Deer were rare in Ohio not so long ago

Controlled deer hunting actually got its Ohio start in 1943 when a first-ever, very short, buck only “season” was held in three rural counties with a total kill of just 168 bucks. Even back then Buckeye hunters expressed interest in big game hunting, probably after experiencing the activity in neighboring states.According to Ohio Division of Wildlife publications, 8,500 permits were sold for that first controlled hunt.It’s known that even though many of us had never seen a deer in the wild before that butchering day, there were already a considerable number of white-tails in parts of the state including some northeast Ohio counties.After decades of none or nearly none, the number of deer had grown significantly mostly from the influx from expanding herds in Pennsylvania and other nearby states.It didn’t take too long for Ohio deer managers to learn that a limited doe harvest was needed to keep the herd in check and healthy.The first year to see an Ohio deer harvest total in excess of 10,000 was 1974 when 10,747 were tagged. Hunting in all 88 counties was not permitted until 1979.