Maryland's early deer season leads to nearly 20,000 harvests, exceeding 5-year average

While many Maryland counties on the Eastern Shore saw lower harvests of white tail deer in the summer due to hemorrhagic disease, the state's early deer season hunt for 2026 surpassed its five-year average.

Hunters in Maryland caught 19,905 deer during the portion of the archery and October muzzleloader seasons, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said in a news release. That represents a 3% increase from the previous year's harvest of 18,930, and was 5.3% higher than last year's average of 18,526.

Over two months, the DNR survey found that 10,671 deer had been captured during the archery season and 8,451 were harvested in the muzzleloader season. The archery harvest increased by 7%, while the muzzleloader harvest decreased by 6% compared to last year. The sika deer harvest increased by 8%, increasing from 1,616 to 1,746 animals.

On Sundays that were open to archery hunting, 1,174 deer were harvested, accounting for 6% of the total archery harvest. Another 383 deer were harvested throughout the state under other managed hunting programs, DNR said in the release.

"Maryland's early archery and muzzleloader seasons serve as critical tools for managing the statewide deer population alongside the traditional firearms season," said Karina Stonesifer, DNR's Wildlife and Heritage Service Director. "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," she added.