Ohio Deer kill numbers down.
Whitetail Deer
The Ohio deer kill is down 30K from the same time period as last year. With the severe drought conditions we had across the state, it has me wondering if that played a part.
Dang 30k is a lot of deer.
Most definitely. We got another bout of EHD, and werent fully recovered from the last round. Sightings are few, and harvest is not going to get much better until they recover. I would guess that population in the areas I hunt are down 50+%, if not more.
There is a great funnel where we hunt with lots of deer moving thru. In 2021 i had a camera there for 2 weeks, and had multiple 140+ deer and lots of younger baskets on it in 2 weeks. 18 different bucks in a 2 week period.
In 2022, same spot, 6 deer in a month, no mature bucks.
Last year, same spot, 2 almost 140 type deer, 6 baskets. 1 might have been a 4 yr old.
This year, in a month, 6 1-2 year old deer, 1 3 yr old deer, no mature deer.
This is during the peak of the rut every year and in a normally very active area. Private land also.
Im hearing the same from alot of other hunters in the counties around. The DNR really needs to step in and adjust the tag allotment in some areas here, or we wont have a rebound anytime soon.
Other areas of the state are still good, but are far from being what we used to have for numbers.
We’re not seeing anywhere near the levels of mature bucks we had in previous years. Does are down a little bit it seems.
I am not seeing or hearing anything about EHD kills in the state, however. Hopefully they just redistributed elsewhere to find water. The rifle season numbers will be telling.
The archery kill is only down 99 deer compared to this time last year. As of 11/26/24, the archery kill is 85,443. Last year on 11/28/23 the archery kill was 85,542. The big discrepancy comes with the to date all weapons kill. So far this year the total is 97,392 compared to 2023 with the total of 128,991. Since the 2024 regular week long gun season doesn't start until 12/2/2024, one reasonable explanation could be that kills from the various controlled hunts and the early gun season that was held in the CWD zone resulted in far less kills than last year.
I will be curious to see youth numbers, as everyone Ive talked to says it was very poor and alot of youngsters did not have success.
2024 youth kill was 10,449. 2023 youth kill was 10,033.
Does the archery kill include crossbows?
gun season in northeastern ohio going to be down to,, thanksgiving weekend , reports of 2 feet of snow on the ground plus very cold.
My 8 year old grandson got his first deer on the second day of youth season here in Ohio.
Congrats Tony. Awesome first deer there. Im surprised at the youth number. Pretty consistent there. I gotta get out to other areas I guess.
Iowa Booner Hunter- the crossbow faction is 72% of the archery take.
Im in seOH- It was a 150yr record drought. I had one spot in the creek next to a road culvert that had the only water around ( from June through Mid October when the hurricane came through). It was too dry for the midge/EHD IMO. Trees looked like hell but it was a great time to start clearing invasives.
Owned there three years now- EHD, drought, drought. 4&5 yos, 3&4yos, 2&3yos.
My son sent me DNR stats after the 1st Gun season. ILLINOIS. All totals, Archery, gun are down a few thousand AND their 1st gun season this year was GREAT weather.
I got two doe, buck sightings were horrible. I did miss a 140 due to a branch, but that was the only chance. It was tough for sure,
Technically, we miss it because you hit the branch not because of the branch
Unless of course, the branch came running in to tackle your arrow which seems like it has happened to me a couple times as well. Lol
Ohio's deer kill stats peaked at 261,260 in the 2009, then started a decline for about a decade but then started to rebound the past few years...
Ohio deer population has always been spotty, you can be in areas almost totally void of deer yet travel 10 miles where the DOW hands out summer kill permits (crop damage permits) like candy... It'll be interesting this season's final count...
I wish they'd get rid of that second weekend bonus gun season...
Looks like the east side is doing OK down to Jefferson County. I’m planning on putting in some serious time in Columbiana county next year. Anyone have any knowledge on that county?
I hunt in southwestern Virginia. I hunted most of bow and blackpowder this year. I saw only spikes and bears. Least amount of deer I have ever seen. I attributed it to spring like weather and a pretty decent acorn drop. I think the deer were just feeding at night.It finally got cold the week of Thanksgiving and there were some pretty decent deer killed this week in my area.
