Hunters in Garrett County harvested 1,465 deer during the deer seasons from Sept. 11 through Oct. 31, up 10.5% from 1,326 deer last year, according to figures released Nov. 9 by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Garrett’s total includes 979 antlered deer, up 15.9% from 845 in 2025, and 486 antlerless deer, up 1% from 481.
Statewide, Maryland hunters harvested 19,505 deer during the early portion of the 2026 archery and muzzleloader seasons. That is a 3% increase from last year’s 18,930 deer for the same period and 5.3% higher than the previous five-year average of 18,526 deer.
The statewide two-month harvest included 10,671 deer taken during archery season and 8,451 during the October muzzleloader season. The archery harvest rose 7% and the muzzleloader harvest fell 6% compared to the previous year. Hunters took 1,174 deer on Sundays that were open to archery hunting, 6% of the total archery harvest.
DNR noted that multiple Eastern Shore counties had moderate outbreaks of hemorrhagic disease this summer and fall, and that localized reductions in white-tailed deer populations may have contributed to lower harvests in those areas.
