Whether you enjoy just watching whitetail deer in the area or pursuing them through the forests and fields during the Ohio hunting season, their presence is the combined success of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and a very adaptable creature.
At the turn of the last century, whitetail deer were extirpated in the state: population 0. At the turn of this century, the deer herd allowed the successful harvest of more than 150,000 and continued to climb to a peak and still record number of 261,314 in 2009. For the last several years, the harvest number has held consistently at around 200,000 or more - 232,142 last year.
That’s a wildlife management success story. By fine-tuning the harvest with data, the department is able to provide consistent, ample opportunities. Starting with the archery season beginning September 26 and running until February 7, 2027, only the squirrel season is longer by just a few days. And there are multiple factors the wildlife biologist must consider.
How Ohio built one of the country’s strongest whitetail deer herds
Resources
https://ohiodnr.gov/
https://bigbuck.ohiodnr.gov/