I think this is the reason for the large discrepancy in the to date deer kill in 2024 compared to 2023. The ODOW compiles harvest data on Wednesday of each week during deer season. In 2023 the 7 day gun season began on Monday November 27th. When the ODOW released its results on November 29, 2023 for the harvest total through November 28th, the seven day gun season had already been going on for 2 days. This year, 2024, the 7 day gun season doesn't start until 12/2/24 ( tomorrow) so, it is not a fair comparison of the last week in November 2023 to last week in November 2024 because of when the 7 day gun season began. Ohio's 7 day gun season always begins the Monday following Thanksgiving. Sometimes it may start in November, sometimes it starts in December. This is why the kill total in the all weapons category was like 30k more deer in 2023 than 2024 during the last week in November. Now, when the weekly harvest data is reported on 12/4/2024, two days of gun season will have occurred and I think the numbers will be closer in line with 2023.
I think it’s interesting to note that 2013 was the the first year that online game check was available to use in Ohio.
That historical data looks more like hunter issue than deer issue. Harvest is down because number of hunters is down. Success % is up.
Missouri was down 103.000 opening weekend this year!
Jethro - That stat is deceiving, it's not the number of hunters, it's the number of deer permits sold, meaning if you killed a deer, you could go buy another permit which indicates population levels... If you're not killing a deer, you won't buy another permit... At one time you could kill up to 18 deer annually in Ohio, but the state is a 1 buck limit regardless of method... It was at that time I believe they realized they were overkilling and started cutting back on allowable permits... Statewide limit is now 6 deer, again only 1 antlered deer... There are now 2, 3, and 4 deer limit counties... I live in a 3-deer limit county, so I can kill 3 deer here, then go to a neighboring 3-deer county and kill 3 more to reach my statewide limit...
I went down and hunted Nov 5-11th. I was hunting public in the center of the state. I saw 4 deer total while in stand and 9 total the whole time day and night while down there. Two 1.5 year old bucks.
HunterJoe - That's par for the course on public, but many out of staters believe there are Booners behind every tree...8^)
Quite a few shots went off already this morning, will be interesting to see regular season numbers next week.
many places have deer numbers down
maybe, just maybe, its time to stop allowing so much rifle hunting? I mean in my zone in Arkansas this is the season - the deer are literally hunted 5 months archery, 5 weeks of rifle season .... I mean geeesh
Deer Zone 2 SEASON DATES Early Buck Archery Sept. 7-9 Archery Sept. 28-Feb. 28 Alternative Firearms Oct. 19- 27 and Dec. 14-16 (this is straight wall rifle season) Special Youth Modern Gun Hunt Nov. 2-3 and Jan. 4-5. See Page 20 for regulations. Modern Gun Nov. 9-Dec.1 and Dec. 26-28
Pat what county are you in? I talked to a friend in Columbiana county. That county doesn’t appear to be one of the most effective according to the map posted above. But he said deer sightings are way down. Hardly any deer at all and no shooter bucks. Very unusual for his property.
I’m in Carroll, sandwiched between Columbiana and Tuscarawas.
I'm in Tuscarawas, Pat and I are neighbors..8^)
In all seriousness, last time I checked I live the county with the highest xgun kills in the nation... We lead the state in xgun kills year after year, they're everywhere in the woods around here with a high population of amish too where if it's brown, its down... How a buck makes it through 4 years here is amazing, and one to reach 5 is rare, a six-year-old would be as rare as a unicorn...
Isn’t Ohio a one Buck state?
EHD has ravaged western and northern Kansas, I don’t think it’s been a single year either, I think it’s a cumulative effect of moderate outbreaks year by year. It’s crazy that the fish and wildlife departments in many of these states have made no real changes to the regulations, I’m not sure why this is but it seems problematic Maybe CWD is a part of the issue also but that disease seems to be a silent killer so we might never know
charlie, yes ONE legal buck per year
Lots of hunters out today. Heard a fair amount of shooting as well.
