85,193 Deer Harvested During 2016-2017 Hunting Season

Frederick County Leads State in Harvest Totals 

Maryland hunters harvested 85,193 deer during the combined archery, muzzleloader and firearm seasons (Sept. 9, 2016-Jan. 31, 2017), according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The harvest exceeded the 2015-2016 total by more than 1,000 deer.

Included in the statewide total were 7,684 deer taken on Sundays open for deer hunting, representing an increase of 19 percent compared to last year.

“Our Sunday harvest continues to grow as hunters take advantage of additional weekend days to spend in the woods,” Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Paul Peditto said. “This growth is remarkable considering some counties have only one Sunday open to hunting in firearm season and three of our highest deer density counties have no Sunday hunting at all.”

The 2016-2017 statewide harvest included: 29,042 antlered and 53,318 antlerless white-tailed deer; and 1,284 antlered and 1,549 antlerless sika deer.

The harvest in deer management Region A (Garrett, Allegany and western Washington counties) decreased 8 percent, from 9,190 to 8,490 deer this year. These hunters reported 5,067 antlered and 3,423 antlerless deer.

Hunters in Region B (the remainder of the state) harvested 76,703 deer, up 3 percent from last year’s 74,832. From this year’s total, 25,259 antlered and 51,444 antlerless deer were reported in this area.

Frederick County led the harvest totals again this year with 7,556 deer, followed by Carroll County at 5,663 and Baltimore County with 5,367. Montgomery and Washington counties rounded out the top five with 4,873 and 4,736 deer, respectively.

Deer harvest results by county and type of deer harvested, with comparison to the previous season, are available below:

	Antlered				Antlerless				Total
County		2016-17	% Change			2016-17	% Change			2016-17	% Change
Allegany		1,662	-16.2			1,245	-10.0			2,907	-13.7
Anne Arundel		900	2.0			1,890	4.4			2,790	3.6
Baltimore		1,628	11.3			3,739	6.6			5,367	8.0
Calvert		614	4.8			1,253	16.1			1,867	12.1
Caroline
whitetail		918	13.5			2,033	2.2			2,951	5.5
sika		0	*			1	*			1	*
Carroll		2,002	10.6			3,661	6.8			5,663	8.1
Cecil		1,099	6.4			2,311	10.3			3,410	9.0
Charles		1,096	2.2			2,000	-2.5			3,096	-0.9
Dorchester
whitetail		896	8.3			1,820	7.9			2,716	8.1
sika		1,185	3.6			1,459	-7.9			2,644	-3.1
Frederick		2,680	5.0			4,876	6.1			7,556	5.7
Garrett		2,623	-1.3			1,719	-1.8			4,342	-1.5
Harford		1,103	5.3			2,537	4.6			3,640	4.8
Howard		685	-2.3			1,715	5.0			2,400	2.8
Kent		1,232	12.7			2,182	5.7			3,414	8.1
Montgomery		1,505	7.4			3,368	0.7			4,873	2.7
Prince George’s		832	-1.5			1,645	-1.3			2,477	-1.4
Queen Anne’s		1,141	-2.1			2,583	2.6			3,724	1.1
Saint Mary’s		852	-5.5			1,760	-1.5			2,612	-2.9
Somerset
whitetail		718	-1.2			1,598	-11.8			2,316	-8.7
sika		5	*			2	*			7	*
Talbot		812	-2.9			1,981	-1.1			2,793	-1.7
Washington		2,062	-10.8			2,674	-10.0			4,736	-10.3
Wicomico
whitetail		931	4.6			2,189	1.8			3,120	2.6
sika		74	*			66	*			140	*
Worcester
whitetail		1,051	2.7			2,539	-6.9			3,590	-4.3
sika		20	*			21	*			41	*
Total		30,326	1.6			54,867	1.3			85,193	1.4
*Small sample size