DNR Maryland’s Deer Firearm Season Opens with 7% Increase in Harvest

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Cooler weather prevails in opening weekend of two-week hunt ​

Sika deer in the marsh, photo by Earl Blansfield, submitted to Maryland DNR Photo Contest.


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.