November 12th, 2017 by WCBC Radio

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced today that hunters harvested more deer during the early hunting season compared with last year.

Maryland hunters wrapped up the early portion of the archery and muzzleloader seasons by harvesting an estimated 22,199 deer in September and October, an 11 percent increase from last year’s official harvest of 19,923.

The two-month harvest included 12,583 deer taken during the archery season (including 6,585 taken with vertical bows and 5,998 taken with crossbows) and 9,362 harvested during the October muzzleloader season. An additional 254 deer were reported during managed hunts. Hunters harvested 571 antlered and 563 antlerless sika deer as part of the total.

The archery harvest increased 2 percent while the muzzleloader harvest increased 30 percent, most likely due to more favorable weather conditions and increased effort when compared to last year. Overall, the antlered harvest increased 23 percent from 6,374 to 7,821 deer and the antlerless harvest increased 6 percent from 13,549 to 14,378.

Maryland Early Season Deer Harvest (September-October), 2016 and 2017
	Antlered			Antlerless			Total
	2016	2017	%Change	2016	2017	%Change	2016	2017	%Change
Allegany	338	531	57.1	274	336	22.6	612	867	41.7
Anne Arundel	245	275	12.2	589	602	2.2	834	877	5.2
Baltimore	466	522	12.0	1,362	1,300	-4.6	1,828	1,822	-0.3
Calvert	143	148	3.5	352	325	-7.7	495	473	-4.4
Caroline
whitetail	133	111	-16.5	373	346	-7.2	506	457	-9.7
sika	0	1	*	0	1	*	0	2	*
Carroll	369	512	38.8	887	943	6.3	1,256	1,455	15.8
Cecil	229	300	31.0	587	649	10.6	816	949	16.3
Charles	207	257	24.2	411	551	34.1	618	808	30.7
Dorchester
whitetail	141	135	-4.3	295	337	14.2	436	472	8.3
sika	454	527	16.1	510	521	2.2	964	1,048	8.7
Frederick	474	594	25.3	1,119	1,140	1.9	1,593	1,734	8.9
Garrett	680	925	36.0	381	562	47.5	1,061	1,487	40.2
Harford	291	351	20.6	810	794	-2.0	1,101	1,145	4.0
Howard	174	219	25.9	595	645	8.4	769	864	12.4
Kent	232	249	7.3	440	499	13.4	672	748	11.3
Montgomery	332	388	16.9	1,084	1,069	-1.4	1,416	1,457	2.9
Prince George’s	204	222	8.8	456	529	16.0	660	751	13.8
Queen Anne’s	193	229	18.7	509	552	8.4	702	781	11.3
Saint Mary’s	180	212	17.8	489	561	14.7	669	773	15.5
Somerset
whitetail	91	103	13.2	241	263	9.1	332	366	10.2
sika	1	2	*	0	6	*	1	8	*
Talbot	126	146	15.9	343	349	1.7	469	495	5.5
Washington	406	517	27.3	698	649	-7.0	1,104	1,166	5.6
Wicomico
whitetail	109	148	35.8	395	433	9.6	504	581	15.3
sika	32	27	*	21	30	*	53	57	*
Worcester
whitetail	113	156	38.1	321	381	18.7	434	537	23.7
sika	11	14	*	7	5	*	18	19	*
Total	6,374	7,821	22.7	13,549	14,378	6.1	19,923	22,199	11.4
*Small sample size.

Turkey hunters reported taking 105 wild birds during the one week fall season that ended Nov. 4. The harvest was slightly lower than last year. Harvest numbers for each of three participating counties were: Allegany, 24; Garrett, 55; and Washington, 26.