Ohio hunters checked 10,904 white-tailed deer during a snowy and rainy opening day of the gun hunting week, which began Monday.

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, hunters over the last three years took an average of 17,145 deer on opening day. Last year, there were 15,513 deer taken during the gun opener.

The deer-gun season is open until Sunday and again for a special bonus hunting weekend Dec. 19 and 20.

“The recovery of the white-tailed deer is a remarkable wildlife management success story in Ohio,” said Division of Wildlife Chief Kendra Wecker. “Almost completely removed from the landscape at one time, deer now provide an abundant, healthy source of protein and many meals for Ohioans.”

The top 10 counties for deer harvest on the opening day of the gun season were Coshocton (356), Tuscarawas (352), Knox (336), Muskingum (328), Licking (308), Ashtabula (289), Carroll (279), Holmes (278), Guernsey (277) and Harrison (258). In 2019, Coshocton County also led the state on opening day with 664 deer taken.

Wecker said Ohio is known as “a quality deer hunting state,” and as a result attracts many out-of-state hunters. The top five states for purchasing a nonresident hunting license in Ohio are: Pennsylvania (6,639 licenses sold), Michigan (4,634), West Virginia (3,567), North Carolina (2,814) and New York (2,168).

Deer hunting participation remains high for all hunters, with 353,539 deer hunting permits sold or issued through Monday, Wecker said.

She said the three-year average on harvest numbers provides a better overall comparison to this year’s harvest numbers, eliminating year-to-year variation because of weather, misaligned season dates, timing of the crop harvest, and other unavoidable factors.

Officials said last year, Ohio hunters harvested 63,567 deer during the weeklong deer-gun season and 13,703 deer during the bonus weekend. Another 6,249 deer were harvested during the youth weekend.

Youth gun season for those younger than 18 recently ended. Emmert said they saw 6,000 deer harvested during the two-day season and an increase in youth gun permit sales.

Ohio offers more opportunities for hunters to pursue deer. Deer-muzzleloader season is Jan. 2- 5, deer-archery season is open now through Feb. 7. Ohio archery hunters took 78,607 deer through Monday.

Archery totals this season have proven to be bountiful for many Buckeye State hunters, with 74,892 deer taken through Nov. 25, according to the ODNR Division of Wildlife. This represents an 11 percent increase from the average harvest total from the same date during the past three seasons, which is 67,318.

The top 10 counties for deer taken by archery hunters so far during Ohio’s 2020 archery hunting season are: Coshocton (2,689), Licking (2,232), Tuscarawas (2,146), Ashtabula (2,021), Knox (1,910), Holmes (1,856), Muskingum (1,806), Trumbull (1,748), Guernsey (1,599), and Richland (1,505).

White-tailed deer are checked by archery hunters through Nov. 25. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2020. The number following in parentheses is the three-year average harvest by archery hunters in 2017, 2018, and 2019 during the same time period. Mahoning: 873 (820); Trumbull: 1,748 (1,469); and 2020 state total 74,895 and three-year average total (67,318).