COLUMBUS — Ohio’s white-tailed deer hunters concluded the 2019-2020 hunting season by harvesting 184,465 deer, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.
Deer hunting in Ohio began Sept. 28 and concluded Feb. 2. The final harvest total represents all deer taken during archery, gun, muzzleloader and youth seasons. During the 2018-2019 deer hunting seasons, 172,670 deer were checked.
Top counties
The top 10 counties for deer harvest during the 2019-2020 seasons include Coshocton (6,715), Tuscarawas (5,781), Ashtabula (4,949), Muskingum (4,929), Licking (4,878), Knox (4,746), Guernsey (4,524), Holmes (4,507), Carroll (3,843) and Trumbull (3,668). A complete list of all white-tailed deer checked by hunters during the 2019-2020 hunting seasons is shown below.
Ohio’s youth hunters harvested 6,234 deer Nov. 23-24, 2019. During the 2019 week-long and two-day deer-gun seasons, hunters checked in 77,187 deer. Muzzleloader hunters added an additional 10,615 deer from Jan. 4-7. On Feb. 2, archery hunters concluded their season with 88,860 deer taken. Archery hunters accounted for 48% of deer checked in 2019-2020.
Ohio’s record deer harvest was in 2009-2010, when 261,260 were checked. Ohio is a popular hunting destination for many out-of-state hunters. During the 2019-2020 hunting seasons, more than 34,000 nonresident Ohio hunting licenses were sold.
The top five states for purchasing a nonresident hunting license in Ohio include Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, North Carolina and New York.
Proposed regulations
The Division of Wildlife wants to hear from you. Each year, Division of Wildlife biologists present proposed hunting and fishing regulations to the Ohio Wildlife Council. Ohioans are encouraged to provide comments on the proposals and may do so in person or online.
In-person comments can be submitted during the week-long open house period from March 2-6 at any Division of Wildlife district office. Online submissions can be made at wildohio.gov beginning Feb. 21. A complete list of proposed changes can be found at wildohio.gov.
Anyone interested in learning to hunt or becoming a mentor to a new hunter can visit the Wild Ohio Harvest Community Page for information on how to get started, hunting-related workshops as well as special hunting opportunities for mentors and new hunters.
Visit wildohio.gov to find locations to hunt, fish, trap and view wildlife.
2019-2020 white-tailed deer harvest
The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2019-2020, and the 2018-2019 harvest numbers are in parentheses.
- Adams: 2,793 (2,965)
- Allen: 1,118 (878)
- Ashland: 3,378 (2,962)
- Ashtabula: 4,949 (4,895)
- Athens: 3,360 (3,455)
- Auglaize: 960 (826)
- Belmont: 2,936 (2,629)
- Brown: 2,315 (2,278)
- Butler: 1,454 (1,273)
- Carroll: 3,843 (3,476)
- Champaign: 1,266 (1,115)
- Clark: 761 (748)
- Clermont: 2,412 (2,308)
- Clinton: 772 (703)
- Columbiana: 3,180 (2,799)
- Coshocton: 6,715 (6,063)
- Crawford: 1,256 (1,123)
- Cuyahoga: 903 (930)
- Darke: 809 (687)
- Defiance: 1,763 (1,588)
- Delaware: 1,519 (1,408)
- Erie: 1,058 (1,021);
- Fairfield: 1,857 (1,799)
- Fayette: 340 (290)
- Franklin: 735 (736)
- Fulton: 795 (707)
- Gallia: 2,191 (2,499)
- Geauga: 1,922 (1,858)
- Greene: 842 (809)
- Guernsey: 4,524 (4,307)
- Hamilton: 1,550 (1,549)
- Hancock: 1,387 (1,145)
- Hardin: 1,459 (1,163)
- Harrison: 3,594 (3,214)
- Henry: 783 (675)
- Highland: 2,565 (2,283)
- Hocking: 3,163 (2,803)
- Holmes: 4,507 (3,934)
- Huron: 2,291 (2,104)
- Jackson: 2,821 (2,855)
- Jefferson: 2,077 (1,684)
- Knox: 4,746 (4,271)
- Lake: 849 (799)
- Lawrence: 1,552 (1,806)
- Licking: 4,878 (4,587)
- Logan: 2,163 (1,949)
- Lorain: 2,134 (2,080)
- Lucas: 778 (721)
- Madison: 555 (484)
- Mahoning: 1,884 (1,908)
- Marion: 926 (788)
- Medina: 2,141 (2,084)
- Meigs: 2,910 (3,083)
- Mercer: 814 (674)
- Miami: 879 (735)
- Monroe: 2,472 (2,282)
- Montgomery: 770 (701)
- Morgan: 2,920 (2,940)
- Morrow: 1,596 (1,487)
- Muskingum: 4,929 (4,663)
- Noble: 2,914 (2,909)
- Ottawa: 517 (476)
- Paulding: 1,114 (969)
- Perry: 2,570 (2,447)
- Pickaway: 800 (727)
- Pike: 1,901 (1,877)
- Portage: 2,503 (2,295)
- Preble: 1,036 (979)
- Putnam: 849 (699)
- Richland: 3,469 (3,263)
- Ross: 2,974 (2,758)
- Sandusky: 880 (832)
- Scioto: 2,030 (2,162)
- Seneca: 2,054 (1,776)
- Shelby: 1,100 (901)
- Stark: 2,848 (2,788)
- Summit: 1,498 (1,469)
- Trumbull: 3,668 (3,462)
- Tuscarawas: 5,781 (5,245)
- Union: 960 (923)
- Van Wert: 553 (495)
- Vinton: 2,439 (2,392)
- Warren: 1,213 (1,130)
- Washington: 3,292 (3,110)
- Wayne: 2,411 (2,082)
- Williams: 1,660 (1,558)
- Wood: 1,050 (909)
- Wyandot: 1,562 (1,451)
2020 total: 184,465.
The 2019 total: 172,670.
Harvest numbers are subject to change.
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