Maryland Hunters Take 27,620 Deer During Two-Week Firearms Season

Harvest decreased about 10% compared to last year’s total

Photo by Brendan Wolf, submitted to the Maryland DNR 2018 Photo Contest.

Maryland hunters reported harvesting 27,620 deer during the two-week firearm season from Nov. 29 through Dec. 13. 

The firearms season harvest was 10.4% lower than last year’s official count of 30,833 deer but only 3% lower than the five-year average of 28,467 deer. The deer harvest fluctuates from year to year due to a variety of factors such as weather, natural food availability, diseases, hunter effort, and overall deer population size.

“We hope Maryland’s deer hunters found success during Maryland’s most popular deer hunting season,” Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Karina Stonesifer said. “The tradition of firearms deer hunting provides many families with fresh venison and greatly contributes to deer management and wildlife conservation across the state.”

Hunters reported taking 10,938 antlered deer during the two-week season, a 6.6% decrease compared to last year’s official total of 11,709. The antlerless harvest decreased 12.8% from 19,124 last year to 16,682 this year. Sika deer represented 499 of the total antlered harvest and 607 of the total antlerless harvest. The total sika deer harvest was exactly the same as last year.

More than 3,080 deer were taken on the two Sundays during the season, representing just over 11% of the total harvest. Hunters harvested 2,085 deer on the Sunday of the opening weekend Nov. 29-30. Deer hunting is currently permitted on select Sundays in 20 of 23 counties. 

Hunters in Region A — Allegany, Garrett, and western Washington counties — reported taking 2,308 antlered and 1,671 antlerless deer (down 12.3% and 20.7%, respectively). In the remainder of the state (Region B), hunters reported taking 8,630 antlered and 15,011 antlerless deer. The antlered harvest decreased 4.9% while the antlerless harvest decreased 11.8%.

Modern firearm deer season opens again on January 9, 2025, in deer management region B. Maryland’s muzzleloader deer hunting season will be open Dec. 20 and run through Jan 3. 

Hunting licenses, muzzleloader stamps, and sika stamps may be purchased online through the MD Outdoors licensing website, at a licensing agent, or by calling DNR Licensing and Registration services at 866-344-8889. DNR encourages hunters to consult the 2025-2026 Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping for information on licensing, bag limits, registration procedures, and other regulations.

Maryland reported harvest for the 2025 two-week firearm season is below: