Annual buck harvest numbers up, but antlerless deer remain flat

Brian Whipkey, Pennsylvania Outdoors Columnist

Hunters in Pennsylvania harvested 5% more bucks and about the same number of antlerless deer over the 2023-24 hunting seasons as compared to the previous year.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission released the deer harvest totals Thursday afternoon, revealing the statewide buck harvest is estimated at 171,600 and the antlerless harvest is estimated at 258,410. The combined total of 430,010 deer is 2% greater than the 2022-23 seasons, which was estimated at 422,960. It’s 4% higher than the total harvest seen as a three-year average.

Last year the agency reported hunters shot 164,190 bucks and 258,770 antlerless deer.

The buck harvest was up in 2023-24 by 5% over the season previous and up 6% over the three-year average.

Despite the agency selling 1,095,399 antlerless licenses for 2023-24 hunting seasons, an increase of 152,576 doe tags over 2022-23, the total harvest increased by 360 deer.

A buck walks near a trail camera Jan. 28 in Somerset County. The Pennyslvania Game Commission reports hunters shot more than 430,00 deer in the 2023-24 hunting seasons that ended in January.
A buck walks near a trail camera Jan. 28 in Somerset County. The Pennyslvania Game Commission reports hunters shot more than 430,00 deer in the 2023-24 hunting seasons that ended in January.

Overall, the agency reports 27% of deer hunters harvested a buck. That is a slight increase over 2022-23’s 26% success rate, and up significantly from the 15% success rate seen as recently as 2007-08.

The majority of bucks harvested are older than in decades past, too. Before antler point restrictions were implemented 21 years ago, most of the bucks harvested were yearling deer, meaning those 1.5-years-old. In 2023-24, the PGC believes 64% of bucks taken were at least 2.5 years old.

As for the 2023-24 antlerless deer harvest, 69% of the harvest was adult females. Another 16% were button bucks and 14% were doe fawns. Those, too, are in line with long-term averages. The number of antlerless deer is as compared to the previous year.

Game Commission Deer and Elk Section Supervisor David Stainbrook said harvest estimates are calculated using antlered and antlerless harvest reports by hunters in combination with data from deer checked by crews at processors across the state to estimate reporting rates.

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“Last year, 31 teams of trained deer agers visited more than 400 processors across the Commonwealth during the statewide firearms season to collect data, age deer based on tooth replacement and wear, and record information from harvest tags,” Stainbrook said in the news release. “They examined more than 24,000 whitetails.”

Hunters themselves, meanwhile, reported taking more than 134,000 deer, most often using the Game Commission’s online reporting system. That accounted for 74% of all reports received. Another 18% of deer harvest reports came via report cards, while 8% of reports were made by phone.

The PGC reports about one in four antlerless licenses issued for last season resulted in a harvest.

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“There’s no denying this a great time to be a Pennsylvania deer hunter,” Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans said in the news release. “But best of all, these numbers show that we’re managing deer and their habitat in ways that are sustainable over the long haul. That’s not only best for deer, but for deer hunters, too.”

As in years past, the regular firearms deer season accounted for the largest part of the 2023-24 deer harvest. Firearms hunters took an estimated 254,710 deer, with 86,260 of those bucks and the remaining 168,450 being antlerless. Bowhunters accounted for a little over a third of the total deer harvest, taking an estimated 154,850 whitetails (83,370 bucks and 71,480 antlerless deer) with either bows or crossbows. The estimated muzzleloader harvest was 20,450 (1,970 bucks and 18,480 antlerless deer).

Totals by Wildlife Management Units

Total deer harvest estimates by Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) for 2023-24 (with 2022-23 figures in parentheses) are as follows:

  • WMU 1A: 8,000 antlered (9,000), 13,800 antlerless (13,800).

  • WMU 1B: 10,300 antlered (9,100), and 13,600 antlerless (15,300).

  • WMU 2A: 10,000 antlered (8,700), and 13,300 antlerless (11,000).

  • WMU 2B: 7,000 antlered (6,600), and 16,000 antlerless (15,000).

  • WMU 2C: 10,600 antlered (10,000), and 20,600 antlerless (16,600).

  • WMU 2D: 11,800 antlered (14,000), and 21,400 antlerless (23,000).

  • WMU 2E: 6,900 antlered (6,700), and 12,800 antlerless (10,600).

  • WMU 2F: 9,100 antlered (8,800), and 13,900 antlerless (11,800).

  • WMU 2G: 8,100 antlered (8,800), and 6,500 antlerless (5,100).

  • WMU 3A: 5,200 antlered (5,700), and 6,000 antlerless (5,600).

  • WMU 3B: 7,700 antlered (7,300), and 7,600 antlerless (8,900).

  • WMU 3C: 8,900 antlered (8,000), and 10,600 antlerless (12,000).

  • WMU 3D: 6,200 antlered (5,500), and 7,300 antlerless (7,400).

  • WMU 4A: 5,700 antlered (3,800), and 9,300 antlerless (11,100).

  • WMU 4B: 5,000 antlered (4,800), and 9,500 antlerless (8,400).

