OUTDOOR NOTES

Muzzleloader numbers up slightly

Ohio hunters completed the muzzleloader season with 12,141 deer checked from Saturday, Jan. 8, to Tuesday, Jan. 1. Over the past three years, an average of 11,501 deer were taken with a muzzleloader during the same four-day period.

Locally, Ashland County hunters checked in 227 whitetails, up four from the three-year average, while in Holmes County, the total was 301, compared to 270 for the most recent three-year average. In Wayne County, the harvest was 22 deer fewer than the three-year average of 139.

Top 10 counties for deer harvested during the 2022 muzzleloader season include: Coshocton (467), Tuscarawas (455), Guernsey (386), Ashtabula (363), Muskingum (356), Knox (344), Meigs (338), Carroll (322), Licking (316), and Harrison (301). Coshocton County was tops in the state during the 2021 muzzleloader season with 367 deer checked, while hunters took 9,708 deer statewide.

Harvest records show that during the 2022 muzzleloader season, hunters took 3,333 bucks (27 percent of deer taken), 7,239 does (60 percent), and 1,282 button bucks (11 percent). Bucks with shed antlers and bucks with antlers less than 3 inches long accounted for 287 deer or 2 percent of the harvest.

Fall turkey season shortened

Biologists with the Ohio Division of Wildlife recommended a major reduction to the 2022 fall wild turkey hunting season during the Ohio Wildlife Council’s regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 12.

Under the proposal received, Ohio’s fall wild turkey season would begin on Saturday, Oct. 15 and conclude on Sunday, Nov. 13, a reduction of three weeks when compared to the 2021 fall season.

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This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Check out muzzleloader take numbers in Wayne, Holmes Ashland