Maryland’s archery and muzzleloader deer haul down 18% from last year

09 November 2023- The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reports that hunters harvested 16,607 deer during the early portion of the 2023 archery and muzzleloader seasons. The harvest was an 18% decrease from last year’s official harvest of 20,267 deer for the same period.

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, and current population size of the herd. Less than ideal weather conditions for part of the early season and abundant acorns in many areas, which reduces deer mobility making them harder to hunt, contributed to the decline this year.

The two-month harvest included 10,140 deer taken during the archery season and 6,299 harvested during the October muzzleloader season. An additional 168 deer were reported during managed hunts. The archery harvest decreased 19% while the muzzleloader harvest decreased 17% compared to the previous year. The sika deer harvest decreased 9% from 1,624 deer to 1,476 deer.

Hunters harvested 911 deer on Sundays that were open to archery hunting, accounting for 9% of the total archery harvest.