Seneca County hunters harvested 148 deer Monday, compared to 329 on the first day of deer-gun season last year, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife..
But Seneca hunters weren't alone. Rain throughout much of Ohio kept numbers down. The season remains open through Sunday and resumes Dec. 17-18.
In counties near Seneca, only Sandusky County hunters came close matching last year's total. Hunters there took 58 deer, compared to 59 in 2010. Other numbers were: Crawford, 118 (186); Hancock, 105 (184); Huron, 284 (409); Wood, 47 (89); and Wyandot, 224 (324).
Statewide, hunters took 23,600 deer, a 39 percent decrease from 2010's opening day total of 39,071.
"Last year's opening day harvest was exceptionally high. Even with ideal weather conditions, I'm sure this year's harvest would have fallen short of the 2010 season simply because last year was an atypical season," said Mike Tonkovich, ODNR, Division of Wildlife deer project leader."
He said weather conditions on opening day in 2007 were so poor the harvest was down an unprecedented 51 percent.
Counties reporting the highest numbers of deer checked Monday included: Coshocton, 1,197; Muskingum, 964; Tuscarawas, 896; Harrison, 882; Guernsey, 816; Knox, 719; Belmont, 629; Carroll, 620; Holmes, 617; and Licking, 616.
About 420,000 hunters are expected to participate this week.
