COLUMBUS, Ohio — According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, 210,977 deer were counted. The Ohio’s 2022-2023 white-tailed deer hunting season ended Feb. 5.
What You Need To Know
- Hunters are required to register the deer being taken
- Since 2012-13 more than 200,000 deer were taken
- The season ended on Feb, 5
Since Sept. 10, all deer harvested during archery, gun, muzzleloader and youth hunting seasons are counted toward the final total.
“Ohio is consistently one of the nation’s best states for deer hunting, and this season reaffirmed that status,” said Division of Wildlife Chief Kendra Wecker. “Ohio hunters have enjoyed a long season with many chances to get afield. This is the first time since 2012-13 that the number of deer taken surpassed 200,000.”
Each year by the sales of food, equipment, fuel, lodging and more, the hunting accounts about $866 million of spending in Ohio, according to the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation’s Economic Impacts of Hunting and Target Shooting Technical Report.
All deer taken in Ohio are required to be registered by the Ohio Wildlife Licensing System, which allows the Division of Wildlife to monitoring deer health and other important factors of deers.
Weekly reports can be found on the Deer Harvest Summary, click here.
Ohio’s statewide deer harvest, by year:
- 2022-23: 210,977
- 2021-22: 196,988
- 3-year average (2019-2021): 193,058
Ohio’s 2022-23 statewide deer harvest, by individual season:
- Archery: 99,742
- Weeklong and two-day gun seasons: 87,095
- Four-day muzzleloader season: 13,617
- Two-day youth season: 9,515
- Controlled firearm hunts: 1,008
Top 10 counties for 2022-23 deer harvest:
- Coshocton (7,590). Last season, Coshocton County also led the state with 7,144 deer checked.
- Tuscarawas (7,028)
- Muskingum (5,982)
- Ashtabula (5,592)
- Knox (5,477)
- Licking (5,467)
- Holmes (5,183)
- Guernsey (5,073)
- Carroll (4,866)
- Trumbull (4,251)
Most popular hunting implements:
- Crossbow: 71,701 (34%)
- Straight-walled cartridge rifle: 56,437 (26%)
- Shotgun: 36,398 (17%)
- Vertical Bow: 28,041 (13%)
- Muzzleloader: 17,854 (9%)
- Handgun: 546 (1%)
Deer harvest, by type:
- Bucks: 86,645; 41% of the total
- Does: 101,141; 48%
- Button bucks: 19,851; 9%
- Bucks with shed antlers and bucks with antlers less than 3 inches: 3,340; 2%
Hunting Permit Sales
Across all hunting seasons, Ohio hunters purchased 409,672 permits. The hunters from 50 U.S. states continued to buy deer permits in Ohio for the usage in the 2022-23 season. The highest nonresident permit sales include:
- Pennsylvania (9,365)
- Michigan (6,420)
- West Virginia (4,367)
- North Carolina (4,284)
- New York (3,878)
