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Maryland Reports Early Season Deer, Turkey Hunt Results

Favorable Weather Improves Deer Harvest

Photo of deer staring down photographer

Photo by George Hook

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced today that hunters harvested 21,073 deer during the early portion of the archery and muzzleloader seasons.

The harvest was a 12% increase from last year’s official harvest of 18,839 deer for the same period. More favorable hunting conditions this year contributed to the increased harvest.

The two-month harvest included 11,869 deer taken during the archery season and 9,028 harvested during the October muzzleloader season. An additional 176 deer were reported during managed hunts. Hunters harvested 692 antlered and 681 antlerless sika deer as part of the total.

Hunters harvested 647 deer on Sundays that were open to archery hunting during the period, accounting for 6% of the total archery harvest.

Turkey hunters reported taking 91 wild turkeys during the fall season that was open Oct. 26 through Nov. 3 in Maryland’s three westernmost counties. The harvest was slightly lower than the 97 turkeys reported last year. Harvest numbers for each county were: Allegany, 22; Garrett, 53; and Washington, 16.

Maryland Early Season Deer Harvest, September – October
  Antlered Antlerless Total
  2019 2018 % Change 2019 2018 % Change 2019 2018 % Change
Allegany 435 455 -4.4 400 369 8.4 835 824 1.3
Anne Arundel 284 270 5.2 520 445 16.9 804 715 12.4
Baltimore 518 462 12.1 1,124 942 19.3 1,642 1,404 17
Calvert 165 154 7.1 331 269 23 496 423 17.3
Caroline                  
whitetail 131 129 1.6 384 328 17.1 515 457 12.7
sika 0 0 * 0 1 * 0 1 *
Carroll 439 450 -2.4 927 776 19.5 1,366 1,226 11.4
Cecil 291 266 9.4 676 549 23.1 967 815 18.7
Charles 348 253 37.5 538 350 53.7 886 603 46.9
Dorchester                  
whitetail 152 121 25.6 275 232 18.5 427 353 21
sika 619 576 7.5 619 519 19.3 1,238 1,095 13.1
Frederick 521 549 -5.1 970 900 7.8 1,491 1,449 2.9
Garrett 696 708 -1.7 588 568 3.5 1,284 1,276 0.6
Harford 352 355 -0.8 768 652 17.8 1,120 1,007 11.2
Howard 211 185 14.1 535 420 27.4 746 605 23.3
Kent 285 267 6.7 446 406 9.9 731 673 8.6
Montgomery 351 329 6.7 810 754 7.4 1,161 1,083 7.2
Prince George’s 239 216 10.6 411 391 5.1 650 607 7.1
Queen Anne’s 232 217 6.9 534 459 16.3 766 676 13.3
St. Mary’s 272 201 35.3 527 341 54.5 799 542 47.4
Somerset                  
whitetail 125 125 0 290 205 41.5 415 330 25.8
sika 4 4 * 1 3 * 5 7 *
Talbot 153 151 1.3 339 299 13.4 492 450 9.3
Washington 423 491 -13.8 631 631 0 1,054 1,122 -6.1
Wicomico                  
whitetail 175 173 1.2 361 318 13.5 536 491 9.2
sika 36 44 * 40 23 * 76 67 *
Worcester                  
whitetail 153 187 -18.2 364 331 10 517 518 -0.2
sika 33 7 * 21 13 * 54 20 *
Total 7,643 7,345 4.1 13,430 11,494 16.8 21,073 18,839 11.9
*Small sample size
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