Ohio's 2016 gun deer season down from 2015 but up from 2014, down again from 2013

Preliminary figures point to a decline in the number of deer taken by Ohio hunters during the just-concluded seven-day firearms deer-hunting season when compared to the final tally for its 2015 counterpart.

The preliminary data shows that 66,759 deer killed during the just-concluded 2016 firearms deer-hunting season. That is 7,640 fewer animals when stacked up against the 73,399 deer shot during the 2015 gun deer season.

However, the 2016 gun season figure is still greater than the 65,484 animals shot during the 2014 gun deer-hunting season. And during the 2013 general firearms deer-hunting season, 75,408 animals were taken, based upon figure supplied by the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Ohio’s 2016 firearms deer-hunting season ran November 28^th through December 4^th. Deer of either sex could be taken by lawful hunters, either licensed or with certain exemptions such as landowners hunting on their own property.

And of Ohio’s 88 counties, 23 still showed gains over their respective 2015 gun season numbers, though admittedly some counties saw increases of only a few animals each.

 “We had anticipated a deer harvest of between 70,000 to 80,000 animals; so we were only slightly below that range,” said Ohio Division of Wildlife media spokesman John Windau. “There is no way to know for sure at this point in the season why the gun week was somewhat lower.”

Importantly, says Windau, Ohio’s general firearms deer-hunting season has undergone a sea change over the past several years with an increasing number of hunters taking their animal (or animals) during the archery season.

Similarly, surveys compiled by the Wildlife Division have indicated that more hunters prefer stump sitting during gun season rather than participating in organized deer drives.

“And that likely impacts hunter success,” Windau says. “Anecdotally, too, we heard from people in the field that we had lower hunter participation, but that is just anecdotal.”

Windau also said that Ohio deer hunters who were not lucky enough to bag an animal during the seven-day general firearm season still have a considerable amount of opportunity to put a rack on the wall and venison in the freezer. Or add to what’s all ready there, Windau said.

“There is a lot of season left, including the gun weekend, December 17th and 18th, the muzzleloader season, January 7th through 10th and the rest of the archery season which closes out February 5^th,” Windau said.

Ohio’s deer hunting success rate is around 33 percent. In terms of deer being killed, the Wildlife Division has found that of successful hunters, 78.3 percent shoot one deer, 17.7 percent shoot two deer, 3.2 percent shoot three deer, and a paltry 0.8 percent shoot four or more deer per season.

For the entire slate of deer hunting seasons for the 2015 year a total of 188,335 animals were killed compared to 175,801 animals in 2014.

Here is a quick rundown of select counties with their 2016 firearms deer-hunting season tallies followed by their respective 2015 and 2014 firearms deer-hunting season numbers in parentheses: Adams – 1,082 (1,585; 1,134); Ashland – 1,225 (1,232; 1,160); Ashtabula – 1,946 (2,002; 1,730); Athens – 1,377 (1,666; 1,360); Belmont – 1,360 (1,516; 1,428); Brown –823 (1,055; 940); Carroll – 1,494 (1,577; 1,477); Clermont – 542 (776; 685); Columbiana – 1,307 (1,458; 1,245); Coshocton – 2,325 (2,420; 2,308); Crawford – 569 (576; 5150; Cuyahoga – 47 (46; 24); Franklin – 157 (133; 124); Gallia – 1,211 (1,523; 1,220: Geauga – 479 (508; 470); Greene – 203 (220; 213);  Guernsey – 1,885 (508; 470); Harrison – 1,573 (1,664; 1,491); Highland – 948 (1,189; 1,004); Hocking – 1,288 (1,664; 1,491); Holmes – 1,484 (1,362; 1,349); Huron – 1,074 (1,008; 921); Jackson – 1,031 (1,323; 968); Jefferson – 1,138 (1,170; 1,120); Knox – 1,942 (1,755; 1,727); Lake – 167 (160; 138); Lawrence – 795 (1,021; 779); Licking – 1,609 (1,865; 1,655); Lorain – 683 (637; 646); Medina – 604 (545; 567); Meigs – 1,373 (1,544; 1,270); Monroe – 1,131 (1,316; 1,056); Morgan – 1,179 (1,418; 1,207); Muskingum – 2,112 (2,283; 2,084); Noble – 1,271 (1,333; 1,031); Perry – 1,156 (1,340; 1,160); Richland – 1,228 (1,222; 1,15); Ross – 1,102 (1,264; 1,106); (Trumbull – 1,144 (1,142;983); Tuscarawas – 2,045 (1,999; 2,074); Van Wert – 211 (237; 283); Vinton – 1,111 (1,440; 1,031); Washington – 1,502 (1,738; 1,409); Williams – 655 (823; 831).


- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net