(WKBN) — It’s once again that time of the year: archery season.

The opening day of archery season continues to see an increase in the harvest among Ohio’s hunters, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. There has been a dramatic increase in the popularity of archery hunting in the past decade, and the accessibility of crossbow hunting is part of the reason, ODNR reports.

Approximately 72% of last season’s archery harvest was with a crossbow, although hunting with compounds, recurves and longbows is still popular. Hunters checked 210,977 deer in Ohio during the 2022-23 season, and a record 99,742 deer were taken with archery equipment.

October and November are the most popular months for deer hunting because of increased deer activity during their breeding season. More than half of all deer harvested in the 2022-23 deer season were checked in October and November.

New this season, nonresident students who are actively enrolled in an Ohio college or university can purchase Ohio resident hunting licenses and permits. Hunting licenses and deer permits can be purchased on the HuntFish OH mobile app.

The season continues until Feb. 4, 2024. Deer hunting opportunities for gun hunters will kick off in November. Small game hunting commenced Sept. 1.