,088)

  • Allen: 1,479 (1,129)

  • Ashland: 4,074 (3,780)

  • Ashtabula: 5,887 (5,482)

  • Athens: 2,924 (3,352)

  • Auglaize: 1,334 (1,117)

  • Belmont: 3,607 (2,952)

  • Brown: 2,440 (2,581)

  • Butler: 1,254 (1,504)

  • Carroll: 5,038 (4,395)

  • Champaign: 1,575 (1,475)

  • Clark: 870 (816)

  • Clermont: 2,346 (2,593)

  • Clinton: 904 (708)

  • Columbiana: 4,229 (3,685)

  • Coshocton: 7,740 (7,175)

  • Crawford: 1,538 (1,408)

  • Cuyahoga: 912 (938)

  • Darke: 1,066 (933)

  • Defiance: 2,298 (2,011)

  • Delaware: 1,712 (1,669)

  • Erie: 1,015 (964)

  • Fairfield: 2,059 (2,165)

  • Fayette: 449 (353)

  • Franklin: 794 (844)

  • Fulton: 1,078 (932)

  • Gallia: 2,618 (2,697)

  • Geauga: 2,708 (2,294)

  • Greene: 895 (919)

  • Guernsey: 5,220 (4,995)

  • Hamilton: 1,168 (1,370)

  • Hancock: 1,974 (1,658)

  • Hardin: 1,653 (1,472)

  • Harrison: 4,516 (3,648)

  • Henry: 1,009 (937)

  • Highland: 2,883 (2,878)

  • Hocking: 2,573 (2,784)

  • Holmes: 5,324 (4,974)

  • Huron: 2,855 (2,569)

  • Jackson: 2,676 (2,843)

  • Jefferson: 3,065 (2,389)

  • Knox: 5,625 (5,338)

  • Lake: 1,163 (1,025)

  • Lawrence: 1,738 (1,732)

  • Licking: 5,429 (5,420)

  • Logan: 2,319 (2,232)

  • Lorain: 2,629 (2,418)

  • Lucas: 791 (771)

  • Madison: 642 (639)

  • Mahoning: 2,409 (2,071)

  • Marion: 1,060 (994)

  • Medina: 2,721 (2,698)

  • Meigs: 2,964 (3,347)

  • Mercer: 1,137 (962)

  • Miami: 975 (896)

  • Monroe: 2,878 (2,564)

  • Montgomery: 843 (870)

  • Morgan: 3,281 (3,245)

  • Morrow: 2,176 (1,901)

  • Muskingum: 5,789 (5,494)

  • Noble: 3,416 (3,263)

  • Ottawa: 731 (604)

  • Paulding: 1,497 (1,327)

  • Perry: 2,804 (2,767)

  • Pickaway: 954 (738)

  • Pike: 1,778 (1,910)

  • Portage: 2,932 (2,662)

  • Preble: 1,116 (1,088)

  • Putnam: 1,275 (965)

  • Richland: 4,169 (3,889)

  • Ross: 2,749 (3,025)

  • Sandusky: 1,181 (1,097)

  • Scioto: 2,195 (2,228)

  • Seneca: 2,448 (2,137)

  • Shelby: 1,359 (1,183)

  • Stark: 3,627 (3,355)

  • Summit: 1,745 (1,799)

  • Trumbull: 4,703 (4,086)

  • Tuscarawas: 7,023 (6,496)

  • Union: 1,228 (1,122)

  • Van Wert: 798 (649)

  • Vinton: 1,708 (2,176)

  • Warren: 1,065 (1,181)

  • Washington: 3,797 (3,528)

  • Wayne: 2,986 (2,659)

  • Williams: 2,156 (1,954)

  • Wood: 1,225 (1,093)

  • Wyandot: 1,835 (1,816)

When is the 2024-2025 deer season in Ohio?

Ohio is just starting to decide the dates for the 2024-2025 deer hunting season.

But the proposed deer hunting seasons dates are now being considered. They are very similar to the last season. A hearing over the dates will be in March.

The proposed dates now under review are:

  • Deer archery: Sept. 28, 2024-Feb. 2, 2025

  • Youth deer gun: Nov. 16-17, 2024

  • Deer gun: Dec. 2-Dec. 8, 2024; Dec. 21-22, 2024

  • Deer muzzleloader: Jan. 4-7, 2025

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: See a county-by-county count of deer harvested in Ohio