Washington County in Top 10 for Youth Hunters Two-day Firearms Season

Hunters ages 17 and younger checked 10,449 white-tailed deer during Ohio’s youth gun hunting season on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 16-17, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Each fall, youth hunters enjoy a weekend of deer hunting with a firearm before the statewide gun season begins.

The top 10 counties for deer taken during Ohio’s 2024 youth season include: Tuscarawas (354), Knox (314), Coshocton (303), Guernsey (291), Muskingum (284), Holmes (268), Licking (253), Washington (227), Harrison (223), and Carroll (218).

Youth hunters checked 6,042 antlered and 4,407 antlerless deer during the weekend. In 2023, hunters harvested 10,033 deer during the two-day youth gun season. The three-year average from 2021 to 2023 is 9,061 deer. 

The Division of Wildlife has issued 42,209 youth deer permits through Sunday, Nov. 17. Youth permits are valid for all remaining Ohio deer hunting seasons through Feb. 2, 2025.

Ohio’s youth hunting opportunities are available to anyone who is 17 years old or younger during the season dates. Youth hunting seasons are also available for small game, wild turkey, and waterfowl. Anyone interested in learning to hunt or becoming a mentor to a new hunter can visit Wild Ohio Harvest for information on how to get started, hunting-related workshops, and special hunting opportunities for mentors and new hunters. 

Gun hunters of all ages can participate in the upcoming seven-day gun season which begins Monday, Dec. 2 and runs until Sunday, Dec. 8. A bonus weekend of gun hunting will occur Dec. 21-22; muzzleloader season will be Jan. 4-7, 2025. The archery season runs through Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. All hunters, regardless of the implement they use, are required to wear hunter orange during the gun seasons. Find complete details in the 2024-25 hunting and trapping regulations.

An Ohio county list of local counties white-tailed deer checked on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 16-17, 2024, by youth hunters using a shotgun, straight-walled cartridge rifle, muzzleloader, or handgun is shown below. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2024, and the three-year average of deer taken from 2021 to 2023 is in parentheses. A three-year average provides a better overall comparison to this year’s numbers, eliminating year-to-year variation because of weather, misaligned season dates, crop harvest, and other unavoidable factors. Numbers below are raw data and subject to change. 

Athens: 151 (142); Gallia: 169 (146); Meigs: 184 (165); Washington: 227 (210)