Hunters this season have already have reported taking nearly 70,000 white-tailed deer – with most of the harvest occurring during the first week of Kentucky’s 2009 firearms deer hunting season.

Kentucky’s firearms deer season, which opened statewide Nov. 14, ends Monday, Nov. 23, in Zones 3 and 4, and closes Sunday, Nov. 29, in Zones 1 and 2.

Conservation officers with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources are reminding all successful deer hunters to write down their harvest information on a hunter harvest log as soon as the animal is recovered and before it is moved.

Blank spaces are provided on the back of department-issued hunting licenses for hunter log information. License exempt persons, such as those hunting on their own land or those possessing only a license authorization number, may create their own harvest log by simply writing on a piece of paper their name and address, date, species and gender of animal taken, and county of kill.

All harvested deer must also be Telechecked through the toll-free, automated phone-in system by midnight on the day the animal is recovered. Deer and elk must be Telechecked before removing the hide or head, and also prior to being transported out of Kentucky.