  • WMU 4C: 8,200 antlered (6,900), and 6,700 antlerless (8,200).

  • WMU 4D: 8,400 antlered (7,900), and 13,500 antlerless (12,200).

  • WMU 4E: 8,100 antlered (8,000), and 13,700 antlerless (12,400).

  • WMU 5A: 4,100 antlered (3,100), and 7,800 antlerless (7,400).

  • WMU 5B: 9,700 antlered (10,900), and 14,300 antlerless (16,300).

  • WMU 5C: 9,100 antlered (7,200), and 13,100 antlerless (16,700).

  • WMU 5D: 2,900 antlered (2,500), and 6,700 antlerless (6,700).

  • Unknown WMU: 600 antlered (1,090), and 410 antlerless (1,470).

Totals by seasons

Season-specific 2023-24 deer harvest estimates (with 2022-23 harvest estimates in parentheses) are as follows:

  • WMU 1A: archery, 4,400 antlered (4,730) and 3,800 antlerless (3,810); and muzzleloader, 100 antlered (70) and 1,000 antlerless (1,390).

  • WMU 1B: archery, 5,040 antlered (3,970) and 2,610 antlerless (2,950); and muzzleloader, 160 antlered (30) and 790 antlerless (1,250).

  • WMU 2A: archery, 4,530 antlered (3,620) and 2,600 antlerless (2,060); and muzzleloader, 70 antlered (80) and 1,200 antlerless (1,240).

  • WMU 2B: archery, 5,320 antlered (4,830) and 8,750 antlerless (6,750); and muzzleloader, 80 antlered (70) and 650 antlerless (850).

  • WMU 2C: archery, 5,100 antlered (4,410) and 5,040 antlerless (3,900); and muzzleloader, 100 antlered (90) and 1,660 antlerless (1,700).

  • WMU 2D: archery, 5,610 antlered (6,690) and 4,130 antlerless (4,450); and muzzleloader, 190 antlered (110) and 1,770 antlerless (2,650).

  • WMU 2E: archery, 3,040 antlered (2,540) and 2,530 antlerless (1,900); and muzzleloader, 60 antlered (60) and 1,070 antlerless (1,100).

  • WMU 2F: archery, 3,400 antlered (3,250) and 2,090 antlerless (1,930); and muzzleloader, 100 antlered (50) and 1,310 antlerless (1,470).

  • WMU 2G: archery, 2,670 antlered (2,840) and 1,170 antlerless (1,230); and muzzleloader, 130 antlered (60) and 630 antlerless (1,070).

  • WMU 3A: archery, 1,830 antlered (2,070) and 970 antlerless (1,030); and muzzleloader, 70 antlered (30) and 530 antlerless (670).

  • WMU 3B: archery, 3,090 antlered (3,050) and 1,530 antlerless (1,830); and muzzleloader, 110 antlered (50) and 770 antlerless (1,070).

  • WMU 3C: archery, 3,220 antlered (2,870) and 2,020 antlerless (2,170); and muzzleloader, 80 antlered (30) and 780 antlerless (1,330).

  • WMU 3D: archery, 2,630 antlered (2,260) and 2,020 antlerless (2,030); and muzzleloader, 70 antlered (40) and 480 antlerless (770).

  • WMU 4A: archery, 1,820 antlered (1,170) and 1,750 antlerless (1,970); and muzzleloader, 80 antlered (30) and 750 antlerless (1,130).

  • WMU 4B: archery, 2,470 antlered (2,070) and 2,530 antlerless (2,100); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (30) and 570 antlerless (800).

  • WMU 4C: archery, 4,220 antlered (3,450) and 1,770 antlerless (2,170); and muzzleloader, 80 antlered (50) and 430 antlerless (830).

  • WMU 4D: archery, 3,400 antlered (3,020) and 3,380 antlerless (2,840); and muzzleloader, 100 antlered (80) and 1,020 antlerless (1,260).

  • WMU 4E: archery, 3,930 antlered (3,610) and 3,310 antlerless (2,800); and muzzleloader, 70 antlered (90) and 990 antlerless (1,100).

  • WMU 5A: archery, 1,970 antlered (1,390) and 2,480 antlerless (2,460); and muzzleloader, 30 antlered (10) and 520 antlerless (540).

  • WMU 5B: archery, 6,490 antlered (6,730) and 6,100 antlerless (6,600); and muzzleloader, 110 antlered (70) and 800 antlerless (1,400).

  • WMU 5C: archery, 6,470 antlered (5,020) and 6,200 antlerless (8,040); and muzzleloader, 130 antlered (80) and 600 antlerless (760).

  • WMU 5D: archery, 2,480 antlered (2,080) and 4,560 antlerless (4,760); and muzzleloader, 20 antlered (20) and 140 antlerless (140).

  • Unknown WMU: archery, 240 antlered (100) and 140 antlerless (90); and muzzleloader, 0 antlered (0) and 20 antlerless (0).

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors, and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: How many deer did hunters shoot in Pennsylvania?

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