Ohio’s final deer harvest report shows big numbers

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s 2021-22 deer hunting season concluded Feb. 6 with 196,988 deer checked, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. Ohio’s average harvest compiled from the past three seasons is 184,746 deer. 

The final totals represent all deer harvested during archery, gun, muzzleloader and youth hunting seasons that began Sept. 25. Since September, hunters harvested 96,209 deer with archery equipment, while 79,805 deer were taken with firearms during the 2021 weeklong and two-day gun seasons. 

In addition, 12,141 deer were harvested with muzzleloaders in January 2022. Youth hunters found success during the November 2021 youth season with 7,634 deer checked.

The top 10 counties for deer harvested during the 2021-22 deer season include: Coshocton (7,144), Tuscarawas (6,303), Muskingum (5,331), Knox (5,290), Licking (5,244), Ashtabula (5,193), Guernsey (5,104), Holmes (4,905), Carroll (4,197) and Trumbull (3,994). 

Last season, hunters in Coshocton County checked 6,791 deer, the most of any county in Ohio. The statewide harvest in 2020-21 was 197,721. 

Deer hunting occurs in all 88 counties, and Ohio hunters purchased 396,370 permits across all hunting seasons. Hot spots for deer hunting are found mostly in eastern Ohio, including Ashtabula, Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Muskingum, Guernsey and Knox counties. 

The popularity of hunting with archery equipment continues to grow, with 49% of deer taken during the 2021-22 archery season, including 35% using a crossbow and 14% using a vertical bow. Gun harvest contributed 51% of the final tally. This includes 19% with shotguns, 23% with straight-walled cartridge rifles, 9% with muzzleloaders, and less than 1% with handguns. 

Across all deer seasons, hunters harvested 85,580 bucks, accounting for 43% of the total. Does represented 46% of the total with 89,858 taken, while 18,161 button bucks were taken, for 9%. Bucks with shed antlers and bucks with antlers less than 3 inches long accounted for 3,389 deer, or 2%. 

Weekly reports can be found on the Deer Harvest Summary page at wildohio.gov. 

Ohio ranks fifth nationally in resident hunters and 11th in the number of jobs associated with hunting-related industries. Hunting generates more than $853 million in Ohio through the sale of equipment, fuel, food, lodging and more, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundations’ Hunting in America: An Economic Force for Conservation publication.

Visit wildohio.gov to find locations to hunt, fish, trap, and view wildlife.

White-tailed deer checked by hunters

A county list of all white-tailed deer checked by hunters during the 2021-22 deer hunting seasons is shown. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2021-22, and the three-year average of deer harvested from 2018 to 2020 is in parentheses. 

A three-year average provides a better overall comparison to this year’s harvest numbers, eliminating year-to-year variation because of weather, misaligned season dates, crop harvest, and other unavoidable factors. 

Harvest numbers below are raw data and subject to change: Adams: 3,138 (2,895); Allen: 1,024 (1,024); Ashland: 3,650 (3,343); Ashtabula: 5,193 (5,165); Athens: 3,540 (3,329); Auglaize: 1,051 (930); Belmont: 2,836 (2,828); Brown: 2,493 (2,423); Butler: 1,627 (1,447); Carroll: 4,197 (3,810); Champaign: 1,405 (1,258); Clark: 822 (763); Clermont: 2,516 (2,475); Clinton: 627 (707); Columbiana: 3,545 (3,140); Coshocton: 7,144 (6,516); Crawford: 1,382 (1,247); Cuyahoga: 889 (943); 

Darke: 835 (793); Defiance: 1,745 (1,859); Delaware: 1,631 (1,522); Erie: 955 (1,024); Fairfield: 2,093 (1,943); Fayette: 315 (319); Franklin: 813 (790); Fulton: 896 (808); Gallia: 2,621 (2,372); Geauga: 2,177 (2,000); Greene: 875 (869); Guernsey: 5,104 (4,540); Hamilton: 1,419 (1,528); Hancock: 1,561 (1,394); Hardin: 1,423 (1,375); Harrison: 3,553 (3,480); Henry: 891 (789); Highland: 2,772 (2,584); Hocking: 2,918 (2,863); Holmes: 4,905 (4,419); Huron: 2,475 (2,323); 

Jackson: 2,764 (2,751); Jefferson: 2,352 (1,995); Knox: 5,290 (4,750); Lake: 962 (898); Lawrence: 1,613 (1,683); Licking: 5,244 (5,000); Logan: 2,219 (2,109); Lorain: 2,374 (2,240); Lucas: 652 (777); Madison: 652 (552); Mahoning: 2,110 (1,936); Marion: 986 (907); Medina: 2,591 (2,312); Meigs: 3,418 (3,056); Mercer: 931 (789); Miami: 864 (820); Monroe: 2,477 (2,414); Montgomery: 866 (784); Morgan: 3,235 (2,991); Morrow: 1,758 (1,644); Muskingum: 5,331 (4,915); 

Noble: 3,183 (3,002); Ottawa: 560 (536); Paulding: 1,269 (1,138); Perry: 2,730 (2,545); Pickaway: 679 (717); Pike: 1,862 (1,845); Portage: 2,660 (2,431); Preble: 1,060 (1,028); Putnam: 877 (827); Richland: 3,793 (3,553); Ross: 3,053 (2,931); Sandusky: 1,014 (954); Scioto: 2,121 (2,098); Seneca: 2,064 (1,965); Shelby: 1,104 (1,028); Stark: 3,201 (2,955); Summit: 1,776 (1,565); 

Trumbull: 3,994 (3,710); Tuscarawas: 6,303 (5,710); Union: 1,136 (999); Van Wert: 593 (556); Vinton: 2,433 (2,309); Warren: 1,245 (1,194); Washington: 3,380 (3,207); Wayne: 2,641 (2,373); Williams: 1,857 (1,722); Wood: 997 (1,033); Wyandot: 1,658 (1,643). 

The 2021-22 total iss 196,988 and the three-year average is 184,746.