Whitetail deer
Ohio deer hunting
27 public hunting areas ranked by today’s conditions, herd density, and habitat, plus current seasons and CWD zones.
Live · updatedSeason & rut right now
Rut phase today: Outside the rut · peak breeding around 11/14. Full rut forecast →
archery
Sep 26 – Feb 7
Archery (incl. crossbow) — statewide, Sept 26 → Feb 7.
youth
Nov 21 – Nov 22
Youth gun weekend.
firearm
Dec 1 – Dec 6
Primary gun week (Nov 30 – Dec 6).
firearm
Dec 19 – Dec 20
Bonus gun weekend.
muzzleloader
Jan 2 – Jan 5
Statewide muzzleloader.
CWD Disease Surveillance Area: CWD Disease Surveillance Area (2026-27, OAC 1501:31-19-03) covers west-central Ohio: Allen, Hardin, Marion and Wyandot counties in full, plus named townships of Crawford (Bucyrus, Dallas, Holmes, Tod), Delaware (Marlboro, Troy, Oxford), Hancock (Delaware, Madison, Van Buren), Morrow (Westfield) and Union (Claibourne, Jackson). Allen is newly a full-county DSA for 2026-27. Inside the DSA: baiting/feeding deer is banned, high-risk carcass parts may not leave the DSA except under the carcass rules, and deer taken on set sampling dates must be submitted for CWD testing. No SE-Ohio counties are in the current DSA. The county highlight below is county-level; for the five partial counties, only the named townships are in the DSA — confirm the live DSA map with ODNR before hauling a carcass.
Regulations: Ohio Administrative Code 1501:31-15-11 — Deer regulations (eff. 2026-07-06) · verified 2026-07-27.
Seasons at a glance
Every game class we model in Ohio, and whether it’s open today. See all 2026-27 season dates, bag limits & shooting hours →
Public hunting land, ranked for today
Each tract is scored on its own conditions, then blended with county herd density and habitat. Highest first.
- 74 Woodbury Wildlife Area herd 85 · ground 76
- 72 Salt Fork Wildlife Area herd 72 · ground 85
- 70 Egypt Valley Wildlife Area herd 72 · ground 75
- 70 Tri-Valley Wildlife Area herd 72 · ground 74
- 67 Appalachian Hills Wildlife Area herd 50 · ground 84
- 67 Berlin Lake Wildlife Area herd 60 · ground 74
- 67 Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area herd 60 · ground 73
- 65 Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area herd 72 · ground 78
- 64 Grand River Wildlife Area herd 72 · ground 73
- 64 Delaware Wildlife AreaCWD herd 50 · ground 68
- 64 Indian Creek Wildlife Area herd 60 · ground 67
- 64 Tar Hollow State Forest herd 50 · ground 80
- 63 Pike State Forest herd 50 · ground 73
- 62 Crown City Wildlife Area herd 60 · ground 79
- 62 Killdeer Plains Wildlife AreaCWD herd 60 · ground 78
- 61 Cooper Hollow Wildlife Area herd 60 · ground 73
- 60 Fallsville Wildlife Area herd 60 · ground 69
- 60 Zaleski State Forest herd 50 · ground 82
- 58 Big Island Wildlife AreaCWD herd 50 · ground 72
- 58 Shawnee State Forest herd 50 · ground 71
- 58 Wayne National Forest — Ironton Unit herd 50 · ground 69
- 56 Deer Creek Wildlife Area herd 42 · ground 73
- 56 Mercer Wildlife Area herd 50 · ground 62
- 56 Wayne National Forest — Athens Unit herd 42 · ground 69
- 55 Spring Valley Wildlife Area herd 42 · ground 66
- 55 Waterloo Wildlife Area herd 42 · ground 67
- 55 Wayne National Forest — Marietta Unit herd 42 · ground 66
Public land map
Every mapped tract. Tap a marker for conditions.
Top counties by deer-harvest density
All 88 counties →Season-final harvest per square mile, a herd-quality proxy from the state’s annual report.
| County | Harvest | Per sq mi | CWD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carroll | 6,077 | 15.38 | — |
| Coshocton | 8,527 | 15.12 | — |
| Holmes | 5,717 | 13.52 | — |
| Tuscarawas | 7,623 | 13.42 | — |
| Knox | 6,704 | 12.77 | — |
| Harrison | 4,959 | 12.34 | — |
| Ashland | 5,108 | 12.08 | — |
| Richland | 5,151 | 10.41 | — |
| Ashtabula | 7,161 | 10.2 | — |
| Columbiana | 5,245 | 9.86 | — |
| Muskingum | 6,283 | 9.45 | — |
| Guernsey | 4,804 | 9.2 | — |
Hunting near a city
The closest public land, ranked for today, near Ohio’s metros.
- Deer hunting near Columbus →
- Deer hunting near Cleveland →
- Deer hunting near Cincinnati →
- Deer hunting near Toledo →
- Deer hunting near Akron →
- Deer hunting near Dayton →
- Deer hunting near Canton →
- Deer hunting near Youngstown →
- Deer hunting near Lorain →
- Deer hunting near Springfield →
- Deer hunting near Newark →
- Deer hunting near Mansfield →
- Deer hunting near Zanesville →
- Deer hunting near Chillicothe →
- Deer hunting near Athens →
- Deer hunting near Marietta →