Ohio hunters check 23,149 deer on opening day of gun season

Ohio hunters checked 23,149 white-tailed deer Monday, Dec. 1, during the opening day of the weeklong gun hunting season, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. The seven-day season runs through Sunday, Dec. 7, with an additional gun weekend set for Dec. 20–21.

This year’s opening-day harvest included 8,315 antlered deer and 14,834 antlerless deer.

In 2024, hunters took 26,670 deer on opening day, which traditionally falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving. From 2022 to 2024, hunters checked an average of 21,075 deer during the opener.

The top 10 counties for opening-day harvest were Ashtabula (1,122), Coshocton (1,010), Muskingum (801), Tuscarawas (795), Knox (784), Carroll (692), Trumbull (678), Ashland (647), Harrison (560) and Licking (558).

So far this season, archery and firearms hunters have checked 124,984 deer through Monday, Dec. 1. Hunters 17 and younger harvested 9,759 deer during the youth season Nov. 22–23.

Ohio’s deer seasons continue to draw both residents and nonresidents. A combined 354,052 deer permits have been sold this year. Either-sex permits and deer management permits are available at license vendors, on the HuntFish OH mobile app and at wildohio.gov. Deer management permits are valid through Sunday, Dec. 21, and may be used for antlerless deer on private and public land. Either-sex permits remain valid statewide through Sunday, Feb. 1, the end of the archery season.

Top states for nonresident hunters include Pennsylvania (6,358 licenses sold), Michigan (4,132), North Carolina (2,816), West Virginia (2,632) and New York (2,612).

In addition to the weeklong gun season and the December gun weekend, Ohio’s muzzleloader season runs Jan. 3–6, 2026. Archery season continues statewide through Feb. 1, 2026.