Wildlife officials say they are not surprised by the lower harvest. They've been working to reduce the state's massive deer herd by expanding hunting opportunities, inluding the issuance of more doe permits in recent years.

Hunters in east central Ohio took home the most deer, with Washington County being the only southeastern county in the top ten.  Coshocton County had the most deer taken with 3,119 followed by Muskingum, Tuscarawas, Guernsey, Harrison and Licking. Then Washington County was seventh with 2,163 deer taken - about 60 fewer than last year. Knox, Belmont and Carroll counties rounded out the top ten.  

 

The lowest deer harvest was in Ohio's most populous county. Hunters somehow found and shot 30 deer among the 1.3 million residents of Cuyahoga County.
 

There is an additional weekend deer-gun hunt on December 15-16. Archery season remains open until February 3. The statewide muzzleloader deer season is January 5-8. No fatalities or serious injuries have been reported in the 2012 deer-gun season.