Deer kill numbers up as more embracing use of rifles

The whittling away at Ohio’s deer herd reached its peak for the year, as has been the custom, during the seven-day gun season that ended shortly after sunset last Sunday.

The gun-week total of 71,932 topped last year’s count of 70,381 by 1,551, or about 2%. The take also bested the three-year average of 68,534 by about 5%.

In all, results pretty much matched outlook.

“Overall, we had a solid season deer gun season,” wrote Mike Tonkovich, a deer specialist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, in response to an emailed inquiry.

“Harvest fell in line with pretty much what we would have expected.”

Weather probably didn’t much drive results.

“Other than a little wind and precipitation on Saturday in some places,” Tonkovich wrote, “weather wasn’t much of a factor for the majority of the state on the historically key harvest days of Monday, Tuesday and Saturday.”

One takeaway apparent, moreover, is that hunters increasingly have embraced rifles as they increasingly have abandoned shotguns for taking deer.

Rifles using straight-walled ammunition became legal in 2014, before which only shotguns and muzzleloaders were permitted firearms for use during gun week. Rifles have since become the popular choice.

Hunters using rifles checked 55% of the deer taken during gun week. Shotguns took 38% of the total, muzzleloaders about 5%, and bows and handguns about 1% each.

Two seasons ago, shotguns garnered 43% of the gun-week total, rifles about 42%. Last year, rifles surpassed shotguns with 49% of the take to 43%.

Tallies show that 77 of Ohio’s 88 counties posted numbers that surpassed the three-year average, led by northwestern farmland counties Auglaize, Putnam and Henry, up by 2930%.

Four counties hit hard during the summer and fall by outbreaks of deadly epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) had significant declines in harvest during gun week. In southwestern Ohio, Butler County ended down 23%, Hamilton fell 21% and Warren declined 11%. In southeastern Ohio, the Vinton County take slipped 12%.

The three counties included in the chronic wasting disease surveillance zone — Wyandot, Hardin and Marion — produced fewer deer than a year ago, although a special gun season in October might have had an impact on gun week results.

Coshocton topped all counties during gun week with 2,457 deer checked, followed by Muskingum with 2,326, Tuscarawas 2,321, Ashtabula 1,987, and Knox 1,909.

Licking finished eighth among Ohio counties with 1,792, followed in central Ohio by Fairfield with 737, Delaware 428, Union 374, Pickaway 321, Madison 191 and Franklin 162.

Only Madison County in central Ohio posted lower numbers than a year ago.

Pickaway, which was made a two-deer county this year after being a one-deer county a season ago, increased its gunweek take by 22% from the 2021 total of 263.

Next up on the deer-hunting calendar is the gun weekend set Dec. 17-18. Muzzleloader season runs Jan. 7-10. The archery hunt concludes in early February.

Through Tuesday, hunters had checked 165,584 whitetails since the start of the bow season in September. Last year’s total at the same point of the hunt was 158,609 on the way to an allseasons total of 196,988.

The current uptick in numbers suggests Ohio could be heading for a whitetail take totaling more than 200,000 during the 2022-23 hunt. That hasn’t happened since 218,910 deer were checked during the 2012-13 season.

The trajectory, however, can be sabotaged by polar vortex, ice storm, monsoon or some other unwelcome visitation making the countryside unfit for man and beast.

outdoors@dispatch.com