First Posted: 2/3/2015
COLUMBUS — Hunters in area counties had varying results as deer hunting season officially came to an end Sunday.
Ohio’s white-tailed deer archery season closed Sunday, marking the end of Ohio’s 2014-15 deer hunting season. Across the state, hunters checked a total of 175,745 deer, down 9 percent from last season..
Allen County hunters checked 1,027 deer, down just slightly from 1,057 last season. Other area counties numbers were Auglaize: 786 (788); Darke: 730 (589); Hancock: 1,116 (908); Hardin: 1,149 (1,207); Mercer: 583 (625); Putnam: 759 (687); Shelby: 1,118 (1,103); Van Wert: 576 (491).
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife uses the hunting season as its primary tool to achieve acceptable deer populations. This year, bag limits were reduced in 46 counties and antlerless permits were eliminated in 29 counties.
The Ohio county that reported the most checked deer during the season was Coshocton with 5,727.
Ohio ranks fifth nationally in resident hunters and 11th in the number of jobs associated with hunting-related industries. Hunting has an $853 million economic impact in Ohio through the sale of equipment, fuel, food, lodging and more, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Hunting in America: An Economic Force for Conservation publication.
