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Maryland · 2026-27 season year

Maryland Deer Season 2026-27

The rut peaks around Nov 8, in the heart of archery season. Archery: September 11, 2026 to January 31, 2027. Firearms: November 28, 2026 to January 10, 2027. Every date below comes from Maryland Department of Natural Resources, linked beside it. See the best days to hunt this week.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 2, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.
September 11, 2026 to January 31, 2027
Archery
published
November 28, 2026 to January 10, 2027
Firearms
published
October 22, 2026 to January 2, 2027
Muzzleloader
published
2 zone rows
Zone structure
as the agency draws it
The four questions in one

Maryland deer seasons, 2026-27

“When does deer season open” is four questions wearing one coat. Maryland Department of Natural Resources dates white-tailed and sika deer seasons separately by weapon, so each one is below under the agency’s own name for it, with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them.

Archery

published

Archery runs September 11, 2026 to January 31, 2027 across all zones.

Maryland archery, as published by Maryland Department of Natural Resources
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Statewide (segment 1)September 11, 2026October 21, 2026Sunday dates apply in certain counties only
Statewide (segment 2)October 25, 2026November 27, 2026
Statewide (segment 3)December 14, 2026December 18, 2026
Statewide (segment 4)January 3, 2027January 7, 2027
Statewide (segment 5)January 11, 2027January 31, 2027
Region A onlyJanuary 8, 2027January 10, 2027An extra January archery block in Region A

Dates read from Deer Seasons, Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping (Maryland DNR), accessed 2026-09-02.

The windows above are Maryland's statewide antlered white-tailed deer archery seasons. Maryland dates its antlerless windows separately by region, and dates sika deer separately again in Region B, all on the same agency table. Maryland also flags that Sunday hunting is allowed only in certain counties, on its own Sunday hunting chart.

Firearms

published

Firearms runs November 28, 2026 to January 10, 2027 across all zones.

Maryland firearms, as published by Maryland Department of Natural Resources
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideNovember 28, 2026December 12, 2026
Region B onlyJanuary 8, 2027January 10, 2027An extra January firearms block in Region B

Dates read from Deer Seasons, Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping (Maryland DNR), accessed 2026-09-02.

The two week firearms season opening the Saturday after Thanksgiving, plus a short January block in Region B, which covers the eastern and central counties.

Muzzleloader

published

Muzzleloader runs October 22, 2026 to January 2, 2027 across all zones.

Maryland muzzleloader, as published by Maryland Department of Natural Resources
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
Statewide (segment 1)October 22, 2026October 24, 2026
Statewide (segment 2)December 19, 2026January 2, 2027

Dates read from Deer Seasons, Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping (Maryland DNR), accessed 2026-09-02.

A short October window and a longer window across the turn of the year.

Junior Deer Hunt Days

published

Junior Deer Hunt Days runs November 14, 2026 to November 15, 2026 across all zones.

Maryland junior deer hunt days, as published by Maryland Department of Natural Resources
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideNovember 14, 2026November 14, 2026
Certain counties (Sunday hunting)November 15, 2026November 15, 2026Maryland's Sunday hunting chart says which counties

Dates read from Deer Seasons, Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping (Maryland DNR), accessed 2026-09-02.

Maryland calls its youth season Junior Deer Hunt Days: a single statewide Saturday plus a Sunday in the counties that allow Sunday deer hunting.

Which days to sit, this week

Frederick, MD · peak breeding about Nov 8

Rated Slow to Prime from the rut stage, the National Weather Service forecast and first light. See the full Maryland deer movement forecast, with the hour to be in the stand, why each day rates as it does, and a week for your own ZIP.

Junior Deer Hunt Days are for hunters age 16 or younger only.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources, read September 2, 2026. Read it at the source
The rest of the calendar

Other Maryland deer seasons the agency names

Beyond the four main windows, Maryland Department of Natural Resources dates one further season for deer. They are reproduced here under the agency’s own names, because a hunter reading a calendar needs to know which window a tag actually covers.

Primitive Deer Hunt Days

published

Primitive Deer Hunt Days runs February 1, 2027 to February 3, 2027 across all zones.

Maryland primitive deer hunt days, as published by Maryland Department of Natural Resources
ZoneOpensClosesNotes
StatewideFebruary 1, 2027February 3, 2027

Dates read from Deer Seasons, Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping (Maryland DNR), accessed 2026-09-02.

Three days at the very end of the Maryland season year, the last deer window on the calendar.

Zones

Maryland deer zones

Maryland does not have a deer season. It has 2 of them, and the boundaries between them were drawn by Maryland Department of Natural Resources along highways, rivers and county fragments rather than anything you can see from a stand. In several states those boundaries are not even the same from one weapon season to the next.

This page publishes the agency’s zone names and links the agency’s own zone map, which is where a hunter’s zone is determined. A wrong zone answer is a wrong season date.

Alert white-tailed buck standing in bare late fall brush at dusk
A buck on the move in bare November brush at Karl E. Mundt National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota. Photo: Liz Julian/USFWS. “White-tailed Deer, Karl E. Mundt National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota” — Liz Julian / USFWS Mountain Prairie — Public domain
Rules

Maryland deer hunting regulations

Season windows are carried here with their source and read date attached. Everything else a hunter is bound by is set by Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current Maryland regulations

Harvest limits, antler restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours, tagging and reporting, and license and permit requirements for Maryland are set by Maryland Department of Natural Resources, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources: current regulations
Two hunters in blaze orange and camouflage beside a wheelchair at the edge of bare winter woods, one helping the other with gear
Getting ready at the edge of the winter woods on a mobility assisted deer hunt. Many states date a season specifically for hunters with disabilities, and those windows are on the state pages. Photo: U.S. Marine Corps. “USMC-11410” — U.S. Marine Corps (official photo, marines.mil) — Public domain

Deer season dates in other states

Maryland deer movement forecastThe next 7 days rated Slow to Prime for deer movement, from the forecast and first light.Maryland deer rutThe biology beside the calendar: when deer actually breed here, from the agency conception studies. Dates are this page; the rut is that one.Maryland turkey seasonSpring and fall wild turkey windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Maryland duck seasonDuck and goose season dates by zone and flyway, read from the same agency.Maryland fall foliagePeak color and the archery weeks overlap. Plan the same trip.

Maryland deer season questions

Buck with antlers in velvet standing in tall summer grass in golden light
A buck still in velvet in late summer. The earliest archery openers land within weeks of antlers hardening. “White-tailed Deer Buck in Velvet (48804848567)” — USFWS Mountain Prairie — Public domain

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 2, 2026. Every season window is republished from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources page linked beside it, read on September 2, 2026; windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. Harvest limits, antler restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours and license rules are set by Maryland Department of Natural Resources, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national deer season guide and the Maryland rut timing page.