Deer hunting is one of the largest parts of American hunting activity. The available figures span a long-running national comparison from 2011, a broader 2022 big-game snapshot, and recent harvest reports from Washington and Maryland. Together, they show the scale of participation, the amount of time hunters spend in the field, and how results differ by place, season, and hunting method.
Table of contents
- National participation and the big-game picture
- How much hunting effort deer represents
- Resident and nonresident deer hunting
- Success rates and hunting expenditures
- State-level deer hunting activity in 2011
- Recent Washington deer harvest statistics
- Recent Maryland deer harvest statistics
National participation and the big-game picture
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s 2022 National Survey press release counted 14.4 million U.S. residents age 16 and older as hunters. That is the broadest participation figure in this set, covering hunting overall rather than deer hunting alone.
The FWS report Big-Game Hunters: Demographic Characteristics and Expenditures counted 11.5 million Americans who hunted big game in 2022. Deer is included within the report’s big-game category, so this number is a useful national context figure for deer-focused readers, but it is not a deer-only total. Big-game hunters represented 80% of all hunters in 2022.
The same report found that about 1 in every 23 Americans age 16 and older hunted big game in 2022. Big-game participation also connected with broader wildlife interest: 91% of big-game hunters participated in wildlife-watching activities such as photography, feeding, or observing wildlife, compared with 57% of all U.S. residents.
The 2022 big-game population divided into two reported groups. A total of 6.2 million hunters pursued big game exclusively, while 5.3 million big-game hunters also pursued other species. Those figures describe participation patterns rather than the number of deer harvested.
The economic footprint was substantial. Big-game hunters generated $15.6 billion in hunting-related trip and equipment expenditures in 2022, according to the FWS big-game report. Because the figure covers big-game hunting broadly, it should not be treated as deer-only spending.
How much hunting effort deer represents
The report Deer Hunting in the United States: Demographics and Trends provides a detailed national benchmark for 2011. That report counted 12.890 million total resident hunters and 10.306 million resident deer hunters. Deer hunters therefore made up 80% of all resident hunters in the report’s 2011 national figures.
The time spent hunting was also large. U.S. hunters recorded 263.038 million total hunting days in 2011, while deer hunting accounted for 157.129 million hunting days. Deer hunting represented 60% of all hunting days nationwide in that report.
The concentration was especially strong in several states. Deer hunting made up more than 75% of all hunting-day activity in Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These state results describe the share of hunting-day activity, not a ranking by the number of deer harvested.
For a wider comparison, the FWS 2022 big-game report recorded 134.7 million days spent seeking big game. That total is not directly interchangeable with the 157.129 million deer-hunting days reported for 2011: the years differ, and big-game hunting includes species beyond deer.
| Measure | Reported figure | Period and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Total U.S. resident hunters | 12.890 million | 2011, all hunting |
| Resident deer hunters | 10.306 million | 2011, United States |
| Total hunting days | 263.038 million | 2011, all hunting |
| Deer-hunting days | 157.129 million | 2011, United States |
| Big-game hunting days | 134.7 million | 2022, all big game |
Resident and nonresident deer hunting
The 2011 deer report found that 95% of deer hunters hunted deer in their resident state. Just over 1.0 million hunters hunted deer in a nonresident state, and 546,000 hunted deer only in a nonresident state.
Those figures describe overlapping travel categories, so they should be read carefully. A hunter could be represented in more than one activity category depending on where and how that person hunted. The clearest overall pattern is that in-state hunting dominated: the report’s 95% figure shows how commonly deer hunters pursued deer where they lived.
The report also recorded resident and nonresident success separately. In 2011, 33% of deer hunters were successful in their state of residence, compared with 26% of deer hunters in nonresident states. These are participation-era success figures from the 2011 report, not current statewide rates and not harvest totals.
The geographic emphasis in the 2011 data is also visible in the state activity figures. Texas recorded 12.039 million deer-hunting days, Wisconsin recorded 7.617 million, and Michigan recorded 6.870 million. Virginia recorded 6.736 million deer-hunting days, while Georgia recorded 5.758 million.
Success rates and hunting expenditures
Success and cost measure different parts of the deer-hunting experience. The 2011 report’s 33% resident-state success rate and 26% nonresident-state success rate indicate the share of hunters reported as successful in those settings. They do not specify the number of deer each successful hunter took.
