Ohio's 2017 bonus two-day gun deer-hunting season posts signifcant gains

Ohio’s just-concluded two-day so-called “bonus” firearms deer-hunting season not only bested its 2016 counterpart it left last year’s total in the dust.

And this year’s Saturday-Sunday bonus gun deer season’s kill of 14,115 animals also easily eclipsed the 2015 figure of 9,447 animals. Likewise, that statistic is a couple hundred animals better than the 2016 two-day bonus season take of 9,228 deer.

So impressive are the figures for the 2017 two-day gun deer season held December 16^th and 17^th, that fully 84 of Ohio’s 88 counties recorded gains in their respective deer kills. Even a county such as Jefferson which has struggled all year with a decline in its reported deer kill posted a modest increase of 29 animals (197 deer this season verses 168 deer during the 2016 two-day bonus gun season).

Looking at some of the other counties and one begins to see just how impressive this past Saturday and Sunday two-day gun deer-hunting season went, too. In Ashland County, hunters killed 342 deer – or 204 more deer than Ashland County hunters shot during the 2016 two-day bonus season.

Meanwhile, Logan County’s two-bonus gun deer season numbers rose from 60 animals in 2016 to 169 animals for the just-concluded season. And that 169 figure is also nearly twice as many animals killed in Logan County during the 2015 two-day bonus gun deer-hunting season (86 deer).

Take a gander at Carroll County, too. Here, the 2017 bonus season saw a kill of 412 animals while in 2016 that figure was less than one-half that figure: 184 animals. And it was still way better than was Carroll County’s 2015 two-day bonus deer kill figure of 211 deer.

Among the most impressive leaps was seen in Ohio’s perennial deer-take leading county of Coshocton which recorded a whopping kill of 512 deer. For the 2016 bonus two-day season that number was just 210 animals. And the 512 deer still readily topped Coshocton’s 2015 bonus season respectable take of 349 deer.

Even the cellar -dwelling counties fared well. In Fayette County, for instance, hunters there took 22 deer this past weekend compared to the 17 animals Fayette County hunters shot during the 2016 two-day bonus gun season.

The three counties which saw declines (with their 2016 figures in parentheses) were Lawrence – 91 (113); Lucas – 12 (27); and Putnam – 34 (45). Summit County recorded identical 2016 and 2017 bonus two-day gun season kills of 41 animals each.

And when looking at the comparisons between the 2017 and 2015 respective two-day bonus gun deer-hunting seasons, it is seen that only five counties were unable to post gains this time around while three counties reflected identical kills.

Just how this all will pan out for the rest of Ohio’s long deer-hunting profile remains to be seen, driven in large measure by the weather but also by how many deer all ready have been taken and thus are no longer part of the pool of available animals.

The state’s archery season runs until February 4^th. Meanwhile, the state’s muzzle-loading deer-hunting season is set for January 6^th to January 9^th. Last year’s muzzle-loading season (which really was held in January of this year. Long story), Ohio’s primitive weapons hunters killed 15,843 deer. The three previous muzzle-loading seasons’ respective deer kills were 12,503 animals, 13,724 animals, and 16, 464 animals.

In any event, here are the county-by-county deer kills for the just concluded two-day bonus firearms deer-hunting season with their respective 2016 figures in parentheses:

Adams: 203 (138); Allen: 61 (60); Ashland: 342 (138); Ashtabula: 483 (422); Athens: 246 (174); Auglaize: 55 (35); Belmont: 264 (226); Brown: 172 (124); Butler: 66 (29); Carroll: 412 (184); Champaign: 75 (39); Clark: 48 (24); Clermont: 152 (85); Clinton: 58 (36); Columbiana: 367 (194); Coshocton: 512 (210); Crawford: 103 (57); Cuyahoga: 4 (3); Darke: 48 (19); Defiance: 152 (118); Delaware: 78 (52); Erie: 53 (44); Fairfield: 132 (89); Fayette: 22 (17); Franklin: 35 (23); Fulton: 60 (56); Gallia: 169 (139); Geauga: 111 (105); Greene: 51 (35); Guernsey: 307 (302); Hamilton: 55 (29); Hancock: 74 (58); Hardin: 110 (53); Harrison: 336 (193); Henry: 55 (41); Highland: 191 (121); Hocking: 199 (153); Holmes: 343 (118); Huron: 236 (162); Jackson: 191 (149); Jefferson: 197 (168); Knox: 382 (146); Lake: 40 (32); Lawrence: 91 (113); Licking: 340 (195); Logan: 169 (60); Lorain: 200 (169); Lucas: 13 (27); Madison: 52 (18); Mahoning: 194 (131); Marion: 79 (43); Medina: 188 (147); Meigs: 200 (188); Mercer: 47 (32); Miami: 54 (26); Monroe: 207 (156); Montgomery: 35 (16); Morgan: 214 (146); Morrow: 124 (70); Muskingum: 368 (256); Noble: 211 (138); Ottawa: 38 (31); Paulding: 113 (64); Perry: 213 (173); Pickaway: 62 (42); Pike: 114 (104); Portage: 201 (136); Preble: 82 (50); Putnam: 34 (45); Richland: 306 (164); Ross: 177 (146); Sandusky: 82 (66); Scioto: 184 (137); Seneca: 176 (100); Shelby: 75 (44); Stark: 287 (153); Summit: 41 (41); Trumbull: 321 (266); Tuscarawas: 497 (260); Union: 64 (28); Van Wert: 49 (24); Vinton: 201 (125); Warren: 66 (42); Washington: 213 (140); Wayne: 195 (92); Williams: 132 (127); Wood: 55 (37); Wyandot: 101 (60). Total: 14,115 (9,228).

- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net