Paulding County, Ohio: deer harvest and public hunting land
Paulding County covers 419 square miles around Paulding. Hunters checked 1,286 deer here in the 2025-26 season, 483 of them by archers, by the Division of Wildlife's final report. That is up 21% from 2024. 0.3% of Paulding County is public land open to the public, the largest share land trusts and other open land (484 acres), by USGS PAD-US 4.1 and ODNR's land boundaries.
Data updated October 2026. Harvest: the Division of Wildlife's harvest reports, 2021-22 to 2025-26. Land: PAD-US 4.1 and ODNR's land layer.
Land on ODNR's hunting mapOther state landMetro parks, county and city landLand trusts and other open landPaulding CountyNeighboring countiesLakeHighway
| Size | 268,052 acres (419 square miles) |
|---|---|
| Deer checked, 2025-26 | 1,286 (516 antlered, 770 antlerless) |
| Archery and gun, 2025-26 | 483 archery, 803 gun |
| Public land | 0.3% (749 acres) |
| ODNR hunting areas | None mapped |
| Towns in and near it | Paulding, Cecil, Antwerp, Scott, Dupont and Cloverdale |
How many deer are harvested in Paulding County?
Hunters checked 1,286 deer in Paulding County in 2025-26: 516 antlered and 770 antlerless. Archers took 483 and gun hunters 803.
| Season | Deer checked | Antlered | Antlerless | Archery | Gun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 1,286 | 516 | 770 | 483 | 803 |
| 2024-25 | 1,062 | 406 | 656 | 352 | 710 |
| 2023-24 | 1,497 | 634 | 863 | 598 | |
| 2021-22 | 1,269 |
Source: the Division of Wildlife's 2025-26, 2024-25 and 2023-24 final deer harvest reports and Publication 5304 (2021-22), Paulding County. 2022-23 is not shown. For 2021-22 Publication 5304 gives 542 bucks, 567 does and 160 button bucks; the final reports of later seasons count bucks with shed or very short antlers as antlerless.
How much public land is in Paulding County?
749 of Paulding County's 268,052 acres are public land open to the public (0.3%). The biggest share is land trusts and other open land: 484 acres.
| Manager | Acres | Share of Paulding County |
|---|---|---|
| Land trusts and other open land | 484 | 0.2% |
| Metro parks, county and city land | 221 | 0.1% |
| Other state land | 44 | under 0.1% |
| All public land open to the public | 749 | 0.3% |
Measured by FilledTag inside the county line from USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee land open to the public) and ODNR's land boundaries with hunting status. Hunting rules differ by manager: ODNR wildlife areas, hunting areas and forests marked open follow Ohio's statewide seasons, and those marked restricted limit hunting by place, season or permit; national forest is open; refuges follow U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rules; Corps of Engineers lake land is open in many places under each project's own rules; metro parks and city land are closed to most hunting.
How do you get to Paulding County?
Highways through it: US 24 (about 38 miles inside), OH 613 (about 25 miles inside), OH 114 (about 24 miles inside), OH 111 (about 24 miles inside) and US 127 (about 19 miles inside). Towns inside: Paulding, Cecil, Antwerp, Melrose, Oakwood and Payne. Nearby: Scott (on the line), Dupont (2 miles), Cloverdale (2 miles) and Sherwood (3 miles).
Which counties border Paulding County?
Paulding County touches 3 other counties. Their latest ODNR harvest and public land, for comparison:
| County | Deer harvested | Year | Public land |
|---|---|---|---|
| Putnam County | 1,376 | 2025 | 0.1% |
| Defiance County | 1,887 | 2025 | 0.8% |
| Van Wert County | 968 | 2025 | 0.2% |
Questions hunters ask
How many deer were harvested in Paulding County in 2025-26?
1,286: 516 antlered and 770 antlerless (Division of Wildlife). In 2024-25: 1,062.
Is there public hunting land in Paulding County?
749 acres, 0.3% of the county, are public land open to the public by USGS PAD-US 4.1 and ODNR's land boundaries, the largest share land trusts and other open land (484 acres).
How many deer do archers take in Paulding County?
483 of the 1,286 deer checked in 2025-26 were taken with a crossbow or longbow (Division of Wildlife).
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Where these numbers come from
- Deer harvest: the Division of Wildlife's 2025-26, 2024-25 and 2023-24 final deer harvest reports and Publication 5304 (2021-22).
- Public land: USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee land open to the public) and ODNR's land boundaries with hunting status. ODNR areas open to hunting: ODNR lands hunting status.
- Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 cartographic county boundaries. Highways and towns: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 primary and secondary roads; U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer, places.
FilledTag is not part of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife. Numbers are copied from ODNR and the federal sources above, or measured from their maps; nothing on this page is estimated by FilledTag.