Maryland’s Deer Firearm Season Opens With 7% Increase In Harvest

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Hunters reported harvesting 10,864 deer  on the opening weekend of the 2023 Maryland firearm season from Nov. 25-26, according to data collected by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The overall deer harvest was 7% higher than last year’s official opening weekend harvest of 10,159 deer. 

The harvest total included 5,617 antlered and 4,880 antlerless white-tailed deer, and 193 antlered and 174 antlerless sika deer. The two-week deer firearm season runs through Dec. 9.

“Cooler temperatures prevailed for the firearm season opener and hunters took advantage of the cooler weather to put additional venison in the freezer,” Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Karina Stonesifer said. “Firearms season remains our most popular deer season and is vital to managing the state’s healthy deer population. There is still plenty of great hunting left in the season and is a great opportunity to mentor a new hunter.”

Hunters harvested 2,293 deer on the Sunday of the opening weekend. The Sunday harvest represented more than 20% of the total for the two days, despite not being open in all counties.

Hunters in Region A, which includes Allegany, Garrett, and western Washington counties, harvested 1,323 antlered deer, a 16% increase. Hunters in Region B, comprising the rest of the state, harvested 4,487 antlered and 5,054 antlerless deer. The antlered harvest was up 9% while the antlerless harvest increased 4% from last year in the region.

Junior hunters harvested 2,225 deer during the Junior Deer Hunt Days Nov. 11-12. The harvest was 8% higher than the official harvest of 2,063 last year. Juniors registered 1,531 antlered and 694 antlerless deer.

Unofficial results by county are as follows:

County	Junior Hunt, Nov. 11-12, 2023		Opening Weekend Firearm Season, Nov. 25-26, 2023
				Saturday			Sunday			Weekend Total
	Antlered	Antlerless	Junior Total	Antlered	Antlerless	Total	Antlered	Antlerless	Total
Allegany	150	29	179	333	0	333	87	0	87	420
Anne Arundel	11	2	13	72	68	140	15	19	34	174
Baltimore	30	11	41	177	213	390	*	*	*	390
Calvert	16	10	26	57	94	151	14	17	31	182
Caroline	32	39	71	146	222	368	29	58	87	455
Carroll	121	63	184	467	467	934	122	137	259	1,193
Cecil	40	24	64	138	165	303	34	40	74	377
Charles	43	20	63	119	131	250	35	32	67	317
Dorchester
whitetail	39	17	56	124	136	260	22	44	66	326
sika	18	14	32	114	92	206	46	62	108	314
Frederick	195	82	277	553	462	1015	123	152	275	1,290
Garrett	276	92	368	544	0	544	179	0	179	723
Harford	22	15	37	128	172	300	30	49	79	379
Howard	12	10	22	70	95	165	*	*	*	165
Kent	50	26	76	189	216	405	50	81	131	536
Montgomery	44	30	74	132	139	271	23	26	49	320
Prince George’s	7	8	15	66	65	131	*	*	*	131
Queen Anne’s	45	17	62	163	242	405	39	60	99	504
Somerset
whitetail	35	19	54	99	117	216	44	50	94	310
sika	0	0	0	3	0	3	0	0	0	3
St. Mary’s	27	22	49	82	110	192	13	36	49	241
Talbot	28	20	48	107	157	264	33	36	69	333
Washington	143	52	195	420	195	615	123	58	181	796
Wicomico
whitetail	81	34	115	131	173	304	49	86	135	439
sika	3	0	3	19	12	31	7	4	11	42
Worcester
whitetail	63	38	101	175	192	367	61	68	129	496
sika	0	0	0	4	4	8	0	0	0	8
Total	1,531	694	2,225	4,632	3,939	8,571	1,178	1,115	2,293	10,864
*Sunday hunting not permitted.