Maryland deer hunters wrapped up the early portions of the bow and muzzleloader seasons by harvesting an estimated 24,324 deer during September and October, down four percent from last year’s harvest of 25,324 deer for the same period.
The antlered harvest decreased four percent from 9,079 deer to 8,753 deer, while the antlerless harvest also decreased four percent from 16,245 to 15,571 deer. Included in the totals were 532 antlered and 337 antlerless sika deer. The two month harvest total was comprised of 7,813 deer taken with vertical bows, 3,732 taken with crossbows and 12,600 harvested with muzzleloaders. An additional 179 deer were reported during managed firearm hunts.
“Our fall turkey hunters prevailed despite a very snowy opening day in many areas,” said Pete Jayne, DNR’s Associate Director for Game Management. “Some areas received over a foot of snow for the first day of the season but a warming trend resulted in better conditions later during the week long season.”
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Turkey hunters reported harvesting 167 wild turkeys during the one week fall season that ended on November 5. The harvest is similar to the 171 turkeys taken in 2010 and to the average harvest over the last 10 years. Fall turkey hunting is only permitted in the three westernmost counties. Allegany County reported the highest harvest (72), followed by Garrett (64) and Washington (31).
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