As Ohio gun deer season openers go, the 2019 model was okay

In parts of Ohio the dismal weather for the state’s opening round of the 2019 seven-day general firearms deer-hunting season came close to mirroring that seen for its 2018 counterpart.

Even so, the 2019 first day deer kill-harvest showed gains in the majority of Ohio 88 counties. Of those 88 counties only 22 failed to meet or exceed their respective 2018 opening day deer kill-harvest numbers.

The preliminary 2019 opening day deer kill-harvest figure was 15,501 animals; up from the 13,651 deer taken during the first day of the 2018 season.

And the 2019 opening day saw a couple of other noteworthy bits of information, too: The Ohio Division of Wildlife reports the state did not register any deer hunting accidents, called “incidents” in official agency lingo.

Meanwhile, though Ohio’s hunting fees saw any number of increases they do not appear to have impacted overall deer-hunting tag sales. Through December 1^st – day before the 2019 gun deer season began - the Wildlife Division issued 329,108 deer tags. For the corresponding period ending November 25^th 2018 that number was 326,873 tags, said agency spokesman Brian Plasters.

“That speaks volumes in the interest in deer hunting in Ohio,” also said Clint McCoy, the Wildlife Division’s chief deer biologist.

McCoy did say the 2018 opening day deer kill-harvest “wasn’t what it could have been” but was not too bad, either, even though the weather was hardly pleasant across much of Ohio.

“And if you recall, the weather for the 2018 deer opener was much, much worse,” McCoy said. “So given that we were up a little shouldn’t be too surprising: there were a lot more four-legged critters out there that were carried over from 2018, for one thing.”

The statistics also reveal a couple of initial “huh” moments. Among them is the drop in the opening day deer kill-harvest for the adjoining counties of Scioto, Jackson, Lawrence, and Gallia counties.

On the reverse side of that coin were the gains seen in a number of western Ohio counties. Among them being Allen, Henry, and Butler counties.

“Each either doubled or nearly did their opening day harvests,” McCoy said. “Even if their total numbers are not huge, certainly, herd growth in them has to be part of the conversation.”

Asked about what he anticipates the entire Ohio general firearms deer-hunting season will yield in the way of kill-harvest, McCoy thinks a take of 65,000 to 75,000 animals is a fair and reasonable expectation.

“We’ll see how the rest of the week plays out but it should be better than last year,” McCoy said.

Here are the county-by-county opening day deer kill-harvest figures with the 2018 numbers in parentheses: Adams: 206 (188); Allen: 86 (45); Ashland: 350 (277); Ashtabula: 601 (489); Athens: 314 (283); Auglaize: 74 (61); Belmont: 283 (217); Brown: 180 (153); Butler: 61 (26); Carroll: 377 (340); Champaign: 94 (64); Clark: 23 (38); Clermont: 112 (64); Clinton: 55 (43); Columbiana: 326 (269); Coshocton: 663 (587); Crawford: 121 (112); Cuyahoga: 10 (11); Darke: 54 (50); Defiance: 216 (146); Delaware: 99 (72); Erie: 53 (42); Fairfield: 124 (126); Fayette: 23 (13); Franklin: 24 (29); Fulton: 94 (78); Gallia: 215 (237); Geauga: 103 (113); Greene: 41 (34); Guernsey: 426 (402); Hamilton: 17 (20); Hancock: 91 (80); Hardin: 138 (91); Harrison: 385 (285); Henry: 117 (59); Highland: 195 (183); Hocking: 309 (252); Holmes: 423 (387); Huron: 268 (208); Jackson: 211 (241); Jefferson: 198 (153); Knox: 544 (425); Lake: 27 (35); Lawrence: 113 (153); Licking: 399 (396); Logan: 158 (137); Lorain: 123 (130); Lucas: 20 (24); Madison: 32 (22); Mahoning: 128 (144); Marion: 93 (86); Medina: 113 (109); Meigs: 242 (230); Mercer: 75 (55); Miami: 31 (35); Monroe: 228 (221); Montgomery: 33 (19); Morgan: 311 (276); Morrow: 122 (120); Muskingum: 511 (489); Noble: 246 (283); Ottawa: 25 (15); Paulding: 140 (87); Perry: 233 (244); Pickaway: 77 (51); Pike: 127 (122); Portage: 117 (104); Preble: 43 (41); Putnam: 73 (61); Richland: 302 (261); Ross: 206 (186); Sandusky: 44 (48); Scioto: 103 (126); Seneca: 181 (141); Shelby: 77 (65); Stark: 168 (184); Summit: 17 (23); Trumbull: 344 (284); Tuscarawas: 557 (512); Union: 57 (56); Van Wert: 42 (43); Vinton: 208 (170); Warren: 48 (38); Washington: 362 (321); Wayne: 178 (184); Williams: 210 (150); Wood: 68 (43); Wyandot: 185 (134). 2019 total: 15,501 (13,651).

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
JFrischk4@gmail.com