MichaelArnette I didn't draw a tag this year in KS - first time in a decade or more. The farms I hunt? a buddy hunted them ... he saw one 120" ... like 2 or 3 does and that was it. He'd go 3-4 sits without seeing a deer
Kansas has lost its deer herd - and I blame outfitters and tag numbers for it along with the diseases/hard winters etc. Like my state, the G&F has no idea what's really going on IMO or they don't care
Brad you are not alone in KS, I hunted a nice little private permission piece a couple years ago just north of Wichita and only saw one doe the entire season. State said I could have shot her but logic told me no
Look at opening day gun season numbers, record kill.
I’ve seen more people hunting the first two days this year than the last three years combined in Ohio. Hell I can see three people from the window in my shop this evening.
northeastern ohio is under 2 feet of snow,, everybody when down south,,,,,,,,
There’s no snow 2 hours south of Cleveland. More shooting in the last two days than the last three years combined.
I hate rifle week and can’t wait for it to end!
Straight Shooter - "Look at opening day gun season numbers, record kill"
Not exactly, only the highest first day kill since 2012:
"This is the highest harvest for opening day since 2012 (29,297)"
https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/news/ohio-hunters-harvest-nearly-27000-deer-on-opening-day-of-gun-season
"I hate rifle week and can’t wait for it to end!"
I know the feeling Pat, been experiencing it annually for 50+ years... It's sickening, you don't know what's survived or where they've been pushed and most go nocturnal and just when they come out of it, BOOM, the second bonus gun season begins 2 weeks later, this year Dec. 21-22... I really, really hate that second bonus gun weekend, wish they'd totally eliminate it...
In all truthfulness it's not as bad as it used to be because many of the gun hunters fill their tags in bowseason with xguns prior and you don't see those big organized deer drives anymore... Also the 3-shell ammo limit helps too, used to be able to stoke a shotgun with an extended tube full and be able to fire 12 times without reloading... Awww the good ole days, I only had a 9-round tube on my Remington 1100...8^)
Let's just say it was a war zone out there, and how anybody in our group never got shot is a miracle... I had a couple close calls though...
Im in Fairfield and seeing way less than normal
Like it or not, the firearms season is vital to the health of Ohio's deer herd.
I didn’t make it out opening day.
"Like it or not, the firearms season is vital to the health of Ohio's deer herd"
I agree Old Reb, it's just hard to take...
Back in the day when I gun hunted with buddies as a group, gun season was an annual event that we all got together once a year as a social event... One year, an out-of-towner bought property next to a buddy's place and high fenced it for high dollar canned trophy bucks... I think the high fence property is/was around 75 or 80 acers... We we're told the guy had to remove all the wild deer from the enclosure before he could stock it... Anyhow one year mid-week gun season we were setting up for an organized drive at my buddy's property were there was a road along an open field between his place and the high fence enclosure... There were also other groups running organized drives in the area... So were loaded up in the back of pickups riding to set up the drive and there is a wild doe running along the high fence bouncing along trying to jump INTO the enclosure... She kept running back and fourth bouncing against it trying to get over top trying to get to a safe place away for the blaze orange army all around, that is how much pressure they receive here in Tuscarawas County... Notice, this year it was 2nd highest kill for the first day... Usually always is annually... I keep saying, it amazes me a buck can survive to 4 years of age here... I think if they can survive the first day of gun law and some have to run a gauntlet to do so to reach it to a sanctuary like Pat provides... Then they might become wise enough to survive another year...
I'll tell one more... It was late in the gun week on Thursday, and I was on stand and could see the drivers coming towards me and one stops and YELLS over to another driver, "There's a doe laying here"... Other driver yells back, "Is it dead", "No, it's breathing, looks like she's sleeping"... My buddy walks up to it and pokes it in the rear with his gun barrel, and up she blasts like she'd been shot out of a cannon...8^) We weren't shooting does that day, so nobody fired at her... Ya gotta feel for them to be that exhausted to sleep that deep... They run from one hill to the next back and forth until they find a spot nobody is sling lead at them, that is how much pressure there is here...