The same report listed several average deer trip-and-equipment expenditure figures for different survey segments: $670, $1,025, $971, $987, and $1,186. Since the source presents these as separate segments, they should remain separate rather than being combined into an unsupported overall average.
The 2022 FWS big-game report adds a broader spending measure of $15.6 billion in hunting-related trip and equipment expenditures. That number covers big-game hunters nationwide and should not be compared as though it were one individual deer hunter’s cost.
The available figures therefore support three distinct ways to think about hunting economics: individual segment averages in the 2011 deer report, national big-game spending in 2022, and the participation and effort required to produce hunting activity. None of these measures alone gives a complete cost-per-deer figure.
State-level deer hunting activity in 2011
The 2011 deer report recorded substantial differences in deer-hunting days among states. Texas led the listed figures with 12.039 million deer-hunting days. Wisconsin followed with 7.617 million, and Michigan recorded 6.870 million. Virginia’s total was 6.736 million, while Georgia recorded 5.758 million.
Other reported state totals were Florida with 2.376 million deer-hunting days, Maryland with 1.383 million, Mississippi with 1.053 million, and Delaware with 261,000. These figures are all from 2011 and represent deer-hunting days, not the number of hunters or deer harvested.
| State | Deer-hunting days | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 12.039 million | 2011 |
| Wisconsin | 7.617 million | 2011 |
| Michigan | 6.870 million | 2011 |
| Virginia | 6.736 million | 2011 |
| Georgia | 5.758 million | 2011 |
| Florida | 2.376 million | 2011 |
| Maryland | 1.383 million | 2011 |
| Mississippi | 1.053 million | 2011 |
| Delaware | 261,000 | 2011 |
The same source includes state hunter counts for Alabama and Arkansas: Alabama had 405 resident deer hunters in 2011, while Arkansas had 286 resident deer hunters. The supplied figures do not state the unit convention behind those two entries, so they are best preserved exactly as reported rather than reinterpreted or converted.
Recent Washington deer harvest statistics
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife reported 26,564 deer harvested across archery, modern firearm, and muzzleloader seasons in 2024. The statewide total included 2,619 deer harvested by archery hunters, 22,584 by modern firearm hunters, and 1,361 by muzzleloader hunters.
The Washington report also counted 93,036 deer hunters statewide in 2024. Its overall deer hunter success rate was 29%. That rate is a statewide measure for the reported year; it is not directly comparable with the 33% resident-state and 26% nonresident-state success figures from the 2011 national deer report because the definitions, geography, and measurement periods differ.
| Washington measure | 2024 figure |
|---|---|
| Total deer harvested | 26,564 |
| Archery harvest | 2,619 |
| Modern firearm harvest | 22,584 |
| Muzzleloader harvest | 1,361 |
| Deer hunters statewide | 93,036 |
| Overall hunter success rate | 29% |
The harvest breakdown shows why method-specific figures matter. Washington’s total is reported alongside separate archery, modern firearm, and muzzleloader results, while the hunter total and success rate describe the statewide hunting population more broadly.
Recent Maryland deer harvest statistics
Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported 84,201 deer harvested during the 2024–2025 season. The total included white-tailed deer and sika deer, with separate antlered and antlerless categories.
Maryland’s reported white-tailed deer harvest included 32,148 antlered deer and 47,271 antlerless deer. Its sika deer harvest included 2,143 antlered deer and 2,639 antlerless deer.
| Maryland harvest category | 2024–2025 season |
|---|---|
| Total deer harvest | 84,201 |
| Antlered white-tailed deer | 32,148 |
| Antlerless white-tailed deer | 47,271 |
| Antlered sika deer | 2,143 |
| Antlerless sika deer | 2,639 |
The Maryland figures use a full 2024–2025 season, while Washington’s figures use the 2024 reporting year. They should therefore be read as separate state snapshots rather than as a like-for-like ranking. The species split also matters: Maryland’s total combines white-tailed and sika deer, whereas the Washington figures supplied here are organized by hunting method.
For cooks and wild-game households, the practical takeaway from these statistics is that “deer harvest” can describe several different measurements: hunters, hunting days, reported success, method-specific harvest, species category, or a full-season total. Keeping the year, geography, and definition attached to each number makes comparisons much more useful.