Deer harvest data shows how much venison enters the food system, where harvests are concentrated, and which hunting methods supply it. The figures below cover Maryland’s 2023–2024 season, South Carolina’s 2024 season, Minnesota’s 2024 season, Massachusetts venison distribution, and federal food guidance.
Table of contents
- Maryland harvest totals and trends
- Where Maryland deer were harvested
- South Carolina harvest and hunting methods
- Minnesota licenses, harvest, and archery
- Venison distribution and food guidance
- What the figures show for venison cooks
Maryland harvest totals and trends
Maryland hunters harvested 72,642 deer during the 2023–2024 season, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (Maryland DNR). The statewide total was down 5.3% from 76,687 deer in the prior season. That year-over-year comparison is a reported seasonal change, not a long-term population estimate.
The harvest split between antlered and antlerless deer was:
- Antlered deer: 31,937, up 1.1% from 31,590 in the prior season (Maryland DNR).
- Antlerless deer: 40,705, down 9.7% from 45,097 in the prior season (Maryland DNR).
- The antlerless harvest exceeded the antlered harvest by 8,768 deer in 2023–2024 (Maryland DNR).
| Maryland measure | 2023–2024 figure | Reported comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Total harvest | 72,642 deer | Down 5.3% from 76,687 |
| Antlered harvest | 31,937 deer | Up 1.1% from 31,590 |
| Antlerless harvest | 40,705 deer | Down 9.7% from 45,097 |
| Sunday harvest | 7,074 deer | 10% of total harvest |
Maryland hunters harvested 7,074 deer on Sundays, equal to 10% of the total harvest, according to Maryland DNR. The Sunday figure is a day-of-week harvest measure within the same 2023–2024 season.
Maryland’s two broad regions also moved lower. Region A produced 9,169 deer, down 4% from 9,552 the year before. Region B produced 63,473 deer, down 6% from 67,135 the year before. These regional figures are reported by Maryland DNR for the 2023–2024 season.
Where Maryland deer were harvested
County totals show how unevenly harvest was distributed across Maryland. Frederick County led the state with 6,549 deer harvested. Carroll County reported 5,729, and Garrett County reported 5,108. Baltimore County recorded 4,550, while Washington County recorded 4,418. All of these figures are 2023–2024 harvest totals from Maryland DNR.
Additional county totals from Maryland DNR were:
- Cecil County: 3,021 deer.
- Allegany County: 2,952 deer.
- Queen Anne’s County: 2,817 deer.
- Worcester County: 2,577 whitetail deer and 101 sika deer.
- Charles County: 2,433 deer.
- Wicomico County: 2,415 whitetail deer and 328 sika deer.
- Talbot County: 1,928 deer.
- St. Mary’s County: 1,985 deer.
- Dorchester County: 1,877 whitetail deer and 3,643 deer total including sika.
- Anne Arundel County: 1,724 deer.
- Somerset County: 1,690 whitetail deer and 33 deer total including sika.
- Calvert County: 1,401 deer.
The species-specific entries matter when interpreting county numbers. Dorchester County’s 1,877 whitetail deer is not the same measure as its 3,643 deer total including sika. The same distinction applies to Somerset County’s 1,690 whitetail deer and 33 deer total including sika, and to the separate whitetail and sika entries reported for Wicomico and Worcester counties. These are source labels and categories supplied by Maryland DNR, so they should not be combined as though every row used one identical definition.
For cooks, the county data is best understood as a map of harvest activity rather than a direct measure of available packaged venison. A harvest count records deer taken during the season; it does not state how much meat was recovered from each animal or how much reached households, processors, or donation programs.
South Carolina harvest and hunting methods
South Carolina’s 2024 deer season harvest totaled 190,707 deer, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). The 2024 harvest was 4% below the 2023 total of 198,171 deer and 40% below the 2002 record of 319,902 deer. Those comparisons span different seasons and should not be read as a forecast for a future harvest.
SCDNR reported the following 2024 categories:
- Antlered bucks: 90,670.
- Button bucks: 8,230.
- Does: 80,598.