Athens Co here. EHD in 21, 22, drought in 23 and even worse in 24. Its very pocketed. Some areas, like mine, are deer deprived, others present a better picture.
While less data supported than SS's comment- perception through discussion has me believing that gun has closed the gap from the below average archery take to where it normally is (or above)
Zbone, reminds me of gun season in pa. And the orange army. How did you make out? Is it worth going out Saturday? I’m just wondering if everything is pretty much nocturnal by then
Minimal pressure in my area. Last evening I saw at least 20 deer out in the fields while only driving a 3 mile stretch at dusk. One group probably had at least 10 antlerless deer in it. No antlered bucks seen. In my immediate area, the doe population is way too high. Right around my house I know 4 does have been shot and that isn't even a drop in the bucket.
"How did you make out? Is it worth going out Saturday?"
I haven't been out to my hunting properties all week Tim, too many guns out there for an old fat man like me 8^) and haven't group hunted in over a decade now... Heard shooting around the house and a resident doe with their fawns showed up Tuesday but can't shoot my deer friends...8^) I seen them out there and my tail-cam even picked them up and they seemed edgy... Before the guns went off on Monday, I think there were 2 mature does and a yearly doe that survived last year's seasons that kinda hang together with this year's fawns but I don't have the heart to shoot any of them because there aren't that many... I think the boy's hunting the surrounding hills put a hurt on them and probably split them up...
I thought about taking one of the button bucks early in bow season for the freezer and wanting a real blood trail for my pup in training, but never did... They're so habituated to me I could walk out the door with them out there 30 yards and they don't even run, but that was before Monday... It'll be interesting to learn what survives...
I own a small piece of property in Harrison County with a hunting shack on it with permission to hunt the bordering farm and a buddy and I are thinking about maybe going this weekend and waiting for the amish to run deer by us 8^), but no final decision yet... We have a blizzard going on here right now...
Finn's Button Buck November 16, 2024
Finn's Button Buck November 16, 2024
The only photo my trail-cam caught Tuesday, they were on alert... If you notice in the forked tree way in the back right above the peak of the wood pile I have two treestands together so grandchildren can come up and hunt, but my oldest grandson who's twelve already killed a button buck in youth season a couple weeks ago with his other grandpa... I'm proud of him, but the boy didn't even offer me any venison at Thanksgiving...8^)))
So yesterday, cold, snowing and blowing, on the way home from an appointment took the backroads by a piece of property I own to see how many hunters were out... Am on a dirt/gravel road and come around turn and spooked 3 bucks running together... Didn't get a good look but they all looked same 2-1/2 year old class,,, they weren't basketracks... It was a cool scene, and didn't see a bit of blaze orange anywhere around in the area... It put a smile on my face seeing bucks like that running together... I hope they stay smart...8^)
The new total is out for this week. Looks like the gun hunters made up a little ground. Still down 25K from last years total at this time.
Zbone, that’s great! I have some property in Jefferson, but have never been out there during gun season. Debating about going out tomorrow morning or not. Or Sunday not sure. Do you use a cell cam? Debating about getting one but I use t mobile and only get 1-2 bars out there.
Stick: My experience is only with several. Brands of cell cams (Moultrie, older ones. spypoint, older ones. and reveal. The reveal will have service where my phone barely has any service. with the larger antennas most modern cell cams will surprise you.
Robear, we won't know if the harvest is down or not until the season is over. At this time last year the 7 day gun had already ended. As of today we have 3 days of gun season left. You are assuming the kill is down. In 2023, the gun season started November 27th. The 2024 gun season started December 2nd. The December 5, 2023 results count the entire 7 day gun season. The December 3, 2024 results only account for 2 days of the 7 day gun season. The kill totals are basically off by one week because of the gun season starting in November in 2023 and it started in December in 2024. The season always startrs the Monday after Thanksgiving so the season doesn't always start on the same date. Does any one else out there grasp what I'm saying?
Reb, thanks for clearing that up for me. It does make me wonder what the value is of them even posting the weekly updates if the comparison from year to year varies because of the way the days fall.
It shows what the current year harvest is week by week county by county through out the season.
