• Deer management permits can now be used throughout the deer season.
• County bag limits changed in Athens, Defiance, Meigs, Paulding, Warren and Washington counties and in the disease surveillance area.
• The disease surveillance area expanded to take in all of Allen County, Holmes Township in Crawford County and Van Buren Township in Hancock County.
• Ruffed grouse hunting is now limited to controlled hunts on designated areas.

Archery

Regulations, pp. 8-9

• Longbow, compound or recurve at a minimum 40 pounds of draw
• Crossbow at a minimum 75 pounds of draw
• Arrow tips with at least two cutting edges, exposed or unexposed, at least 3/4 inch wide; expandable and mechanical broadheads included

• Any mechanical, electrical or electronic device attached to a bow or crossbow that projects a visible beam of light — a range finder using non-visible light is fine
• Carrying a firearm while hunting deer with a bow or crossbow, other than a lawfully carried concealed handgun

Muzzleloader

Regulations, pp. 8-9

• Muzzleloading rifle of .38 calibre or larger
• Muzzleloading shotgun of 10 gauge or smaller, one ball per barrel

• A muzzleloading handgun

Gun

Regulations, pp. 8-9

• Shotgun of 10 gauge or smaller, one ball or one rifled slug per barrel; rifled barrels permitted with slug ammunition
• Straight-walled cartridge rifle from .357 to .50, the .350 Legend included
• Handgun with a 5-inch minimum barrel firing straight-walled cartridges of .357 or larger
• Muzzleloading rifle of .38 calibre or larger, or muzzleloading shotgun of 10 gauge or smaller

• Any cartridge with a shoulder
• More than three shells in the chamber and magazine combined, in a shotgun or straight-walled cartridge rifle
• A muzzleloading handgun
• Shotshells containing shot, in possession during any deer gun season
• More than one hunting firearm while hunting deer

Legal Shooting Hours

Regulations, p. 6

"Hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset." One line, and it is the same in every deer season. A coyote hunter out during a deer gun season is held to these hours too.

Fluorescent Orange

Regulations, p. 5

A vest, coat, jacket or coveralls that are either solid hunter orange or camouflage hunter orange, visibly worn. The rule is written the widest way Ohio could write it: "Hunting any wild animal (except waterfowl) from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset during the youth deer gun season, deer gun seasons, and the deer muzzleloader season is unlawful unless the hunter is visibly wearing" it — statewide, on both public and private land. So a squirrel hunter in December wears it, and so does a bowhunter, and on the youth weekend so does the non-hunting adult. Camouflage hunter orange counts, which is unusual.

Sundays

Regulations, which print no Sunday exception for deer

Ohio sets no Sunday restriction on deer hunting. The gun season runs Monday to Sunday and the bonus gun weekend is a Saturday and Sunday.

Bag limits

Regulations, pp. 6-7 and 9-10

• Only one antlered deer may be taken during the 2026-27 season, statewide, regardless of where or how. An antlered deer has at least one antler three inches or longer.
• The statewide limit is six deer, and a hunter may combine individual county harvests to reach it.
• County limits: two deer in Athens, Meigs and Washington, of which no more than one may be antlerless; two deer in Morgan, Hocking, Vinton, Jackson, Gallia and Lawrence in any combination; four in Lucas, Cuyahoga, Summit, Franklin and Hamilton; six in the disease surveillance area; three everywhere else.
• No more than two antlerless deer may be taken from all public hunting areas combined in a licence year — the Andreoff, Big Island, Delaware, Killdeer Plains, Lake La Su An, Lawrence Woods and Wyandot wildlife areas and authorised controlled hunts are exempt.
• A deer hunter may hunt over bait on private land, except inside the disease surveillance area — where placing salt, minerals or any food to attract or feed deer is prohibited, as is hunting deer with its aid — and never on any public hunting area.

