Ohio DNR released its 2022-23 season info. Among the things they ask for is weapon used and specifics about the deer (buck, doe, button buck ...)


I like how they require the method (bow, gun, crossbow) and break down the button bucks, bucks that have shed, etc.

If you continually argue that DATA!!! is the key and mandate that everyone submit it, looks like a state would require as much as possible to get the fullest view of what's happening. Ohio DNR seems to be doing that.




Ohio’s statewide deer harvest, by year:

2022-23: 210,977
2021-22: 196,988
3-year average (2019-2021): 193,058


Ohio’s 2022-23 statewide deer harvest, by individual season:
Archery: 99,742
Weeklong and two-day gun seasons: 87,095
Four-day muzzleloader season: 13,617
Two-day youth season: 9,515
Controlled firearm hunts: 1,008


Top 10 counties for 2022-23 deer harvest:
Coshocton (7,590). Last season, Coshocton County also led the state with 7,144 deer checked.
Tuscarawas (7,028)
Muskingum (5,982)
Ashtabula (5,592)
Knox (5,477)
Licking (5,467)
Holmes (5,183)
Guernsey (5,073)
Carroll (4,866)
Trumbull (4,251)


Most popular hunting implements:
Crossbow: 71,701 (34%)
Straight-walled cartridge rifle: 56,437 (26%)
Shotgun: 36,398 (17%)
Vertical Bow: 28,041 (13%)
Muzzleloader: 17,854 (9%)
Handgun: 546 (1%)


Deer harvest, by type:
Bucks: 86,645; 41% of the total
Does: 101,141; 48%
Button bucks: 19,851; 9%
Bucks with shed antlers and bucks with antlers less than 3 inches: 3,340; 2%

Just think how many would be killed in OH if they were allowed to be hunted for 118 straight days, and with high-powered rifles for a full 85 days of gun season. Good thing their DCNR is managing their herd. If you were to allow something like what is described in my first sentence, it might at some point become detrimental to a state's deer herd and associated hunting quality.

Now that's blasphemy. Look at what our own wonderful state does it's a deer hunting destination state....c'mon man

They're also only allowed 1 buck per season, this place would melt down if AL implemented that...

Don't care what other states do

Wish they would for about 3 or 4 years
Not sure about Ohio but some states allow a spike less than 4 in I think and button heads to be tagged as does.

I’ve hunted Coshocton County. Killed a mid 130s 9point. Ohio is a damn good deer hunting state.

Never understood that. I think Tennessee did that for a while. Shoot a button buck or non-legal (short spike) buck and it's counted as a doe.

I mean, that goes totally against biology. State agencies preach about biology. And yet "Oh, that button buck is a doe for data purposes" is just 100 percent hooey. Makes zero sense.


Perhaps one of our biologists on here could explain why a buck would be counted as a doe for official data purposes.

Clem , I always thought any buck should be called a buck or counted as one

Tennessee still does. If both spikes are less than 3” they don’t count as a buck

But

You don’t check them in as a doe. Button either
You label them accordingly. They just won’t count against your two bucks.

But their CWD rules are as dumb and useless as Alabama’s.

I’m sure they do it just to allow for mistakes when you think you’re shooting a doe. It happens.

They may identify as does. Come on guys, get with the times

AlabamaSwamper, Missouri is the same as you posted.

Don't really support madated reporting myself. Numbers are not accurate. Why not open up the season to hunt using weapon of your choosing. Restrictions are getting out of hand in some cases. Kind of like a 10% sales tax on groceries and us letting all our money go to out of state lotteries. The government can't fix a lot of things, but oultaws can make it bad on the good folks. Some processors have enough to worry about besides goverment mandated reporting. Just a few thoughts.

Because Midwest states wouldn’t have a deer herd, they would be extinct.

There is a reason to restrict how easy it is to kill something. But they can enjoy a very lengthy archery season. Until X-bows start killing deer effectively at 100 yards. Then it will truly have to go back to archery.

Whataloadofchit.

Yep....exactly. At the end of the day it comes down to whether or not the number of deer being killed annually is sustainable long term. In some form or fashion that has to be regulated so that hunters dont over harvest

Kentucky DNR says fourth-most deer killed in last 10 years:



Hunters in Kentucky harvested more white-tailed deer during the 2022-23 season than the season before and posted an overall harvest total rivaling some of the highest on record.

The 144,506 deer taken by hunters from early September through Jan. 16 is the highest total since 2019 and the fourth most taken in a season over the past decade. The 2015-16 season harvest of 155,734 remains the benchmark in Kentucky's modern history.

The top five counties by total harvest this past season were Christian, Hardin, Shelby, Breckinridge and Pendleton.
Hunters took more deer than the 10-year average harvest (142,712 deer) and roughly 12,000 more deer than were reported taken in the 2021-22 season.

Female deer comprised 45% of the harvest, while the remaining 55% were male. Of the male deer harvest, 68% were mature animals aged 2 ½ years or older.

Most deer harvested each year in Kentucky are taken by firearm.

This past season,104,878 deer were harvested with modern firearms, making up 73% of the total. Archery hunters harvested 11% of the total with crossbows and muzzleloaders contributing 9% and 7% respectively.



https://fw.ky.gov/News/Pages/Deer-harvest-among-highest-in-recent-years.aspx

I guess Kentucky will run out of deer soon because they allow rifles.

Rifles arent the problem. It's the being able to legally harvest 87 deer, in one season. with that rifle here in AL. That is the problem. A doe a day for 84 days of rifle season and 3 bucks are legal with a rifle. Toss in the muzzleloader and archery seasons and you can kill an additional 34. That's 118 deer per licensed person that can be legally killed in Alabama and therein is the problem.

Kentucky wont have that problem because they limit their hunters to 1 buck and 3 antlerless deer, or 4 antlerless deer per season/per hunter. 4 vs 118................. It's honestly absurd. I could see 3 bucks and 7 or so does per season/hunter, but "nah, just feel free to kill something every single day you hunt?" The current regs simply are not biologically driven in any way, shape, form, or fashion.