Crossbows Lead the Bow Kill in Every Ohio County, Just 30 of Kentucky's 120

ICounty Bow Kill

Crossbows Lead Every Ohio County's Bow Kill in Every Season

Each share gives crossbow deer as a percent of deer killed with either a crossbow or a vertical bow. Crossbows took more than half the bow deer in every Ohio county in each season from 2019 to 2025, with no county below 60.5% in any season from 2022 to 2025.

Kentucky has a different split. Over the same three seasons combined crossbows took more than half the bow deer in only 30 of Kentucky's 120 counties and 45.6% of bow deer statewide, with 39,816 crossbow deer against 47,416 by vertical bow. By individual season 16 counties topped half in each of 2022, 2023 and 2024 and 56 did in at least one. Wisconsin sits between them at 61.1% in 2025.

IIOhio's Two Reports

Ohio's Annual Summary Separates Crossbows and Longbows in Every County

Ohio puts out two kinds of county harvest tables. Its weekly in-season reports combine crossbows and longbows in a single archery column. Our Ohio bow counties paper drew from that weekly report, so it counts both together. The annual deer summary (Publication 5304) gives every county a Crossbow row and a Longbow row in its county harvest appendix with total deer and bucks in each row. That appendix in the Ohio Division of Wildlife annual deer summary supplies the county shares here.

The statewide numbers fit what the agency says. Ohio's 2024-25 summary states "A record 107,730 deer were harvested during the 2024-25 archery season and 72% of them were taken with a crossbow." The county rows add up to 77,176 crossbow deer and 30,434 longbow deer for that season. Ohio's statewide crossbow share of bow deer climbed from 67.6% in 2019 to 72.3% in 2025, holding near 72% since 2021. In 2019 that share came from 59,516 crossbow deer against 28,590 by longbow. Crossbows had about the same share of bow bucks as of all bow deer, at 72.8% against 71.8% over 2022 to 2024.

IIIKentucky's Bow Kill

Crossbows Led None of Kentucky's Counties in 2018 and 35 in 2021

Kentucky's county harvest numbers show crossbow and archery as separate weapons in every county. The statewide crossbow share stood at 8.4% in 2010 and 20.6% in 2018. In one season it nearly doubled to 37.1% in 2019, as crossbow deer rose from 4,705 to 9,783 and vertical bow deer dropped from 18,121 to 16,608. Those harvest data cannot explain why. Since 2021 the share has stayed near 46% and was 46.3% in 2025. In 2018 none of Kentucky's 120 counties had most of its bow deer taken with crossbows. By 2021 crossbows took most in 35 counties and have done so in 31 to 39 in each season since. Our Kentucky crossbow paper traces the crossbow count season by season, while our crossbow share paper follows this share beside Minnesota's.

Crossbows took 50.8% of bow deer in the Southeast Region, where 19 of its 29 counties topped half. The Purchase Region in far western Kentucky had a share of 39.0%, and none of its 14 counties cleared half over the three seasons. At most 1 Purchase county topped half in any single season from 2019 to 2025. The Bluegrass, Northeast and Green River regions sit between them at 46.7%, 45.6% and 44.2%.

With every county counted Knott County led the state at 60.6% and Carlisle County was lowest at 28.3%. Among counties with at least 200 bow deer Union County was lowest at 29.5%, a little below Powell County. Crossbows killed 306 of Union's 1,038 bow deer. Union held at or below 31.7% in each season from 2022 to 2025 while Ballard, Caldwell and Graves stayed at or below 37.8%. Ballard had small counts of between 58 and 106 bow deer a season.

IVWisconsin's 2025 Split

Crossbows Led the Bow Kill in 57 of 60 Counties

In 2025 the crossbow share was 61.1% of bow deer and 60.5% of bow bucks, with 57,308 crossbow deer against 36,452 by vertical bow. Crossbows topped half in 57 of 60 counties. Langlade County led at 74.1%, though it is among 4 northern counties where the 2025 buck total dropped by half or more from 2024. Southwest Wisconsin's Iowa County was lowest at 48.4%. WDNR's 2025 season tables supply these shares, and its county-by-county harvest history lists county totals from the same season.

VWhat Shares Mean

Weapon Shares Count Killed Deer but Say Nothing About Hunters

Crossbow shares measure deer killed. A county's larger crossbow kill may come from more crossbow hunters or more hours on stand or both, but these tables cannot tell which.

Ohio's county tables add up the seasons from 2022 to 2024. The weekly Ohio county counts and final counts for 2025 do not match. For 2025 Ohio's season-by-season counts come from the final county rows instead of the weekly counts, and their sum matches the state's printed 2025-26 total. Writing about the 2025 season in the southeast the Ohio Division of Wildlife says that "Despite a record breaking EHD outbreak in southeastern Ohio and a season harvest that was down 60-80% in highly impacted counties, post-season aerial surveys across the region revealed deer densities of nearly 50 deer/mi2." Wisconsin does not split its extended late archery and crossbow season by weapon, so that season is left out. Kentucky gives different crossbow totals for 2024 in its report text and its own table. We take the county rows, which are within 20 deer of the table.

VIBow Country

Check Kentucky's Purchase Region for Places Where Vertical Bows Lead

Our read is that vertical bow hunters who want a place where vertical bows still take the larger share of the bow kill should look at western Kentucky. Start with the Purchase Region and western counties such as Union, Ballard and Graves where crossbows took 29.5%, 31.1% and 35.6% of bow deer over 2022 to 2024. All three stayed at or below 37.8% in every season through 2025. Every Ohio county leans toward crossbows, so choose an Ohio county for other reasons.