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Maryland Reports 2024 Early Deer Season Results

Deer hunters enjoy successful early season with increased harvest compared to 2023

Photo of four deer in a field

Photo by Mary Pat Bozel, submitted to the Maryland DNR Photo Contest

Maryland hunters harvested 20,592 deer during the early portion of the 2024 archery and muzzleloader seasons. The harvest was a 24% increase from last year’s official harvest of 16,631 deer for the same period.

The annual deer harvest fluctuates from year to year for a number of reasons, including hunter effort, weather conditions, availability of natural foods like acorns, and current population size of the herd. Good weather conditions and increased hunter effort were primarily responsible for the increased harvest this year, according to Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service Associate Director Brian Eyler.

Along with the annual deer firearm season, archery and muzzleloader deer hunting are essential components of the state’s deer management program and assist with controlling abundant deer populations across Maryland.

The two-month harvest included 12,281 deer taken during the archery season and 8,144 harvested during the October muzzleloader season. An additional 167 deer were reported during managed hunts. The archery harvest increased 21% while the muzzleloader harvest increased 29% compared to the previous year. The sika deer harvest increased 19% from 1,477 deer to 1,764 deer.

Hunters harvested 984 deer on Sundays that were open to archery hunting, accounting for 8% of the total archery harvest.

Maryland Early Season Deer Harvest Through October 31, 2024    
 

Antlered

 

Antlerless

 

Total

 

2023

2024

%Change

 

2023

2024

%Change

 

2023

2024

%Change

Allegany

433

465

7.4

 

278

404

45.3

 

711

869

22.2

Anne Arundel

176

253

43.8

 

284

399

40.5

 

460

652

41.7

Baltimore

548

609

11.1

 

795

970

22.0

 

1,343

1,579

17.6

Calvert

139

163

17.3

 

189

284

50.3

 

328

447

36.3

Caroline                      
whitetail

151

167

10.6

 

248

393

58.5

 

399

560

40.4

sika

0

0

*

 

1

0

*

 

1

0

*

Carroll

473

517

9.3

 

678

845

24.6

 

1,151

1,362

18.3

Cecil

303

345

13.9

 

457

546

19.5

 

760

891

17.2

Charles

221

340

53.8

 

319

490

53.6

 

540

830

53.7

Dorchester                      
whitetail

133

110

-17.3

 

138

242

75.4

 

271

352

29.9

sika

676

805

19.1

 

637

732

14.9

 

1,313

1,537

17.1

Frederick

561

692

23.4

 

777

856

10.2

 

1,338

1,548

15.7

Garrett

770

807

4.8

 

523

563

7.6

 

1,293

1,370

6.0

Harford

289

392

35.6

 

476

644

35.3

 

765

1,036

35.4

Howard

215

222

3.3

 

398

429

7.8

 

613

651

6.2

Kent

288

268

-6.9

 

259

412

59.1

 

547

680

24.3

Montgomery

330

371

12.4

 

605

624

3.1

 

935

995

6.4

Prince George’s

156

203

30.1

 

218

318

45.9

 

374

521

39.3

Queen Anne’s

184

213

15.8

 

300

501

67.0

 

484

714

47.5

St. Mary’s

232

290

25.0

 

304

479

57.6

 

536

769

43.5

Somerset                      
whitetail

120

135

12.5

 

169

244

44.4

 

289

379

31.1

sika

2

9

*

 

3

4

*

 

5

13

*

Talbot

145

142

-2.1

 

149

254

70.5

 

294

396

34.7

Washington

509

626

23.0

 

529

650

22.9

 

1,038

1,276

22.9

Wicomico                      
whitetail

150

185

23.3

 

220

357

62.3

 

370

542

46.5

sika

53

94

*

 

57

65

*

 

110

159

*

Worcester                      
whitetail

129

171

32.6

 

186

238

28.0

 

315

409

29.8

sika

28

25

*

 

20

30

*

 

48

55

*

Total

7,414

8,619

16.3

 

9,217

11,973

29.9

 

16,631

20,592

23.8

*Small sample size    

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