Ohio officials report a decline in deer harvested during the December bonus gun weekend, with weather potentially playing a role as hunting season continues statewide.
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Sarah Schott with the Ohio Division of Wildlife is in with refreshers on the rules for fall hunting season!
Sarah Schott is in to tell us about ODNR hunter education instructor courses!
March 25, 2025, Press Release from the Ohio Division of Wildlife:
January 8, 2025, press release from the the Ohio Department of Natural Resources: COLUMBUS, Ohio – Hunters checked 13,476 white-tailed deer from Saturday, Jan. 4 to Tuesday, Jan. 7 during Ohio’s muzzleloader hunting season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. This total accounts for all deer taken with muzzleloaders or archery equipment during the annual four-day season. Last year, hunters checked 12,714 deer during the muzzleloader season. Over the last three years, hunters bagged an average of 13,081 deer in the same timeframe.
December 23, 2024, Press Release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources: COLUMBUS, Ohio – Hunters across Ohio checked 17,373 white-tailed deer on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21-22, during the state’s additional weekend of deer gun hunting, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Last year, hunters tagged 15,470 deer during the gun weekend, with a three-year average of 13,417.
December 11, 2024, Press Release from the Office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost: (WILMINGTON, Ohio) — A Clinton County man will spend time in jail for his leading role in a high-profile case of deer poaching for which other defendants were previously sentenced, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today. Wilmington resident Christopher J. (“CJ”) Alexander, 28, was sentenced to 90 days in jail and ordered to pay a combined $43,000 in penalties, restitution and court costs for the unlawful harvesting last year of an 18-point white-tailed deer, a trophy animal viewed as a valuable state natural resource.
December 3, 2024, Press Release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources: COLUMBUS, Ohio – Hunters across Ohio checked 26,667 white-tailed deer on Monday, Dec. 2 during the opening day of the weeklong gun hunting season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. This is the highest harvest for opening day since 2012 (29,297). Ohio’s seven-day gun season is open until Sunday, Dec. 8, with an additional gun hunting weekend on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21-22. This year’s opening day harvest total includes 9,602 antlered deer and 17,065 antlerless deer (antlerless deer are does and button bucks). In 2023, hunters took 19,363 deer on opening day of the gun season, which traditionally falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving. From 2021 to 2023, hunters checked an average of 19,439 deer during the gun season opener.
November 21, 2024, Press Release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife: COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio’s weeklong deer gun hunting season begins Monday, Dec. 2, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The gun season traditionally begins the Monday after Thanksgiving, is open to all hunters, and runs until Sunday, Dec. 8. An additional deer gun weekend follows on Dec. 21-22. Ohio’s first deer gun season was in 1943, and excitement has remained high for white-tailed deer hunting ever since. Deer gun harvest totals are typically highest in eastern Ohio. Coshocton (2,440), Tuscarawas (2,260), Ashtabula (2,189), Muskingum (2,076), and Knox (1,878) counties led the state during the 2023 seven-day gun season.
November 18, 2024, Press Release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources: COLUMBUS, Ohio – Hunters ages 17 and younger checked 10,449 white-tailed deer during Ohio’s youth gun hunting season on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 16-17, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Each fall, youth hunters enjoy a weekend of deer hunting with a firearm before the statewide gun season begins.