DMU Richland, Ohio
Unit info
- Game species
- White-tailed Deer, Wild Turkey
- Group
- Northeast Ohio
- Area
- N/A
- Public land
- N/A
White-tailed Deer — season & harvest
- Reported harvest
- 5,028
Draw odds for White-tailed Deeraren't on file for this unit yet. Check your state wildlife agency website for current draw statistics.
Season & harvest data is published for White-tailed Deer so far. Wild Turkey also occur here — that data can be added as the community contributes.
About this unit
Sign in to contributeRichland County sits in north-central Ohio — rolling glaciated hills and dissected uplands centered on Mansfield, the county seat and second-highest terrain in the state. The landscape is a classic mix of row-crop agriculture, woodlots, and creek drainages that sustains a dense whitetail population. Richland ranked 11th among Ohio's 88 counties in total deer harvested during the 2025-26 season (5,151 deer), well above its three-year average of 4,378. Public land is limited but present: Clear Fork Reservoir (1,600 surrounding acres, north/west shores open to shotgun and longbow), Malabar Farm State Park (controlled archery lottery), and the fringe of Mohican Memorial State Forest to the south. The county operates under a 3-deer bag limit with one antlered deer allowed per license year. Hunting pressure is moderate to high — most access is through private farmland and timber, making landowner relationships critical.
North-central Ohio glaciated plateau; gently rolling to moderately dissected hills; elevations 900-1,520 ft with the Mansfield Highland (second-highest point in Ohio); northern half ground moraine with smooth topography, southern half more rugged bedrock-influenced uplands; dominant cover is row-crop agriculture (corn/soybeans) interspersed with hardwood woodlots and creek/river corridors (Clear Fork of the Mohican River)
Primarily private land — row-crop farms and mixed timber tracts; public options include Clear Fork Reservoir (1,600 acres, hunting permitted on north and west shores with shotgun or longbow only, no hunting near picnic areas), Malabar Farm State Park (controlled archery lottery hunt via ODNR application), and portions of Mohican Memorial State Forest on the county southeastern edge; ODNR Landowner-Hunter Access Partnership (OLHAP) properties available at wildohio.gov
Moderate to high; county consistently ranks top 15 statewide in total harvest; public land is scarce relative to county size so pressure concentrates on limited open parcels; private land hunters with access to agricultural edges and woodlot funnels experience productive hunting with less competition
3-deer bag limit per license year (max 1 antlered); either-sex permits and deer management permits stack toward the 3-deer county limit; antlerless deer management permits valid statewide through Dec 21; on public hunting areas up to 2 deer management permits may be used (2025-26 rule change); no county-level quota draws — over-the-counter tags
Archery: Sept 27 2025 – Feb 1 2026; Youth Gun: Nov 22–23 2025; Gun: Dec 1–7 and Dec 20–21 2025; Muzzleloader: Jan 3–6 2026; straight-walled cartridge rifles legal during gun season; turkey seasons follow standard Ohio split spring/fall structure; CWD surveillance zone does not include Richland County itself (nearby Allen County townships are in the DSA)
Richland ranked 11th in Ohio with 5,151 deer in 2025-26 (three-year avg 4,378); 2025 gun season yielded 1,887 deer — 26% above the three-year average of 1,492; 2024 archery mid-season check of 1,097 ranked 9th statewide; Mansfield-area agriculture-timber edge habitat produces quality bucks; Malabar Farm controlled hunt offers low-pressure archery opportunity on historic 1,000-acre farm; Clear Fork corridor provides natural deer movement between agricultural feeding areas and timber bedding cover
Questions, tips & discussion
Ask anything about DMU Richland— or drop a tip or trick: access points, where game holds, glassing spots, conditions, crowding, gear that worked. This is where the unit's species-specific intel gets built, hunter by hunter.
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Boundaries: ODNR official county-based deer management units. Community info last updated 106d ago.