YOUNGSTOWN — The number of deer killed by hunters in the last two weeks in the Mill Creek MetroParks was 11 last week and nine the week before that for a total of 20 more, bringing the season total to 203.

Nick Derico, natural resources manager for the MetroParks, provided the data, which showed that all but one deer were taken over those two weeks with a firearm. One was shot with a crossbow two weeks ago.

The type of firearms were shotguns, rifles and a muzzleloader, which is a type of firearm that is loaded only through the muzzle (the open end of the barrel) and uses special powder to fire, according to the website of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The 203 is made up of 75 deer that were removed by U.S. Department of Agriculture-employed sharpshooters in Mill Creek Park on two dates in October and 128 shot by hunters since the deer reduction program began for this year Sept. 29.

Last year, 204 deer were removed from the Mill Creek MetroParks through hunting and USDA sharpshooting. Derico said he does not expect any additional deer to be removed this year through sharpshooting.

Derico said archery-only hunts will continue uninterrupted through the end of January in Huntington Woods and Hitchcock Woods, both in Boardman. Archery hunts have ended at the MetroParks Farm in Canfield, and no firearm hunts will take place there, Derico said.

At the following parks, firearm hunts are being done with hunters being selected through the ODNR lottery system on Saturdays and Sundays: Collier Preserve, Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary, Springfield Forest, Hawkins Marsh, Vickers Nature Preserve and Sawmill Creek Preserve. Those hunts began Nov. 30, Derico said.