Keep Your Head Down! Deer Gun Season Opens Monday

An army of orange will be taking to the woods, fields, hills and dales of Ohio all this week looking for a prize deer. Early Monday morning, Dec. 1, gun-hunting season opens in Ohio, and during the week-long season, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources expects more than 400,000 deer hunters in the field.

Hunters officially checked 75,408 deer during the 2013 deer-gun season and 86,964 deer in 2012, according to a news release issued over the weekend by the ODNR. Hunting hours for all deer seasons are 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset.

Deer can be hunted with a shotgun, a muzzleloader .38 caliber or larger, a handgun .357 caliber or larger, specific pistol-cartridge rifles or bows from Monday, Dec. 1, to Sunday, Dec. 7. All deer hunters are required to have a valid Ohio hunting license and deer permit.

Details about deer hunting rules are contained in the 2014-2015 Ohio Hunting Regulations, available where licenses are sold or at wildohio.gov.

Deer bag limits are determined by county, but no more than nine deer may be taken from all counties combined, the ODNR release said. A hunter cannot exceed a county bag limit. Hunters may harvest only one buck in Ohio, regardless of method of take or location.

The ODNR Division of Wildlife is working with Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) to help pay for the processing of donated venison, according to the ODNR. Hunters who donate a deer to a participating food bank are not required to pay the processing cost as long as funding for the effort is available. More information about this program can be found online at fhfh.org. Hunters can also donate venison through other programs.

In its news release announcing deer gun season, the ODNR makes the case for hunting as a vital component of wildlife management:

“Hunting is the best and most effective management tool for maintaining Ohio’s healthy deer population… Ohio ranks fifth nationally in resident hunters and 11th in the number of jobs associated with hunting-related industries.”

Until recently, the ODNR news release said, the deer populations in nearly all of Ohio’s counties were well above their target numbers. “In the last few years, through increased harvests, dramatic strides have been made in many counties to bring those populations closer toward their goal,” the release said. “Once a county’s deer population is near goal, harvest regulations are adjusted to maintain the population.”

The ODNR Division of Wildlife’s toll-free number at 800-WILDLIFE (945-3543) will be staffed extended hours during the deer-gun season for hunters with any questions, the release said.