Hunters had a lot of success in the woods during Ohio’s weeklong deer-gun hunting season.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife reports hunters harvested nearly 72,000 white-tailed deer during the annual gun hunting week that wrapped up on Sunday.
Over the last three years, hunters checked an average of 65,500 deer during the same weeklong period.
The top three counties for deer taken during the gun week include: Coshocton (2,281), Tuscarawas (2,198), Ashtabula (2,167).
Deer hunting in Ohio has come a long way since the first gun season in 1943, when only three counties were open for hunting and 158 deer were taken.
Today, deer hunting occurs in all 88 counties and an estimated 310,000 hunters taking part in the weeklong deer-gun season.
For hunters who missed the deer-gun week, there are still more options to pursue deer.
Hunters can enjoy two more days of deer-gun season on Saturday and Sunday, December 19-20.
Muzzleloader season is open Jan. 2-5, 2021, and archery season is open until Feb. 7, 2021.