Ohio hunters tag 13,055 deer during muzzleloader season

Hunters took 13,055 white-tailed deer during Ohio’s four-day muzzleloader hunting season, which ended Tuesday, Jan. 6, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife.

The total includes deer taken with muzzleloader and archery equipment during the four days. Hunters may pursue deer with archery equipment through Sunday, Feb. 1.

Last year, hunters checked 13,495 deer during the muzzleloader season. Over the past three years, hunters have averaged 13,269 deer during the same four-day period.

Hunters checked 3,473 antlered deer, which accounted for 27% of the total, and 9,582 antlerless deer, or 73%. The antlerless category includes does (7,924), button bucks (1,418), bucks with shed antlers (143), and bucks with antlers shorter than 3 inches (97).

Coshocton County led the state with 557 deer checked. The other counties with the highest totals were Tuscarawas (491), Carroll (451), Muskingum (437), Knox (393), Harrison (391), Licking (388), Columbiana (375), Guernsey (356) and Jefferson (299).

Hunters in Ohio have tagged 222,648 deer during the 2025-26 season as of Tuesday, Jan. 6. Deer checked by season include archery (99,551), youth gun (9,759), gun season (84,448) and additional gun weekend (15,835). The season total has surpassed 200,000 for the fourth consecutive year.

The Division of Wildlife has increased efforts this season to help hunters donate deer to food pantries by partnering with Ohio Penal Industries’ meat processing facility at the Pickaway Correctional Institution. More than 3,870 pounds of processed venison has been donated by hunters. More information is available at wildohio.gov.

The division is also partnering with Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry to support local food banks with donated venison. Hunters who want to donate can take a harvested deer to one of 34 certified processing shops. More information is available at feedingthehungry.org.

On average, a deer yields about 50 pounds of meat, meaning hunters statewide have added more than 11 million pounds of venison for hunters and their friends and families. Venison recipes are available at wildohio.gov.

Weekly deer reports are posted at wildohio.gov each Wednesday throughout the hunting season, with a final report released after the conclusion of the archery season.

Deer harvest totals this season are lower than average in Athens, Meigs, Morgan and Washington counties due to an outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease in the region over the summer. The bag limit in those counties was reduced at the start of the seven-day gun season in response.

The Division of Wildlife has issued 421,314 deer permits for resident and nonresident hunters during the 2025-26 season. Among nonresident hunters, the states with the most permits sold are Pennsylvania (6,747), Michigan (4,410), North Carolina (2,981), New York (2,825) and West Virginia (2,736).