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Maryland Reports Early Deer Season 2020 Results

Archery Totals See Increase; Muzzeloaders Offset by Weather

Photo of two bucks in the autumn woods

Photo by Reinhardt Sahmel

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced today that hunters harvested 19,571 deer during the early portion of the archery and muzzleloader seasons. The harvest was a 7% decrease from last year’s official harvest of 21,098 deer for the same period.

The early season harvest decline was attributed to warmer weather during muzzleloader season, and a reported increase in the occurrence of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) in some counties. EHD occurs annually in Maryland and does not have long-lasting effects for the deer population, nor is it harmful to humans.

The two-month harvest included 13,420 deer taken during the archery season and 6,052 harvested during the October muzzleloader season. An additional 99 deer were reported during managed hunts. The archery harvest increased 13% while the muzzleloader harvest decreased 33% compared to the previous year. Hunters harvested 587 antlered and 650 antlerless sika deer as part of the total.

Hunters harvested 774 deer on Sundays that were open to archery hunting during the period, accounting for 6% of the total archery harvest.

Maryland Early Season Deer Harvest, September – October 2020
  Antlered Antlerless Total
  2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change
Allegany 435 439 1 401 331 -17 836 770 -8
Anne Arundel 284 190 -33 521 370 -29 805 560 -30
Baltimore 521 509 -2 1,127 1,226 9 1,648 1,735 5
Calvert 165 113 -32 330 240 -27 495 353 -29
Caroline 131 155 18 384 342 -11 515 497 -3
Carroll 439 462 5 927 1,007 9 1,366 1,469 8
Cecil 291 329 13 677 658 -3 968 987 2
Charles 348 251 -28 540 328 -39 888 579 -35
Dorchester                  
whitetail 152 114 -25 275 206 -25 428 320 -25
sika 619 534 -14 619 584 -6 1,238 1,118 -10
Frederick 522 535 2 970 1,059 9 1,492 1,594 7
Garrett 696 703 1 588 526 -11 1,284 1,229 -4
Harford 353 346 -2 769 709 -8 1,122 1,055 -6
Howard 211 212 7 537 517 -4 748 729 -3
Kent 287 233 -19 447 395 -12 734 628 -14
Montgomery 351 331 -6 811 840 4 1,162 1,171 1
Prince George’s 239 154 -36 412 265 -36 651 419 -36
Queen Anne’s 232 187 -19 534 435 -19 766 622 -19
St. Mary’s 273 210 -23 528 395 -25 801 605 -24
Somerset                  
whitetail 125 113 -10 291 226 -22 416 339 -19
sika 4 4 * 1 4 * 5 8 *
Talbot 153 149 -3 338 259 -23 491 408 -17
Washington 423 466 10 631 730 16 1,054 1,196 13
Wicomico                  
whitetail 175 183 5 361 389 8 536 572 7
sika 36 30 * 40 34 * 76 64 *
Worcester                  
whitetail 153 160 5 366 337 -8 519 497 -4
sika 33 19 * 21 28 * 54 47 *
Total 7,652 7,131 -7 13,446 12,440 -7 21,098 19,571 -7
*Small sample size

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