(From the Ohio Division of Wildlife)

Ohio’s weeklong deer gun hunting season begins Monday, Dec. 2, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The gun season traditionally begins the Monday after Thanksgiving, is open to all hunters, and runs until Sunday, Dec. 8. An additional deer gun weekend follows on Dec. 21-22.

Ohio’s first deer gun season was in 1943, and excitement has remained high for white-tailed deer hunting ever since. Deer gun harvest totals are typically highest in eastern Ohio. Coshocton (2,440), Tuscarawas (2,260), Ashtabula (2,189), Muskingum (2,076), and Knox (1,878) counties led the state during the 2023 seven-day gun season. 

Hunters harvested 95,606 deer during all 2023 gun seasons (gun week, December gun weekend, and youth weekend). That total includes 70,103 deer taken during the seven-day gun season. Hunters ages 17 and younger checked 10,033 deer during the 2023 youth weekend, and another 15,470 deer in the December gun weekend. The three-year average (2021 to 2023) for these seasons is 93,207.