22,000 Deer Harvested during Early Season

November 9, 2017

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced on November 7, 2017, that hunters harvested more deer during the early hunting season compared with last year.

Maryland hunters wrapped up the early portion of the archery and muzzleloader seasons by harvesting an estimated 22,199 deer in September and October, an 11 percent increase from last year’s official harvest of 19,923.

The two-month harvest included 12,583 deer taken during the archery season (including 6,585 taken with vertical bows and 5,998 taken with crossbows) and 9,362 harvested during the October muzzleloader season. An additional 254 deer were reported during managed hunts. Hunters harvested 571 antlered and 563 antlerless sika deer as part of the total.

The archery harvest increased 2 percent while the muzzleloader harvest increased 30 percent, most likely due to more favorable weather conditions and increased effort when compared to last year. Overall, the antlered harvest increased 23 percent from 6,374 to 7,821 deer and the antlerless harvest increased 6 percent from 13,549 to 14,378.

Maryland Early Season Deer Harvest (September-October), 2016 and 2017
Antlered Antlerless Total
2016 2017 %Change 2016 2017 %Change 2016 2017 %Change
Allegany 338 531 57.1 274 336 22.6 612 867 41.7
Anne Arundel 245 275 12.2 589 602 2.2 834 877 5.2
Baltimore 466 522 12.0 1,362 1,300 -4.6 1,828 1,822 -0.3
Calvert 143 148 3.5 352 325 -7.7 495 473 -4.4
Caroline
whitetail 133 111 -16.5 373 346 -7.2 506 457 -9.7
sika 0 1 * 0 1 * 0 2 *
Carroll 369 512 38.8 887 943 6.3 1,256 1,455 15.8
Cecil 229 300 31.0 587 649 10.6 816 949 16.3
Charles 207 257 24.2 411 551 34.1 618 808 30.7
Dorchester
whitetail 141 135 -4.3 295 337 14.2 436 472 8.3
sika 454 527 16.1 510 521 2.2 964 1,048 8.7
Frederick 474 594 25.3 1,119 1,140 1.9 1,593 1,734 8.9
Garrett 680 925 36.0 381 562 47.5 1,061 1,487 40.2
Harford 291 351 20.6 810 794 -2.0 1,101 1,145 4.0
Howard 174 219 25.9 595 645 8.4 769 864 12.4
Kent 232 249 7.3 440 499 13.4 672 748 11.3
Montgomery 332 388 16.9 1,084 1,069 -1.4 1,416 1,457 2.9
Prince George’s 204 222 8.8 456 529 16.0 660 751 13.8
Queen Anne’s 193 229 18.7 509 552 8.4 702 781 11.3
Saint Mary’s 180 212 17.8 489 561 14.7 669 773 15.5
Somerset
whitetail 91 103 13.2 241 263 9.1 332 366 10.2
sika 1 2 * 0 6 * 1 8 *
Talbot 126 146 15.9 343 349 1.7 469 495 5.5
Washington 406 517 27.3 698 649 -7.0 1,104 1,166 5.6
Wicomico
whitetail 109 148 35.8 395 433 9.6 504 581 15.3
sika 32 27 * 21 30 * 53 57 *
Worcester
whitetail 113 156 38.1 321 381 18.7 434 537 23.7
sika 11 14 * 7 5 * 18 19 *
Total 6,374 7,821 22.7 13,549 14,378 6.1 19,923 22,199 11.4
*Small sample size.

Turkey hunters reported taking 105 wild birds during the one week fall season that ended Nov. 4. The harvest was slightly lower than last year. Harvest numbers for each of three participating counties were: Allegany, 24; Garrett, 55; and Washington, 26