Hunters in Ohio harvested 13,055 white-tailed deer during the four-day muzzleloader hunting season that ended on January 6, according to a release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. This figure includes all deer taken with muzzleloader or archery equipment during those days. The bow hunting season continues until February 1.
The Division of Wildlife provided data showing that last year, hunters checked 13,495 deer during the same period. Over the past three years, the average for this timeframe has been 13,269 deer.
Of the total harvest this year, hunters checked 3,473 antlered deer (27% of tagged deer) and 9,582 antlerless deer (73%). The antlerless group is made up of does (7,924), button bucks (1,418), bucks with shed antlers (143), and bucks with antlers shorter than three inches (97).
The counties reporting the highest numbers were Coshocton (557), Tuscarawas (491), Carroll (451), Muskingum (437), Knox (393), Harrison (391), Licking (388), Columbiana (375), Guernsey (356) and Jefferson (299).
As of January 6, Ohio hunters have tagged a total of 222,648 deer in the 2025-26 season. This marks the fourth straight year where totals have exceeded 200,000. The breakdown by method includes archery at 99,551; youth gun at 9,759; gun season at 84,448; additional gun weekend at 15,835; and all firearm-related hunts combined for a total of 124,104.
Deer harvest numbers are lower than average in Athens, Meigs, Morgan and Washington counties due to an unusual outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease over the summer. In response to this outbreak coinciding with the start of gun season in those counties, bag limits were reduced.
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