Ohio

The Buckeye State is widely regarded as one of the best public-access trophy whitetail states in America. Ohio Division of Wildlife (ODNR) offers convenient over-the-counter licenses with an affordable non-resident structure and a strict, conservation-minded one-antlered-deer limit per hunter per year.

Premier counties span the unglaciated Appalachian plateau of southern and eastern Ohio—including Coshocton, Muskingum, Guernsey, and Adams counties. Hunters utilize long four-month archery seasons (late September through early February) to pursue Boone & Crockett giants across massive public tracts such as Wayne National Forest, AEP ReCreation lands, and sprawling state Wildlife Areas (WMAs). Straight-walled rifle and shotgun seasons in late fall provide fast-paced deer camp traditions.

Ohio's resurgence in wild turkey populations provides outstanding spring hunting across all 88 counties. The rolling hills, abandoned strip-mine lands, and agricultural woodlots of southeastern Ohio provide prime turkey habitat.

ODNR establishes a four-week spring season opening in late April. Hunters utilize roost setups at dawn and mid-morning logging road ambushes to call strutting gobblers across hardwood ravines and green pasture openings.

Ohio's black bear population has naturally re-established itself across the heavily forested eastern and south-central counties through migration from neighboring Pennsylvania and West Virginia. While currently protected from hunting to support ongoing population recovery, ODNR actively monitors bear numbers as forests mature throughout the Appalachian foothills.