Well, this is really a bump.

Ohio hunters registered 21,754 whitetail fish during Statewide Gun Week on Monday, almost doubling. This is 10,849 more than 10,905 opening days last year, an increase of 99.5%.

The number of bad weather days in 2020 is the smallest in decades, which makes the threshold to be overcome this time quite low. However, the number of people on the opening day last week easily exceeded the three-year average of 13,349.

Many hunters remember when the total number of opening days was higher not long ago. For example, the total in 2017 was 22,366. In 2008, it was 33,304, in 2009 it was 33,607, and in 2010 it was 37,805.

The magnificent total occurred during what can be said to be the peak of Ohio deer hunting. Over the past ten years, the Ohio Department of Wildlife has been committed to stabilizing the deer population to a level satisfactory to hunters while controlling the number of nuisance deer.

Given that there is less competition for food, relatively few deer tends to mean larger deer, which is considered by most hunters to be a plus unless a deer is dragged out of the woods.

After a weak start last year, the Hunters rebounded strongly. By the end of Gun Week in 2020, the total will reach 71,659 whitetails, exceeding the total in 2019 and the three-year average.

Of course, much depends on the weather. After the first day of last year, the hunter got help because a widespread light snow made the deer stand out in the landscape. On the other hand, the temperature for most of the last week was too mild for the snow blanket.

Coshocton inspected 850 deer in all counties on Monday, followed by Tuscarawas with 729, Ashtabula with 72, and Knox with 679.

Licking reported 572 deer in the counties of central Ohio, followed by Fairfield 240, Delaware 139, Union 119, Pickaway 68, Madison 67, and Franklin 38.

The total number of autumn turkeys in Ohio has declined compared to previous years.

During the hunting period covering 70 counties that began on October 9 and lasted last Sunday, 694 wild turkeys were inspected. Compared with the 1,063 registered in the fall of 2020, this is a decrease of 369, or 34.7%.

The results for 2021 are also significantly lower than the average of 1,079 turkeys caught during the past three autumn periods.

Over the years, the number of wild turkeys has been declining. This may be due to a series of springs that adversely affected the survival of newly hatched poultry due to weather during this period.

In the fall, hunters can catch birds of any sex. For many years, the spring limit has been two whiskers, but this spring the limit will be reduced to one in order to increase the flock's efforts.

Hunters purchased 7,470 fall permits, a decrease of 1,958 or 20.8% from the three-year average of 9,428.

Highland and Trumbull led the open counties with 29 inspection birds, followed by Columbiana with 27, Ashtabula and Stark with 25.

Licking leads central Ohio counties with 10, followed by Delaware with 9, Fairfield with 6 and Franklin with 2. Union, Madison, and Pickaway are not open counties.

On December 11, the Southern District (including most of central Ohio) resumed hunting for ducks, coots, and mergansers. ... From December 11th to January 1st, 2022, hunting of snipes and pigeons restarted statewide. ... The deer management license is no longer valid during the current hunting year. ...This season may catch a deer without antlers in most public hunting grounds. ...There are two more days of deer hunting scheduled for December 18th to 19th.