COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Hunters in Ohio will get two extra days to head into the woods -- even though firearms season was supposed to end last week.
Deer gun season has been extended through this weekend because the Department of Natural Resources wants to thin Ohio's herd.
Nearly 180,000 deer have been killed so far this season. While that sounds like a lot, there were an estimated 700,000 deer in the state before hunting season began, NBC 4's Mike Bowersock reported.
In fact, there are an estimated 40 times the number of deer in Ohio today than there were in 1970.
With so many deer in the state, ODNR has started noticing a difference.
Officials found that deer may not be getting as much nutrition as they should -- and that may be due to the number of them.
There is a call from hunters -- that ODNR isn't disagreeing with -- that there needs to be an expanded hunting season.
Hunting mostly bucks and not does is also responsible for more deer, even though doe hunting is legal in Ohio.
As the numbers continue to rise the overall health is expected to continue to deteriorate.
Stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com for additional information.
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