November 28, 2007

Columbus, Ohio - Steady rains dampened the efforts of Ohio hunters on opening day of the 2007 deer-gun season. Hunters took 19,391 white-tailed deer on Monday, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources ODNR Division of Wildlife. The deer-gun season remains open through Sunday, December 2, and then reopens for two days on Saturday and Sunday, December 15-16.

The preliminary figure from deer check stations throughout the state shows a decline from last year’s opening day total of 39,629. Counties reporting the highest numbers of deer checked on Monday included Guernsey-871, Tuscarawas-833, Harrison-732, Coshocton-659, Athens-649, Holmes-621, Ashtabula-588, Noble-531, Licking-494 and Muskingum-471.

Hunters still have six days remaining in the gun week, plus the mid-December weekend, to fill a tag.

Deer hunting in the state is off to a great start this year, with both early archery and youth deer-gun season figures up from 2006. When combining the results of Monday’s harvest, along with those from the early muzzleloader season, the first six-weeks of archery season and the recent youth deer-gun season, a preliminary total of 84,161 deer have been killed so far this deer hunting season. That number compares to 94,491 harvested last year at this time. In all, hunters took a total of 237,316 deer during all of last year’s hunting seasons.

Approximately 400,000 hunters are expected to participate in the statewide deer-gun season. Ohio’s deer population was estimated to be 675,000 prior to the start of the fall hunting seasons.

Hunters who wish to share their success can submit a photo of themselves and the deer they killed this year for publication on the ODNR Division of Wildlife’s Web page.

Deer hunting contributes an estimated $266 million to Ohio’s economy each year and helps to support thousands of jobs. Venison is delicious and nutritious meat, low in fat and cholesterol. It is the number one wild game served by hunters in Ohio. Deer hunters also contribute thousands of pounds of venison to organizations that help feed less-fortunate Ohio residents through special programs.

A detailed listing of deer-hunting rules is contained in the 2007-2008 Ohio Hunting Regulations, available wherever licenses are sold, and online at www.wildohio.com .