Deer harvest statistics vary widely by state because agencies measure different seasons, areas, species, and reporting systems. The figures below describe specific state reports rather than a uniform national estimate: Pennsylvania reports calculated harvest, South Carolina corrected its harvest for reporting noncompliance, Wisconsin’s cited gun-season figures are preliminary registrations, Washington separates general and permit seasons, Idaho reports by hunt unit and method, and Maryland combines white-tailed and sika deer.
Contents
- Statewide deer harvest totals
- Antlered and antlerless harvest
- Seasons and weapon types
- Recent changes and trends
- Regional and county leaders
- Hunters, effort, and success
Statewide deer harvest totals
The reported totals below are useful for seeing the scale of harvest in each jurisdiction, but they do not represent identical time windows. Some are full-season totals, while others cover a particular firearm or gun season.
| State or reporting area | Reported harvest | Measurement period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 476,880 | 2024 calculated harvest | Big Game Harvest Data |
| South Carolina | 190,707 | 2024 deer season, corrected | Wildlife - 2024 Deer Harvest Report |
| Wisconsin | 189,622 | Preliminary nine-day 2024 gun season | 2024 Gun Deer Hunt License Sales And Harvest Totals Now Available |
| Maryland | 84,201 | 2024-2025 season, white-tailed and sika deer | 2024-2025 - Maryland Big Game Report |
| Illinois | 82,496 | Preliminary seven-day 2024 firearm season | More than 82,000 deer harvested during Illinois firearm deer season |
| Washington | 23,902 | 2023 general and permit seasons | 2023 Statewide deer harvest statistics |
| Idaho Unit 1 | 2,791 | 2024 general season, all weapons | 2024 Deer General Hunt Harvest Statistics |
Pennsylvania’s 2024 calculated harvest was 476,880 deer. South Carolina’s corrected 2024 deer-season total was 190,707, while Wisconsin registered 189,622 deer during its preliminary nine-day gun season. Wisconsin also reported 289,361 deer registered since the opening of bow and crossbow seasons through December 1, 2024; that figure covers a broader point in the season than the nine-day gun-season total.
Maryland hunters harvested 84,201 deer during the 2024-2025 season, combining white-tailed and sika deer. Illinois recorded a preliminary 82,496 deer during its seven-day 2024 firearm season. Washington reported 23,902 deer across general and permit seasons in 2023. Idaho’s Unit 1 general-season total was 2,791 deer across all weapons in 2024.
These totals should not be added together. They cover different geographies and definitions, and the Idaho figure is for one unit rather than the entire state.
Antlered and antlerless harvest
Harvest composition helps show what lies behind a statewide total. Pennsylvania’s 2024 calculated harvest included 175,280 antlered deer and 301,600 antlerless deer. South Carolina’s corrected 2024 report listed 90,670 antlered bucks, 8,230 button bucks, 80,598 does, and 11,209 deer of unknown sex. The report defines button bucks as male fawns.
Maryland’s 2024-2025 report separates its two deer types. White-tailed deer accounted for 32,148 antlered and 47,271 antlerless deer. Sika deer accounted for 2,143 antlered and 2,639 antlerless deer. Together, those reported categories make up Maryland’s 84,201-deer total.
Wisconsin’s preliminary nine-day 2024 gun harvest included 89,787 antlered and 99,835 antlerless deer. Washington’s 2023 statewide total included 21,585 antlered and 2,317 antlerless deer. Idaho Unit 1’s 2024 all-weapons general harvest included 1,984 antlered and 808 antlerless deer.
The categories are not perfectly interchangeable across reports. South Carolina lists bucks, button bucks, does, and unknown sex, while other reports use antlered and antlerless groupings. Maryland also reports white-tailed and sika deer separately, so the species context matters when comparing its numbers with another state’s total.
Seasons and weapon types
Washington’s 2023 statewide report breaks harvest into three method categories. Archery produced 3,107 deer, including 1,994 antlered and 1,113 antlerless deer. Modern firearms produced 19,496 deer, including 18,524 antlered and 972 antlerless deer. Muzzleloaders produced 1,299 deer, including 1,067 antlered and 232 antlerless deer.