I like the weekly updates, I think it's cool they provide it... The thing that gets me is their annual excuse of deer numbers down they use weather, or corn not picked, etc., etc., yet gun season begins same time Monday after Thanksgiving year after year...
The weather has been terrible this gun week in Ohio. It's been nice every day but for some wind the other day. Snow on the ground until yesterday. I was taking the garbage out Thursday evening and I heard two shots well after sunset from one of my neighbors somewhere north of me. They couldn't have seen what they were shooting at if it was more than a few yards in front of them. Ugh. I hate gun seasons.
Keadog - You sound like the DNR, blame it on the weather, but the weather is like this every year...8^)
Keadog, why do you say the weather has been terrible during gun week? Here in Carrol it has been cold with a little snow but mostly ideal weather for deer hunting?
I would have preferred 90 degrees and raining every day but that's only because I hate firearms season - especially since there are so many amish farms in the area.
I believe Keadog was being sarcastic about the weather. Good for the hunters, bad for the deer.
Got it. I'm a little slow this morning. Too much whiskey last night.
Too funny Pat, I'm kinda your neighbor, we should have hooked up...8^)))
Ha! I only drink whiskey during rifle season.
some places in northeastern ohio received a close to 50 inches of snow thanksgiving weekend ,,maybe that's what he was talking about
Maybe not as severe as this year's big snow a week ago, but I lived in Geauga County with a Thompson address for 4 years near the Ashtabula border and that is normal up there... I can remember hunting in snow over knee deep... Lot of years they don't see grass until around April... First time I ever seen deer yard up...
Sorry I was in the barn working on the flooring for a new ground blind. Yes, I meant good for the hunters and bad for the deer. I prefer 33 and pouring rain with high winds all of any gun season. We had a house in Geauga County for 25 years and averaged about 120" of snow a year. We sold that and moved further south in 2011, partly to get out of the snow belt and partly since the eastern Cleveland suburbs like Mayfield Heights (much more so) and Gates Mills (still very nice) had become much less of a buffer for us. Today it's 53 and sunny here and my friends are out in one of the food plots grazing.
Personally, I like highs in the upper 20s, with freezing rain the night before opening day of shotgun season. 1/2”—1” of ice on the roads everywhere is perfect conditions.
"Ohio hunters checked 87,192 white-tailed deer during the weeklong gun season that concluded on Sunday, Dec. 8, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. This is the highest total since 2011 (90,282). In 2023, hunters reported 70,103 deer during the seven-day gun season, and the three-year average is 70,806"
https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/news/ohios-2024-weeklong-deer-gun-hunting-season-results
You beat me to it Z, I was just getting ready to post those results.
Does that change the title of this thread?
Beatja Old Reb...8^)))
Good one Charlie...8^)
Will be interesting to see the final kill stats in February... As said above, deer are spotty here but the STATEWIDE population levels seem to be trending up the past few years... Like Pat not seeing his norm yet other areas that may have had lower populations are now higher...
In all seriousness, I think a lot has to do with the amish... I know for a fact having seen it firsthand in my area, amish will come in to an area (by lease or whatever) and kill most all the deer with their "if it's brown its down" mentality, then after a year or two once that population plummets, they move on to other areas... After a few years their previous slaughter areas rebounds... They don't seem to care much about managing their deer, but if you think about it, it's a cycle... Maybe they are managing deer in a different way it's just not managing for mature bucks, most are just meat hunters... Just a thought...
Zbone, couldn’t agree more. They do sometimes manage their own land for deer, but have no respect for anyone else’s land.
Yeah Tim... Had personally spoke with a wildlife official years ago and then read it later in print that land holdings by big companies or organizations and then these so-called outfitters and/or amish with their greed started gobbling up acres of lease land not only displacing local hunters but the DNR can't manage the deer populations to the levels they preferred on these lands... With land locked up and high lease prices to hunt on them the poor kid on a bike hasn't a place to legally hunt, and now deer population on public lands are so low that some, if not all, State Wildlife Management Areas, hunters can't even legally shoot a deer with a firearm, and "No more than one antlerless deer may be taken from all public hunting areas per license year"
As said, deer are spotty here...
