Photo by Mark Werner

It's hard to say enough good things about deer hunting in Ohio. Deer numbers continue to rise, opportunities abound, and hunting seems to get better every year.

Not every season can be a record, of course, yet last year was another trendsetter: Ohio hunters took 217,301 deer. Blackpowder hunters set a record during the four-day muzzleloader season with 27,749 deer taken, the two-day youth season was a record for the second consecutive year with 6,673, and the archery season ended with another new record harvest of 57,198 deer.

That the deer herd is growing is reflected in the fact that 12 counties in Zone C this year (to a total of 38 eastern and southern counties have been added to the three-deer limit zone. There will be a two-deer bag limit in the 30 counties of Zone B and a one-deer limit in the 20 northwestern counties of Zone A.

Hunters are reminded that they still may take just one antlered buck per season.

"The rules have been changed for one of two reasons," said deer biologist Mike Tonkovich. "Some local deer herds have grown above our management goals under the old regulations. Others have been stable but still above our goals and need to be reduced."

While every district showed an increased deer harvest last year, the biggest gains were outside the historical leader (District Four). Interestingly, while the 2004-'05 season in District Four was just 17 percent better than the 2000-01 take, the four other districts picked up 73 percent to 75 percent during that same time frame. Still, District Four remains the top deer district by a huge margin, and District Three is in a strong second place.

Some huge gains have been realized in a number of Buckeye State counties. In 13 counties, for example, increases since 2000-01 have been more than 100 percent. Putnam County led in this respect with a 212 percent increase. Ashland County followed with a 210-percent increase that pushed it into the top 20 deer counties last year. The top county in the state last year, Tuscarawas, improved 101 percent, while Knox County, which ranked 11th, rose 108 percent. Harvests have also more than doubled in Pickaway, Union, Huron, Paulding, Stark, Clark and Highland counties.

Another record harvest this year might be just a bit too much to expect. It would mean that Ohio hunters are not taking enough deer. But even coming close to last year would be a great outlook.

"My gut feeling tells me that the 2004 harvest was probably sufficient in most counties to prevent continued growth in 2005," Tonkovich said. "I would expect the fall population to be comparable to last year's pre-hunt estimate of 700,000 deer."

DISTRICT ONE
"We had a real good season. Hunters had real good success rates across the entire district," said Dan Huss, District One wildlife management supervisor. Hunters took 28,909 deer in District One last year -- 24 percent above the five-year average, and a 13- percent increase from the previous year.

Licking County led the district and ranked third in the state with a harvest of 6,610 deer, a jump of 20 percent from the year before and 24 percent above the five-year average. Knox County was second in the district and 11th in the state with 5,326 deer.

"There's still a lot of deer in those two counties," Huss said. "By all indications now we should see a season similar to last year."

Both Licking and Knox counties --along with about half of the district -- will have three-deer bag limits this year. "There are more deer in those counties," Huss said. "The reason for the increase is to bring the deer herd down in those counties."

Huss also pointed to good prospects for Franklin County and southern Delaware County, where hunters may apply for up to four additional deer tags allowing them to take up to seven deer per season. The main obstacle is getting permission to hunt on private land.