Ohio 2024 weeklong deer gun season nets highest totals since 2011

Ohio hunters checked 87,192 white-tailed deer during the weeklong gun season that concluded Dec. 8.

This is the highest total since 2011, when 90,282 deer were checked, according to a Dec. 10 news release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. Hunters last year reported 70,103 during the seven-day gun season, and the three-year average is 70,806.

During the deer gun week, hunters checked 28,606 antlered deer (33% of the total reported) and 58,586 antlerless deer (67%), according to the release.

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The top 10 counties for deer taken during the gun season were as follows:

1. Coshocton, 2,954 (Coshocton County also led the state in 2023 with 2,440 deer checked.)
2. Tuscarawas, 2,673
3. Knox, 2,525
4. Muskingum, 2,515
5. Carroll, 2,399
6. Ashtabula, 2,281
7. Guernsey, 2,201
8. Washington, 1,970
9. Ashland, 1,893
10. Licking, 1,860

Legal hunting equipment during the deer gun season includes shotguns, straight-walled cartridge rifles, muzzleloaders, handguns, and archery equipment. Straight-walled cartridge rifles have been legal for deer gun hunting since 2014. Deer checked by hunting implement includes the following:

• Straight-walled cartridge rifle, 64% (55,611 deer)
• Shotgun, 30% (26,486 deer)
• Muzzleloader, 4% (3,271 deer)
• Archery equipment, 2% (1,357 deer)
• Handgun, less than 1% (467 deer)

For all deer hunting seasons, archery and firearms hunters have reported 188,931 deer from Sept. 28 to Dec. 8, according to the release.

An additional gun weekend is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21 and 22. The muzzleloader season is Jan. 4-7, 2025, and the archery season remains open until Feb. 2.

This year, 404,331 deer permits have been issued through Dec. 8, according to the release. This total includes sales of deer management permits and either-sex permits. Under a newly expanded timeline for use, deer management permits are available for purchase and valid through Sunday, Dec. 22. Either-sex permits are valid until the close of the deer archery season Feb. 2. Licenses and permits may be purchased at wildohio.gov, via the HuntFish OH app, or at any authorized sales agent.
Nonresidents have purchased 39,055 hunting licenses. The most popular states that hunters traveled to Ohio from are as follows:

• Pennsylvania (6,167 nonresident licenses)
• Michigan (4,536)
• North Carolina (2,821)
• West Virginia (2,785)
• New York (2,672)