General Deer Hunting Rules

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Deer hunting regulations are divided by regions. There are two Deer Management Regions whose dividing line is in Washington County. There are also rules and seasons for archery, firearms (including air guns) and muzzleloader deer hunting.

General Deer Hunting Rules

A hunter must carry personal photo identification (such as a driver’s license) or a secondary form of positive identification while hunting.
Written permission is required to hunt on private land.
A hunting license is required to hunt deer (with exceptions). See Hunting Licenses, Stamps and Permits (Hunting Licenses) for Armed Forces information and hunting license costs, exceptions, purchasing, requirements and types.
An Archery Stamp is required for Archery Deer Season and when using bows during the Primitive Deer Hunt Days. A Muzzleloader Stamp is required for Muzzleloader Deer Season and when using a muzzleloader during the Primitive Deer Hunt Days (Deer Seasons & Bag Limits).
A Sika Stamp is required to take sika deer (Deer Seasons & Bag Limits).
There are tagging and checking requirements for all deer harvested. See Deer and Turkey Tagging and Checking for instructions (Deer & Turkey Tagging & Checking).
There are daylight fluorescent color clothing requirements to hunt deer. See Fluorescent Color Clothing Requirements and Exceptions (Hunting Regulations).
Archery equipment may be used to hunt deer during all of the deer hunting seasons. This includes the Junior Deer Hunt Days. Hunters may only use long bows or recurve bows during the Primitive Deer Hunt Days.
Muzzleloading firearms may only be used to hunt deer during the Muzzleloader Season, Firearms Season, Junior Deer Hunt Days and Primitive Deer Hunt Days. Hunters may only use flintlock or sidelock percussion muzzleloaders during the Primitive Deer Hunt Days. Muzzleloading revolvers are prohibited during the Primitive Deer Hunt Days.
Shotguns or rifles and handguns that fire straight-walled cartridges may be used to hunt deer in all counties during the Firearms Season and Junior Deer Hunt Days.
Rifles and handguns that shoot bottleneck cartridges may only be used to hunt deer during the Firearms Season and Junior Deer Hunt Days in certain counties and areas (see map and description, Hunting Regulations).
Air guns that shoot bullets, arrows or bolts may be used to hunt deer in all counties during the Firearms Season and Junior Deer Hunt Days only.
Deer harvested must count toward the bag limit of the season in which they are taken, please note:
- Deer harvested with archery equipment during the antlerless-only second split of the early Muzzleloader Season in Region B must count toward the Archery Season bag limit.
Hunters may not carry archery equipment and muzzleloaders at the same time when Archery Season and Muzzleloader Season are in concurrently. This includes the Primitive Deer Hunt Days.
Telescopic and electronic aiming devices may be used on all devices legal for hunting deer during the Archery, Muzzleloader and Firearms Seasons and Junior Deer Hunt Days. Telescopic and electronic aiming devices may not be used during the Primitive Deer Hunt Days.
The antlered white-tailed deer bag limit is statewide. It applies to both Region A and Region B together.
Antlerless white-tailed deer bag limits are separate and independent for Region A and Region B.
Sika deer bag limits are independent of the white-tailed deer bag limits.
Only one antlered white-tailed deer may be taken per day within the season bag limits. There is no restriction on the number of antlerless deer that may be taken per day within the season bag limits.
Antlered and antlerless deer may be harvested the same day within their prescribed bag limits.
Daily deer shooting hours are one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset with the exception of certain Sundays in certain counties (see Sunday hunting chart, Sunday Deer Hunting).
Recorded or electrically amplified calls or sounds are prohibited for the purpose of deer hunting.
Non-electronic deer calls are permitted for deer hunting.
Dogs cannot be used to hunt deer except trained tracking dogs may be used to find dead, wounded or injured deer. The dog handler must maintain physical control of the tracking dog at all times and only the hunter and dog handler may carry a hunting device while tracking the deer. Prior to tracking the deer, the hunter must notify the Natural Resources Police by telephone at 800-628-9944. The hunter may dispatch the deer only during legal shooting hours and by means legal for the current hunting season.
Deer may not be hunted while they are swimming or taking refuge in water.
Fallow deer (where they are found) may be taken in place of white-tailed deer during each of the deer hunting seasons. Fallow deer have escaped from captivity and are found in a few isolated areas in Maryland.
It is legal to bait deer except on state-owned or state-controlled properties.
A person that intentionally wounds or kills a deer must make a reasonable attempt to retrieve and make use of the deer. This includes hunters and persons shooting under the authority of a Deer Management Permit (crop damage permit).
A person must have written permission when entering lands owned by another person or organization for the purpose of retrieving a deer. Some publicly owned properties also require permission before a person may access them.
It is unlawful to cast the rays of an artificial light from a vehicle on buildings or dwellings, fields, livestock, orchards, wild mammals and birds or woods. See General Hunting Regulations for exceptions (Hunting Regulations).