- Deer of unknown sex: 11,209.
Centerfire rifles accounted for 85% of South Carolina’s deer harvest. Shotguns accounted for 5.9%, and bows accounted for 5.4%. Muzzleloaders, crossbows, and handguns together accounted for less than 5% of the harvest, according to SCDNR.
Hunter-use figures describe participation differently from harvest-method figures. About 92% of South Carolina hunters used rifles during deer season, and nearly 80% used multiple weapons. Among resident hunters, 29% used archery equipment and 14% used shotguns. Among nonresident hunters, 18% used archery equipment and 5% used shotguns. These percentages are reported hunter-use measures, while the 85% rifle figure is the share of harvested deer attributed to centerfire rifles.
Minnesota licenses, harvest, and archery
Minnesota’s registered total deer harvest was 134,352 in 2024, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (Minnesota DNR). License sales provide a separate view of participation and are not equivalent to the number of deer harvested.
Minnesota firearms license sales in 2024 included 335,359 resident licenses, 13,432 nonresident licenses, 154,996 bonus permits, and 54,599 youth licenses. The total firearms license sales figure was 558,386.
| Minnesota 2024 measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Registered total deer harvest | 134,352 |
| Total firearms license sales | 558,386 |
| Total archery license sales | 109,788 |
| Total archery harvest | 27,690 |
| Archery success rate | 21.64% |
Archery license sales included 96,817 resident licenses, 3,087 nonresident licenses, and 9,884 youth licenses, for a total of 109,788. Minnesota DNR reported an archery harvest of 13,281 deer taken with crossbows and 14,409 deer taken with vertical bows. The total archery harvest was 27,690 deer, and the archery success rate was 21.64%.
Minnesota DNR also reported that 52% of archery-harvested deer in 2024 were antlerless. Archery hunters accounted for one-fifth of all antlerless deer harvested in 2024. These statements describe the composition and contribution of the archery harvest; they do not convert license sales into a harvest total.
Venison distribution and food guidance
Harvest totals do not show how much venison is eaten, donated, or distributed. One program-specific figure comes from Massachusetts: the state’s Hunters Share the Harvest program distributed approximately 17,800 meals of venison, according to Mass.gov. The word “approximately” is part of that reported measurement, and the figure applies to the program rather than to all venison in Massachusetts.
Federal food guidance also distinguishes deer meat from some other regulated meats. The Food and Drug Administration says deer are among the animals whose meat and meat products are generally regulated by the FDA rather than the U.S. Department of Agriculture (FDA). This is a statement about the general regulatory framework, not a claim about a particular cut, processor, inspection result, or preparation method.
USDA MyPlate counts 1 ounce of cooked game meat such as deer or venison as one serving from the protein-food group (MyPlate.gov). The serving reference is for cooked game meat and identifies a portion size; it does not state the nutritional composition of every venison cut or recipe.
What the figures show for venison cooks
The available statistics describe several different stages of the deer-meat picture. Maryland, South Carolina, and Minnesota provide seasonal harvest counts. Maryland’s county figures add local detail, including separate whitetail and sika categories in some counties. South Carolina’s figures show how the harvest was distributed by deer category and hunting method. Minnesota’s figures pair a registered harvest with license sales, bow-specific harvest counts, and an archery success rate. Massachusetts provides a program-level measure of donated meals, while FDA and USDA MyPlate provide regulatory and serving references.
The measures should remain separate when using them to understand venison. A deer harvest is not a meal count. A license sale is not a deer count. A percentage of hunters using a weapon is not the same as the percentage of harvested deer attributed to that weapon. Likewise, a county’s total including sika should not be treated as interchangeable with a whitetail-only total.
For practical meal planning, the most direct serving reference in these figures is USDA MyPlate’s 1 ounce of cooked deer or venison as a protein-food serving. For understanding supply, the most useful context is the combination of seasonal harvest totals, species or sex categories, and the separate donation-program count from Massachusetts. Together, the figures show the scale and structure of deer harvest without claiming that every harvested deer becomes an identical amount of finished meat.