12-10-2024 4:50am

DEER SEASON REMAINS

Maryland’s 2024 Deer Firearm Season Opener Nearly Identical to Last Year

Hunters experienced seasonably cold and windy conditions for much of the weekend

Photo by Ranger Elena Gilroy, Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Maryland hunters reported harvesting 10,889 deer on the opening weekend of the 2024 firearm season from Nov. 30 – Dec. 1, according to data collected by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The overall deer harvest was nearly identical to last year’s official opening weekend harvest of 10,905 deer.

The harvest total included 4,947 antlered and 5,605 antlerless white-tailed deer, and 181 antlered and 156 antlerless sika deer. The two-week deer firearm season runs through Dec. 14.

“Despite below normal temperatures and high winds, Maryland’s hunters had a successful firearms opening weekend and contributed to the management of deer across the state,” Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Karina Stonesifer said. “Year after year, we are encouraged to see our most popular hunting season continue to be a success and new hunters taking advantage of the season.”

Hunters harvested 2,803 deer on the Sunday of the opening weekend. The Sunday harvest represented just over 25% 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 1,080 antlered deer, an 18% decrease from last year. Hunters in Region B, comprising the rest of the state, harvested 4,048 antlered and 5,761 antlerless deer. The antlered harvest was down 10% while the antlerless harvest increased 13% from last year in the region.

Junior hunters harvested 2,490 deer during the Junior Deer Hunt Days Nov. 16-17. The harvest was almost 12% higher than the official harvest of 2,226 last year. Juniors registered 1,673 antlered and 817 antlerless deer.

Unofficial results by county are as follows:

	Junior Hunt Nov. 16-17, 2024	Saturday Nov. 30, 2024		Sunday Dec. 1, 2024
County	Antlered	Antlerless	Junior Total	Antlered	Antlerless	Saturday Total	Antlered	Antlerless	Sunday Total	Opening Weekend Total
Allegany	146	44	190	258	0	258	99	0	99	357
Anne Arundel	9	13	22	67	95	162	22	23	45	207
Baltimore	43	13	56	161	222	383	*	*	*	383
Calvert	12	14	26	41	88	129	11	31	42	171
Caroline	51	56	107	111	287	398	29	109	138	536
Carroll	129	56	185	320	428	748	122	167	289	1,037
Cecil	51	27	78	120	208	328	50	82	132	460
Charles	46	30	76	132	169	301	25	52	77	378
Dorchester
whitetail	33	18	51	94	141	235	40	64	104	339
sika	19	26	45	109	81	190	48	49	97	287
Frederick	197	94	291	441	352	793	126	159	285	1,078
Garrett	290	69	359	420	0	420	147	0	147	567
Harford	23	20	43	146	230	376	36	69	105	481
Howard	13	8	21	68	115	183	*	*	*	183
Kent	49	29	78	156	297	453	61	94	155	608
Montgomery	55	31	86	125	116	241	39	59	98	339
Prince George’s	9	8	17	68	80	148	*	*	*	148
Queen Anne’s	49	34	83	162	271	433	53	119	172	605
Somerset
whitetail	49	47	96	97	142	239	33	71	104	343
sika	1	0	1	1	2	3	0	0	0	3
St. Mary’s	47	24	71	70	122	192	24	54	78	270
Talbot	25	15	40	93	226	319	34	89	123	442
Washington	165	47	212	353	153	506	118	53	171	677
Wicomico
whitetail	73	39	112	96	155	251	48	92	140	391
sika	2	4	6	14	13	27	6	6	12	39
Worcester
whitetail	87	51	138	151	212	363	80	109	189	552
sika	0	0	0	3	4	7	0	1	1	8
Total	1,673	817	2,490	3,877	4,209	8,086	1,251	1,552	2,803	10,889
*Sunday hunting not permitted.