Ohio’s Youth Deer-Gun Season is Nov. 22-23

COLUMBUS, OH – Ohio’s 12th annual youth white-tailed deer hunting season gives young hunters the opportunity to pursue the state’s most popular big-game animal on Nov. 22-23, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).

The youth deer-gun season is open to hunters with a valid youth hunting license and a deer permit. Youth hunters must be 17-years-old or younger at the time they purchase their youth hunting license.

Deer can be hunted with a shotgun using slugs, a muzzleloader .38 caliber or larger, a handgun .357 caliber or larger, specific straight-walled cartridge rifles and bows during these two days. Go to wildohio.gov for a complete list of legal straight-walled cartridge rifles.

All participants must wear hunter orange, possess a valid Ohio youth hunting license as well as a deer permit, and they must be accompanied in the field by a non-hunting adult. One adult may accompany no more than two youth hunters. Deer can be hunted from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset for all seasons. Youth hunters checked 6,645 deer during the 2013 season.

Youth hunters can commemorate their achievement with a First Harvest certificate, available at wildohio.gov. Parents can upload a photo and type in the hunter’s information to personalize the certificate. Hunters can also share photos by clicking on the Photo Gallery tab online.

Deer bag limits are determined by county (see attached bag limit map). The statewide bag limit is nine deer, but a hunter cannot exceed a county bag limit. Hunters may harvest only one buck in Ohio, regardless of method of take or location.

Antlerless permit use was changed for the deer hunting seasons, and these permits are no longer valid in some counties (see attached bag limit map). Antlerless permits are valid in the remaining counties until Nov. 30, the Sunday before the deer-gun season. Only one antlerless permit may be used per county, regardless of the bag limit.

Hunters are required to make their own game tag to attach to a deer. Game tags can be made of any material (cardboard, plastic, paper, etc.) as long as it contains the hunter’s name, date, time and county of the kill. Go to the Deer Hunting Resources page at wildohio.gov for more information about the game check process.

All other regularly scheduled hunting seasons will continue during the two-day youth deer season. All hunters (except waterfowl hunters) are required to wear hunter orange during this time. More information can be found in the 2014-2015 Ohio Hunting and Trapping Regulations and at wildohio.gov.