November 18th, 2018 by WCBC Radio
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced today that hunters harvested 18,805 deer during the early portion of the archery and muzzleloader seasons.
The harvest was a 16 percent decline from last year’s official harvest of 22,250, which was largely attributable to abnormally warm and wet weather that caused poor hunting conditions.
The two-month harvest included 9,695 deer taken during the archery season and 8,967 harvested during the October muzzleloader season. An additional 143 deer were reported during managed hunts. Hunters harvested 631 antlered and 557 antlerless sika deer as part of the total.
Hunters harvested 683 deer on the Sundays open to archery hunting during the period, accounting for 7 percent of the total archery harvest.
| Maryland Early Season Deer Harvest (September – October), 2017 & 2018 | |||||||||
| Antlered | Antlerless | Total | |||||||
| 2017 | 2018 | % Change | 2017 | 2018 | % Change | 2017 | 2018 | % Change | |
| Allegany | 532 | 453 | -14.8 | 337 | 369 | 9.5 | 869 | 822 | -5.4 |
| Anne Arundel | 276 | 270 | -2.2 | 605 | 445 | -26.4 | 881 | 715 | -18.8 |
| Baltimore | 523 | 460 | -12 | 1,305 | 941 | -27.9 | 1,828 | 1,401 | -23.4 |
| Calvert | 148 | 154 | 4.1 | 325 | 268 | -17.5 | 473 | 422 | -10.8 |
| Caroline | |||||||||
| whitetail | 111 | 129 | 16.2 | 346 | 327 | -5.5 | 457 | 456 | -0.2 |
| sika | 1 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | * | 2 | 1 | * |
| Carroll | 512 | 449 | -12.3 | 943 | 775 | -17.8 | 1,455 | 1,224 | -15.9 |
| Cecil | 303 | 266 | -12.2 | 650 | 549 | -15.5 | 953 | 815 | -14.5 |
| Charles | 259 | 252 | -2.7 | 554 | 349 | -37 | 813 | 601 | -26.1 |
| Dorchester | |||||||||
| whitetail | 135 | 121 | -10.4 | 337 | 232 | -31.2 | 472 | 353 | -25.2 |
| sika | 527 | 576 | 9.3 | 521 | 518 | -0.6 | 1,048 | 1,094 | 4.4 |
| Frederick | 595 | 549 | -7.7 | 1,142 | 900 | -21.2 | 1,737 | 1,449 | -16.6 |
| Garrett | 926 | 707 | -23.7 | 563 | 567 | 0.7 | 1,489 | 1,274 | -14.4 |
| Harford | 353 | 353 | 0 | 796 | 650 | -18.3 | 1,149 | 1,003 | -12.7 |
| Howard | 219 | 185 | -15.5 | 647 | 418 | -35.4 | 866 | 603 | -30.4 |
| Kent | 250 | 266 | 6.4 | 499 | 406 | -18.6 | 749 | 672 | -10.3 |
| Montgomery | 391 | 328 | -16.1 | 1,072 | 752 | -29.9 | 1,463 | 1,080 | -26.2 |
| Prince George’s | 222 | 215 | -3.2 | 529 | 390 | -26.3 | 751 | 605 | -19.4 |
| Queen Anne’s | 228 | 217 | -4.8 | 555 | 458 | -17.5 | 783 | 675 | -13.8 |
| Saint Mary’s | 213 | 201 | -5.6 | 563 | 339 | -39.8 | 776 | 540 | -30.4 |
| Somerset | |||||||||
| whitetail | 104 | 125 | 20.2 | 263 | 202 | -23.2 | 367 | 327 | -10.9 |
| sika | 2 | 4 | * | 6 | 3 | * | 8 | 7 | * |
| Talbot | 146 | 150 | 2.7 | 349 | 299 | -14.3 | 495 | 449 | -9.3 |
| Washington | 516 | 491 | -4.8 | 652 | 632 | -3.1 | 1,168 | 1,123 | -3.9 |
| Wicomico | |||||||||
| whitetail | 149 | 173 | 16.1 | 433 | 317 | -26.8 | 582 | 490 | -15.8 |
| sika | 27 | 44 | * | 30 | 23 | * | 57 | 67 | * |
| Worcester | |||||||||
| whitetail | 157 | 187 | 19.1 | 383 | 331 | -13.6 | 540 | 518 | -4.1 |
| sika | 14 | 7 | * | 5 | 12 | * | 19 | 19 | * |
| Total | 7,839 | 7,332 | -6.5 | 14,411 | 11,473 | -20.4 | 22,250 | 18,805 | -15.5 |
| *Small sample size. | |||||||||
Turkey hunters reported taking 97 wild turkeys during the one-week fall season. The harvest was slightly lower than last year. Harvest numbers for each of three participating counties were: Allegany, 31; Garrett, 50; and Washington, 16. The fall turkey season was extended to include an additional Sunday this year. Hunters took advantage of the opportunity and reported harvesting 11 turkeys Nov. 4.
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