Looking to bow hunt ohio

[spo]

Hello I am looking for a place to hunt in ohio, 1st week of nov, good state land or an outfitter, what part of the state is the best for the big boys thanks for any info, I am from ny so I would be shacking up at a hotel

[mitchell]

my old house !!!!! we kill bucks in the 160's through 185's every year but sadly good old uncle sam wanted me in texASS so i can't help you . wayne natl forest is a good one and maybe tarhollow for state ground

[Captain Emo]

Any suburban area that touches the Metroparks.  There are tremendous numbers of huge deer in the  Akron/Cleveland area. I see them every morning and evening. 

[BIG Dog454]

There's big deer all over Ohio!! The most trophy average deer can be found around the Lime Kenton area, but the biggest deer are where you find them.  Wayne national forest produces big deer and lots of them.  Montgomery Co. produces the most deer killed.  Contact Ohio DNR. on line and you can find out a lot of information on line.

[Catfish]

I would recommend that you pick up a copy of the Oh laws. In them they have a map showing the total number of trophy bucks registered by county.

[GregP42]

Here is the report from March of this year on the deer harvest.

RECORD NUMBER OF DEER KILLED DURING OHIO'S
2006-07 HUNTING SEASON
237,316 deer harvested; tops previous record of 216,443 set in 2004
COLUMBUS, OH - Ohio deer hunters took a record 237,316 deer during the 2006-07 hunting season and for the third year in a row the harvest surpassed 200,000, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. The total number of deer taken was 13 percent above last year's season total of 209,513.

"We are very satisfied with this year's record harvest," said Steven A. Gray, chief of the Division of Wildlife. "Ohio's deer management program is a model for the country. The challenge now becomes maintaining a healthy deer herd into the future."

Counties reporting the highest number of whitetails killed during the deer hunting season included

    * Coshocton - 8,657
    * Guernsey - 7,512
    * Tuscarawas - 7,478
    * Muskingum - 7,386
    * Licking - 7,004; Knox - 6,739
    * Harrison - 6,171
    * Jefferson - 5,743
    * Holmes - 5,732
    * Washington - 5,645

Deer-gun season produced the greatest portion of the harvest, with 112,260 deer killed.  Archery hunters took a total of 67,912 deer.  The early muzzleloader season (336), special hunts at Ravenna and NASA (640), youth-gun season (8,315), the first-ever bonus deer-gun weekend (24,982), and the statewide muzzleloader season (22,871), accounted for the remainder.

The 2006-07 season also produced many trophy deer, including two notable ones from Adams County harvested in the archery season.  Taken on the 2006 opening day, Johnathan Schmucker's 34-point non-typical white-tailed deer scored 291 2/8, making it the fourth largest non-typical white-tailed deer harvested in the world.  Justin Metzner's 12-point typical whitetail arrowed on October 21, scored 196 6/8, positioning it to be the fourth largest typical deer killed in Ohio.

Deer hunting contributes an estimated $266 million to Ohio's economy each year and helps to support thousands of jobs. Venison is delicious and nutritious meat, low in fat and cholesterol. It is the number one wild game served by hunters in Ohio. Deer hunters also contribute thousands of pounds of venison to organizations that help feed less-fortunate Ohio residents through special programs.

Ohio's first modern day deer-gun season opened in 1943 in three counties, where hunters harvested 168 deer. In 1956, deer hunting was allowed in all 88 counties and hunters killed 3,911 deer during that one-week season.

The 2007-08 deer season proposals will be the subject of a vote at the Ohio Wildlife Council meeting scheduled for April 4 in Columbus.

EDITORS NOTE: Following is a list of deer killed by hunters during the four-month 2006-07 deer-hunting season. Numbers for 2005-2006 are listed in parentheses ( ).
 
Adams - 4,199 (3,211); Allen - 740 (695); Ashland -3,224 (2,868); Ashtabula - 5,096 (4,480); Athens -5,124 (4,654); Auglaize - 677 (609); Belmont - 5,371 (4,916);  Brown -3,329 (3,034); Butler -1,588 (1,306); Carroll -5,008 (4,476);  Champaign -1,655 (1,541); Clark -913 (808); Clermont -3,154 (2,828); Clinton -1,010 (900); Columbiana - 4,519 (3,874); Coshocton -8,657 (7,746);  Crawford -1,150 (1,093);  Cuyahoga -517 (417);  Darke -653 (599);  Defiance -1,157 (1,062);  Delaware -2,166 (1,909);  Erie -842 (894);  Fairfield -3,025 (2,778);  Fayette -390 (359); Franklin -937 (917);  Fulton -686 (630);  Gallia -4,273 (3,965);  Geauga  -2,434 (2,160); Greene -1,047 (971);  Guernsey -7,512 (6,424); Hamilton -1,897 (1,651); Hancock -1,622 (1,379); Hardin -1,406 (1,133);  Harrison -6,169 (5,414); Henry -569 (509); Highland -3,025 (2,669);  Hocking -4,803 (4,185); Holmes -5,732 (5,108); Huron -2,386 (2,193); Jackson -4,196 (3,749); Jefferson -5,743 (5,349); Knox -6,739 (6,238); Lake -880 (759); Lawrence -3,012 (2,736); Licking -7,004 (6,168); Logan -2,209 (1,987);  Lorain -2,483 (1,963);  Lucas -851 (625);  Madison - 592 (524);  Mahoning -1,681 (1,316);  Marion -841 (729);  Medina -1,830 (1,499);  Meigs -4,676 (4,206); Mercer -607 (510); Miami -596 (547); Monroe -4,880 (4,390); Montgomery -463 (443); Morgan -4,272 (3,838); Morrow -2,080 (1,887);  Muskingum -7,386 (6,793);  Noble -4,493 (3,832);  Ottawa -355 (288);  Paulding -757 (626);  Perry -4,738 (4,320);  Pickaway -1,217 (1,104);  Pike -2,558 (2,020);  Portage -2,584 (2,406); Preble -695 (663); Putnam -691 (561); Richland -4,129 (3,659); Ross -4,266 (3,445); Sandusky -702 (629); Scioto -3,012 (2,192); Seneca -1,974 (1,895); Shelby -875 (720); Stark -1,900 (1,653); Summit -1,451 (1,175); Trumbull -3,447 (3,067); Tuscarawas -7,478 (6,525); Union -957 (959); Van Wert -507 (447); Vinton -3,420 (2,946);  Warren -1,544 (1,324); Washington -5,645 (4,946); Wayne -2,075 (1,874); Williams -1,537 (1,428); Wood -756 (684); Wyandot -1,868 (1,504); Total - 237,316 (209,513)

