ANNAPOLIS — Somerset County hunters during the two-week firearm season harvested 4.2% less white-tailed deer reports the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

From Nov. 25 through Dec. 9, 861 were taken compared to 899 the previous year. The breakdown showed an increase from 291 to 300 antlered deer but far fewer antlerless dropping to 561 compared to 608 in 2022.

The trend was the same for Worcester and Dorchester counties, where their white-tailed deer harvests were down by 5.2% and 2.2% compared to last year with the 2023 totals harvested 1,393 and 966, respectively.

Wicomico County bucked the decline, however, with 1,238 deer harvested over firearms season compared to 1,201 in 2022 for a 3.1% increase.

Statewide hunters harvested 28,236 deer during the two-week firearm season which was 3% lower than last year’s official count of 29,160 deer.

“Firearm hunting for deer continues to be our most popular season,” Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Karina Stonesifer said. “The season enables many hunters to put much needed venison in the freezer and it helps significantly with managing the state’s deer population.”

In addition to the white-tailed deer, local hunters bagged the non-native sika deer which have been growing in number. In Somerset County eight antlered and five anterless sika were harvested for a total of 13 — one more than last year’s total.

In Dorchester County sika deer totals were near white-tailed harvest numbers, with 961 total sika, five less than white-tailed deer.

Maryland hunters in this region are now in  muzzleloader deer hunting season which runs through Dec. 30.