Maryland’s 2026 Early Deer Season Harvest Surpasses Five-Year Average

Maryland’s sika deer harvest increased 8% from 1,616 deer to 1,746 deer. Photo by by Stephen Aprile, submitted to the 2017 Maryland DNR Photo Contest.

Maryland hunters harvested 19,505 deer during the early portion of the 2026 archery and muzzleloader seasons. The harvest was a 3% increase from last year’s official harvest of 18,930 deer for the same period and 5.3% higher than the previous 5-year average of 18,526 deer.

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, disease outbreaks, and current population size of the herd.

“Maryland’s early archery and muzzleloader seasons serve as critical tools for managing the statewide deer population alongside the traditional firearms season,” said Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife and Heritage Service Director, Karina Stonesifer. “Diverse hunting opportunities and abundant deer populations across much of the state continue to provide hunters with ample opportunities that lead to a successful harvest.”

The two-month harvest included 10,671 deer taken during the archery season and 8,451 harvested during the October muzzleloader season. The archery harvest increased by 7%, while the muzzleloader harvest decreased 6% compared to the previous year. The sika deer harvest increased 8% from 1,616 deer to 1,746 deer. An additional 383 deer were harvested throughout the state under the authority of managed hunting programs.

Hunters harvested 1,174 deer on Sundays that were open to archery hunting, accounting for 6% of the total archery harvest.

Multiple Maryland counties on the eastern shore experienced moderate outbreaks of hemorrhagic disease this summer and fall. As a result, localized reductions in white-tailed deer populations may have contributed to lower harvests in those areas.

Below are the total harvests for deer seasons from Sept. 11 through Oct. 31.: