White-tailed buck, courtesy of Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife

Hunters checked nearly 27,000 deer on opening day of Ohio's 2024 gun season

6:00am Wednesday, December 04, 2024

Hunters across Ohio checked 26,667 white-tailed deer Dec. 2 during the opening day of the weeklong gun hunting season, according to a Dec. 2 news release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. This is the highest harvest for opening day since 2012, when 29,297 deer were checked.

Ohio’s seven-day gun season is open until Sunday, Dec. 8, with an additional gun weekend scheduled Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21 and 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), according to the release. In 2023, hunters checked 19,363 deer on opening day of 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.

The top 10 counties for deer checked on opening day were as follows:

Coshocton (1,053)
Tuscarawas (954)
Knox (881)
Muskingum (852)
Carroll (804)
Guernsey (750)
Ashtabula (686)
Harrison (671)
Ashland (653)
Columbiana (592)

Thus far this deer season, archery and firearms hunters have harvested a total of 128,408 deer through Dec. 2, according to the release. Hunters ages 17 and younger checked 10,449 deer in the two-day youth season.

In addition to the weeklong gun season and December gun weekend, the state hosts a muzzleloader season Jan. 4-7, 2025. The archery season remains open statewide until Feb. 2, 2025.