2024-25 deer season: 238,137 checked

Hunters across Ohio checked 238,137 white-tailed deer during the 2024-25 hunting season that concluded Feb. 2.

According to a Feb. 5 news release from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, the final total — the fourth-highest number of deer taken on record — represents all deer bagged during archery, gun, muzzleloader, and youth seasons since Sept. 14, 2024.

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In 2023-24, deer hunters checked 213,927 deer, the release said. The three-year average (2021-2023) is 207,295.

Since the deer season opened, Ohio hunters added approximately 12 million pounds of venison to dinner tables and freezers. A deer can yield 50 pounds of nutritious meat for hunters to share with friends and families or donate to food banks around Ohio.

By the numbers

The number of deer bagged in 2024-25 is the highest since 2010-11. Ohio’s five highest deer season totals:

1. 2009-10: 260,442
2. 2008-09: 251,299
3. 2010-11: 238,683
4. 2024-25: 238,137
5. 2006-07: 236,676

Ohio’s 2024-25 deer checked, by individual season, were as follows:

• Archery — 106,269
• Weeklong and two-day gun seasons — 104,565
• Four-day muzzleloader season — 13,476
• Two-day youth season — 10,449
• Controlled firearm hunts — 3,378

The top 10 counties for deer harvest in the 2024-25 season were:

1. Coshocton: 8,196 (Last season, Coshocton County also led the state with 7,740 deer checked.
2. Tuscarawas: 7,373
3. Knox: 6,730
4. Muskingum: 6,269
5. Ashtabula: 6,042
6. Guernsey: 5,762
7. Carroll: 5,759
8. Licking: 5,754
9. Holmes: 5,684
10. Richland: 5,028

Most popular hunting implements were:

• Crossbow — 78,254 (33%)
• Straight-walled cartridge rifle — 77,027 (32%)
• Shotgun — 34,338 (14%)
• Vertical bow — 30,839 (13%)
• Muzzleloader — 17,092 (7%)
• Handgun — 587 (less than 1%)

Deer type checked this season were:

• Does — 115,683 (49%)
• Antlered bucks — 97,618 (41%)
• Button bucks — 21,689 (9%)
• Bucks with shed antlers or antlers shorter than 3 inches — 3,147 (1%)

Permit sales

Ohio hunters were issued 431,660 deer permits across all hunting seasons. Hunters from all 50 U.S. states purchased nonresident hunting licenses for use during the 2024-25 seasons, many of them for deer, according to the release. The five states with the highest nonresident license sales were:

1. Pennsylvania (7,898)
2. Michigan (5,205)
3. West Virginia (3,625)
4. North Carolina (3,287)
5. New York (3,170)