[GregP42]

There's big deer all over Ohio!! The most trophy average deer can be found around the Lime Kenton area, but the biggest deer are where you find them.  Wayne national forest produces big deer and lots of them.  Montgomery Co. produces the most deer killed.  Contact Ohio DNR. on line and you can find out a lot of information on line.

Big Dog,

I am not sure where your getting your information but Montgomery county has about the lowest number of kills in the state. I live in Montgomery co. there are very few places in this county you can even hunt deer unless it is with a bow. Too many houses and stuffed up people around here.

Greg

[BIG Dog454]

GP 42
Let me check my maps!  I usually hunt around wildcat hollow, and have always seen (in the state kill report) that the county just to the north  had one of the highest kill ratios in Ohio.  I thought that,that was Montgomey Co..  I could very well be mistaken.  All of those counties around Burr Oak SP have a lot of deer. 
  I don't think that there are quite as many as there used to be since the State let coyotes loose.

[GregP42]

GP 42
Let me check my maps!  I usually hunt around wildcat hollow, and have always seen (in the state kill report) that the county just to the north  had one of the highest kill ratios in Ohio.  I thought that,that was Montgomey Co..  I could very well be mistaken.  All of those counties around Burr Oak SP have a lot of deer. 
  I don't think that there are quite as many as there used to be since the State let coyotes loose.

Not a problem with that, but Montgomery Co. is where Dayton is. As for the state letting the coyotes loose, they had nothing to do with them, they moved in on their own.

Greg

[BIG Dog454]

Greg
Thats what the state will tell you! and I question that.  My neighbors brother is a deputy sheriff in a neighboring Co. and he told me that he had come upon a semi parked along a rural road; so he stopped to investigate.  The driver had a load of coyotes and told him that the state had paid him to let pairs loose at intervals throughout the state.  Now I don't know if he was pulling my leg or not!  All that I know is that coyotes seemed to show up in all of Ohio at about the same time, if they effect the deer or other game animals population, that is questionable.  Another way of looking at it is now, we have a year round opportunity to hunt coyotes.
Mike

[cattleskinner]

 Big Dog,

You're thinking of either Morgan, Athens, or Hocking.  Wildcat hollow is in Morgan I believe, but Burr Oak is Athens if I remember right.  If you are looking for good hunting area, there is definately alot of deer down there and alot of nice bucks are harvested each year.  Check out the AEP lands, you need to get a permit to hunt on their land, but it's free and doesn't take long to fill out.  Wayne Nat'l. Forest is another one that sees alot of activity during gun season.  It's between Nelsonville and Athens.  Zaleski forest is west of Nelsonville, another to check out.  Lot's of state land/ AEP land to hunt, just have to research a bit, and get a map.  Good luck!

-Amos

[BIG Dog454]

Yep! I was thinking of Morgan Co., don't know how I came up with Montgomery Co. must have been a senior moment.  I've been huntin deer down there for some time now. I could go out the back door into the woods behind my farm and hunt, but it all started with taking the boys on a hunting trip.  They wanted to "go somewhere else to hunt.  so we started going down to Burr Oak, camping there and hunting.  We've always had a great time, camping and hunting.  My boys (6 of them) are all busy now with either working and raising their own families, or like my youngest, would miss to much in school to go down and spend the week. The two youngest said that they may take a couple of days and come down and hunt though.  So now it's just me and a couple of friends.  If you happen to be down at Burr Oak campground during deer season stop by and chat some Eve. I'll be in lot #3.
Mike

[cattleskinner]

I actually am from Bucyrus(n.c. ohio), however I spent a few years going to school at Hocking College.  I'm still in the nat'l guard unit in McConnelsville.  If I get down that way during gun season, I'll be sure to look you up, as I have an uncle that lives outside of McConnelsville, and would be able to get a 3rd deer for the freezer if I hunted at his place.

-Amos