Permits

Regulations, p. 6

• A hunting licence plus either an either-sex deer permit or a deer management permit is required to hunt deer, unless exempt.
• The either-sex permit takes an antlered or antlerless deer, in any season and in controlled hunts, and may be bought individually all season long.
• The deer management permit takes antlerless deer only, on private and public land, throughout the season.
• Both are valid statewide 26 September to 7 February, and from 12 September in the disease surveillance area.

One implement

Regulations, p. 8

You may carry only one hunting implement while hunting deer. A cartridge with a shoulder is not a straight-walled cartridge and is not legal for deer.

Regulations, pp. 8 and 14

Every deer must be reported by noon the day after the kill — or by 11:30 p.m. on the day of the kill if the deer is taken on the last day of a season.

• Fill in the deer permit immediately on harvest and before moving the carcass, with the date, time and county of kill — a temporary tag or a photo of the permit does not count
• Complete the game check process and receive a confirmation code by noon the day after the kill, and before skinning the deer or removing its head — online at wildohio.gov, through the HuntFish OH app, by telephone, or at a licence agent
• A licence or permit reprint is free at wildohio.gov and $4 at a licence agent

Regulations, pp. 6-7 and 10-11

Ohio runs a disease surveillance area around its known CWD detections. It carries its own longer archery season, an early gun season, a six-deer limit and its own carcass and testing rules, and it grew again for 2026-27.

• The DSA is all of Allen, Hardin, Marion and Wyandot counties; Bucyrus, Dallas, Holmes and Tod townships in Crawford County; Marlboro, Troy and Oxford townships in Delaware County; Westfield Township in Morrow County; Delaware, Madison and Van Buren townships in Hancock County; and Claibourne and Jackson townships in Union County.
• Archery opens 12 September in the DSA rather than 26 September, and an early gun season runs 10-12 October.
• The season limit inside the DSA is six deer in any combination of permits.
• It expanded for 2026-27 to take in all of Allen County, Holmes Township in Crawford County and Van Buren Township in Hancock County.
• Placing or using bait — salt, minerals or any food — to attract or feed deer inside the DSA is prohibited, as is hunting deer with its aid. Normal agricultural activity, feeding domestic animals and hunting over food plots, natural or cultivated plants and crops are not prohibited.
• Sampling is mandatory for every deer harvested in the DSA on 10-11 October and 30 November-1 December, at the staffed stations listed on p. 11; self-serve kiosks take voluntary samples through the rest of the season.
• See p. 11 of the regulations for the carcass movement rules, which are not carried here.

• One antlered deer a year, statewide. The county bag limit is a limit on deer, not on bucks — a four-deer county does not mean four bucks, it means one buck and three does.
• Athens, Meigs and Washington counties carry a two-deer limit with an extra catch: no more than one of the two may be antlerless. The six other two-deer counties have no such restriction. The distinction is two shades of blue on the printed map, and it is transcribed here as two separate groups.
• The disease surveillance area covers four whole counties and named townships in five more. The app resolves counties, not townships, so a pin in Crawford, Delaware, Morrow, Hancock or Union shows the ordinary seasons and carries a critical flag naming the townships. If you are in one of them, the archery season opened a fortnight earlier, there is an early gun season in October, and bait is banned.
• Hunter orange during the gun and muzzleloader seasons binds anyone hunting any wild animal except waterfowl — squirrel hunters and bowhunters included — and on the youth weekend it binds the non-hunting adult too.
• No more than two antlerless deer may be taken from all public hunting areas combined in a licence year, with seven named wildlife areas exempt. The app shows the county limit, which is the private-land number.
• Ohio's peak breeding date is an estimate. The Division of Wildlife publishes no single date; the rut meter uses 12 November.
• Ohio publishes no open statewide parcel service, so there are no property lines on the map here.

Division of Wildlife

1-800-945-3543 (1-800-WILDLIFE)

Licences and game check

wildohio.gov

HuntFish OH app

wildohio.gov