With several weeks still left in the season, deer hunters have already recorded one of the state's highest harvest totals ever. As of Dec. 22 Kentucky hunters had telechecked 117,124 deer.
"The late muzzleloader wasn't so hot because of the weather, but we are already at our third highest harvest ever," said Tina Brunjes, big game program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
The all-time deer harvest record is 124,752 set in 2004, followed by 122,233 in 2006.
Numbers for the 2008 season may have been bumped up after this past weekend's free youth deer hunting weekend.
"They usually average about 970 deer for that weekend, but we would like to see it higher for this year," Brunjes said.
For all hunters, crossbow season for deer closes today (Wednesday), Dec. 31, while archery season continues through Jan. 19.
