Ohio's archery deer hunters behind last year's to-date totals

Ohio’s bow hunters recorded an 11 percent drop in the number of animals taken during the first six weeks of the state’s archery deer-hunting season.

The first six-week kill for this year was 45,836 deer during compared to last year’s kill of 51,543, for the same period, reports the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

The archery season started September 24 and will continue through February 5, 2012.
Counties reporting the highest numbers of deer brought to check stations were: Licking - 1,836, Coshocton - 1,522, Tuscarawas - 1,259, Ashtabula - 1,143, Holmes - 1,101, Knox- 1,092, Muskingum - 1,060, Guernsey - 1,045, and Hamilton and Trumbull - 977(tied).

Ohio's deer population was estimated to be 750,000 in early October. Approximately 345,000 bow hunters are expected to participate in the statewide deer-archery hunting season.

Bow hunters harvested a total of 85,012 deer during last year’s four-month Ohio archery season.

Here is a list of deer checked and tagged by hunters during the first six weeks of the current deer-archery hunting season. The number taken during the 2010 season is marked in parentheses:

Adams – 945 (931); Allen – 290 (369); Ashland – 676 (779); Ashtabula – 1,143 (1,248); Athens – 709 (719); Auglaize – 213 (221); Belmont – 488 (670); Brown – 608 (702); Butler – 538 (591); Carroll – 773 (957); Champaign – 442 (455); Clark – 253 (290); Clermont – 939 (1,060); Clinton – 234 (283); Columbiana – 699 (814); Coshocton – 1,522 (1,776); Crawford – 257 (281); Cuyahoga – 303 (320); Darke –264 (247); Defiance – 371 (441); Delaware – 492 (610); Erie – 188 (221); Fairfield – 571 (634); Fayette – 50 (75); Franklin – 291 (289); Fulton – 214 (251); Gallia – 451 (589); Geauga – 748 (786); Greene – 338 (327); Guernsey – 1,045 (1,183); Hamilton – 977 (867); Hancock – 284 (377); Hardin – 273 (322); Harrison – 902 (1,144); Henry – 161 (180); Highland – 666 (754); Hocking – 704 (752); Holmes – 1,101 (1,328); Huron – 523 (502); Jackson – 626 (694); Jefferson – 494 (739); Knox – 1,092 (1,222); Lake – 262 (263); Lawrence – 446 (525); Licking – 1,836 (1,912); Logan – 616 (644); Lorain – 691 (795); Lucas – 237 (205); Madison – 136 (157); Mahoning – 545 (537); Marion – 189 (203); Medina – 584 (617); Meigs – 564 (646); Mercer – 178 (203); Miami – 271 (303); Monroe – 419 (487); Montgomery – 233 (253); Morgan – 443 (520); Morrow –424 (436); Muskingum – 1,060 (1,182); Noble – 530 (640); Ottawa – 133 (143); Paulding – 233 (338); Perry – 494 (524); Pickaway – 204 (230); Pike – 426 (471); Portage – 748 (771); Preble –273 (265); Putnam – 193 (269); Richland – 945 (1,113); Ross –597 (695); Sandusky – 250 (269); Scioto – 512 (541); Seneca – 404 (459); Shelby – 262 (303); Stark – 543 (613); Summit – 515 (543); Trumbull – 977 (1,016); Tuscarawas – 1,259 (1,483); Union –223 (240); Van Wert – 154 (187); Vinton – 496 (583); Warren – 511 (551); Washington – 467 (542); Wayne – 501 (622); Williams – 542 (621); Wood – 180 (261); Wyandot – 272 (362); Total – 45,836 (51,543).

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
Twitter: @Fieldkorn