Kentucky deer hunters will have lots of ground venison for chili this winter, roasts to bake with onions, celery and vegetables and back strap chops to grill during the summer.
That’s because a record deer harvest was posted for the 2012-13 deer season, which ended with the close of archery season on Jan. 21.
Hunters bagged 131,388 whitetails of which 56 percent were male and 44 percent female. Firearms hunters reported taking 95,612 deer while archers harvested 18,705 deer. Muzzleloader hunters took 14,583 deer and crossbow hunters, 2,488 deer.