The top 10 counties for deer taken during the 2021 two-day deer gun season include: Coshocton (307), Tuscarawas (287), Licking (256), Guernsey (236), Ashtabula (232), Knox (229), Carroll (220), Muskingum (219), Ashland (210), and Holmes (208).
Tuscarawas County was tops in the state during the 2020 extra gun hunting weekend with 598 deer checked, while hunters took 15,203 deer statewide.
After hunters checked 70,413 deer during the weeklong deer gun season Nov. 29-Dec. 5, the total harvest during the 2021 gun hunting season was 79,805 deer. Hunters harvested an average of 78,014 deer during the nine days of deer gun hunting over the past three years. In addition, young hunters harvested 7,634 whitetails during the two-day youth gun season, Nov. 20-21, and archery hunters have checked 82,145 deer through Sunday, Dec. 19.
Deer hunting occurs in all 88 counties and Ohio hunters have purchased 385,313 deer permits through Sunday, Dec. 19. Hotspots for deer hunting are found mostly in the eastern regions, including Ashtabula, Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Muskingum, Guernsey, and Knox counties.
During the deer gun weekend, hunters harvested 2,867 bucks (31% of deer taken), 5,261 does (56%), and 1,097 button bucks (12%). Bucks with shed antlers and bucks with antlers less than 3 inches long accounted for 167 deer, or 1% of the harvest.
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