Deer kill numbers up from 2014

Hunters checked 73,399 white-tailed deer during Ohio's 2015 deer-gun hunting season, Nov. 30-Dec. 6, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). This represents a significant increase over last year's harvest of 65,484 deer. During the 2013 deer-gun season, 75,408 deer were checked.  To date, for the 2015 deer hunting seasons, hunters have checked 152,554 deer. Last year at this same time, hunters had harvested a total of 148,821 deer.  Until recently, deer populations in nearly all of Ohio's counties were well above goal. In the last few years, through increased antlerless harvests, most counties are now at or near goal. Therefore, to help stabilize deer populations, bag limits were reduced, and antlerless permit use has been eliminated in most counties for the 2015-2016 season