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Maryland Reports Early Deer Hunting Season 2021 Results

Muzzleloader Season Sees Increase; Slow Start for Archery

Photo of deer next to tree with fall colors

Photo by Terri Abramovitz

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reports that hunters harvested 16,281 deer during the early portion of the archery and muzzleloader seasons. The harvest was a 17% decrease from last year’s official harvest of 19,616 deer for the same period.

The early season harvest decline was attributed to multiple factors, including warm weather during the first part of the archery season, abundant natural food resources that slowed deer movements, and some lingering effects from an epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) outbreak in some Region B counties last year. 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 9,483 deer taken during the archery season and 6,719 harvested during the October muzzleloader season. An additional 79 deer were reported during managed hunts. The archery harvest decreased 30% while the muzzleloader harvest increased 11% compared to the previous year. Hunters harvested 1,208 sika deer as part of the total.

Hunters harvested 879 deer on Sundays that were open to archery hunting during the period, accounting for 9% of the total archery harvest.

Maryland Early Season Deer Harvest, September 10 – October 31, 2021
  Antlered Antlerless Total
  2021 2020 % Change 2021 2020 % Change 2021 2020 % Change
Allegany 399 439 -9.1 336 331 1.5 735 770

-4.5

Anne Arundel 206 190 8.4 281 370 -24.1 487 560 -13.0
Baltimore 480 512 -6.3 822 1,226 -33.0 1,302 1,738 -25.1
Calvert 175 113 54.9 216 240 -10.0 391 353 10.8
Caroline 178 157 13.4 222 342 -35.1 400 499 -19.8
Carroll 414 462 -10.4 724 1,012 -28.5 1,138 1,474 -22.8
Cecil 278 329 -15.5 480 661 -27.4 758 990 -23.4
Charles 225 251 -10.4 255 329 -22.5 480 580 -17.2
Dorchester                  
whitetail 153 114 34.2 200 206 -2.9 353 320 10.3
sika 528 534 -1.1 548 584 -6.2 1,076 1,118 -3.8
Frederick 544 537 1.3 758 1,060 -28.5 1,302 1,597 -18.5
Garrett 619 705 -12.2 412 527 -21.8 1,031 1,232 -16.3
Harford 338 347 -2.6 506 709 -28.6 844 1,056

-20.1

Howard 208 213 -2.3 385 517 -25.5 593 730 -18.8
Kent 264 233 13.3 314 396 -20.7 578 629 -8.1
Montgomery 296 331 -10.6 553 841 -34.2 849 1,172 -27.6
Prince George’s 195 154 26.6 238 265 -10.2 433 419 3.3
Queen Anne’s 240 190 26.3 330 437 -24.5 570 627 -9.1
St. Mary’s 186 212 -12.3 234 399 -41.4 420 611 -31.3
Somerset                  
whitetail 108 113 -4.4 203 226 -10.2 311 339 -8.3
sika 4 4 * 2 4 * 6 8 *
Talbot 152 149 2.0 185 263 -29.7 337 412 -18.2
Washington 398 467 -14.8 463 732 -36.7 861 1,199 -28.2
Wicomico                  
whitetail 166 183 -9.3 295 392 -24.7 461 575 -19.8
sika 56 30 * 39 34 * 95 64 *
Worcester                  
whitetail 170 160 6.3 269 337 -20.2 439 497 -11.7
sika 16 19 * 15 28 * 31 47 *
Total 6,996 7,148 -2.1 9,285 12,468 -25.5 16,281 19,616 -17.0
*Small sample size

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