South Carolina’s 2024 deer harvest was led by centerfire rifles, which accounted for 85%. Shotguns accounted for 5.9%, and bows accounted for 5.4%. Those percentages describe weapon shares in that state’s corrected 2024 deer-season report.
Maryland’s 2024-2025 archery seasons produced 28,895 deer, including 14,024 antlered and 14,871 antlerless deer. The report lists a crossbow harvest of 17,537 deer, equal to 60% of the archery-season harvest. Illinois’s preliminary 2024 firearm harvest was split between 54,661 deer in the first segment and 27,835 in the second.
Idaho Unit 1 provides a smaller, unit-level comparison: its 2024 archery harvest was 95 deer and its muzzleloader harvest was 9 deer. These figures sit within the unit’s all-weapons general-season reporting and should not be read as statewide Idaho totals.
Recent changes and trends
Several reports include a comparison with the preceding season or a longer historical reference. Pennsylvania’s calculated total deer harvest rose from 430,010 in 2023 to 476,880 in 2024. Its calculated antlerless harvest rose from 258,410 to 301,600 over the same period.
South Carolina’s corrected 2024 harvest was 4% lower than the 198,171 deer reported for 2023 and 40% below the state record of 319,902 set in 2002. The state report says harvest totals since 2015 have generally remained between 175,000 and 200,000 deer annually.
Maryland’s total harvest increased 16%, from 72,642 in 2023-2024 to 84,201 in 2024-2025. Its archery harvest also increased 16%, from 24,789 to 28,895. Wisconsin’s preliminary 2024 gun-season total was 5.2% higher than its 2023 figure. Illinois’s preliminary 2024 firearm harvest of 82,496 exceeded the 2023 total of 76,494 by 6,002 deer.
The periods are not identical: Maryland compares full seasons, Illinois compares firearm seasons, Wisconsin compares gun seasons, and South Carolina provides both a recent year-over-year comparison and a reference to its 2002 record.
Regional and county leaders
South Carolina reported an average 2024 harvest density of 8.7 deer per square mile of available deer habitat. Anderson County led at 22.7 deer per square mile, followed by Spartanburg County at 16.9, Orangeburg County at 13.9, Bamberg County at 12.9, and Laurens County at 11.9.
Maryland’s Region B produced 73,926 deer in 2024-2025, including 28,455 antlered and 45,471 antlerless deer. Region A produced 10,275 deer, including 5,836 antlered and 4,439 antlerless deer. The report’s county leaders were Frederick County with 6,869 deer, Dorchester County with 6,074, and Carroll County with 5,988.
Wisconsin’s 2024 gun-season report identifies Adams County as the leader in the Central Farmland Zone, with 12.4 registered deer per square mile. Because that is a zone-specific density measure, it is not directly equivalent to South Carolina’s statewide available-habitat average or county ranking.
Hunters, effort, and success
Harvest totals become easier to interpret when paired with participation and effort. South Carolina estimated 190,330 deer hunters in 2024: 173,520 residents and 16,811 nonresidents. Hunters averaged 14.6 days afield, for 2,510,326 deer-hunting days. The overall deer-hunter success rate was 60%, defined as harvesting at least one deer among those who hunted.
Within South Carolina’s estimate, successful hunters averaged 17 days afield, compared with 10 days for unsuccessful hunters. That is a participation comparison from the state’s 2024 deer-season report, not a claim that additional days alone determine an individual outcome.
Washington reported 94,191 deer hunters and a 25% statewide success rate in 2023. Its modern-firearm season included 75,510 hunters and a 26% success rate. Idaho Unit 1’s 2024 all-weapons general hunt recorded 7,034 hunters, 46,260 hunter-days, and a 40% success rate. The unit’s archery hunt recorded 633 hunters, 4,344 hunter-days, and a 15% success rate.
Maryland estimated approximately 18,000 annual vertical-bow deer hunters in 2024-2025, with 23% taking at least one deer with the bow. It estimated approximately 20,000 crossbow deer hunters, with 30%-40% taking at least one deer with that weapon. These Maryland figures are estimates and ranges, while the state’s harvest counts are reported totals for the 2024-2025 season.