The Northeast is home to some incredible deer hunting cultures. Maine’s offshore island hunting. Pennsylvania’s died-in-the-wool deer camp traditions. Delaware and Maryland’s seemingly impossible emergence as big-buck states. Whether you’re a resident or traveling hunter, here’s what to look out for in the 2024 Northeast region deer season forecast.
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The 2024 Southeast Deer Season Forecast
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Connecticut
Connecticut kicks it off with a strong 2024 season forecast. This year, it will have about 110,000 deer and 45,000 deer hunters. Interestingly, it’s known as one of the more liberal bag-limit states.
“Hunters can obtain multiple deer permits (archery, private land firearms, private land muzzleloader, state land shotgun, state land muzzleloader) allowing them to take upward of 10 deer in most zones or even more in others,” Labonte said. “Archers can also use a crossbow and hunt on Sundays and hunters in Urban Deer Management Zones (DMZ 11 and 12) can use bait on private land.”
There aren’t any changes from last season. And Labonte expects another good year. “There have been no changes between 2023 and 2024,” he said. “Similar to the previous two seasons with archery exceeding the firearms harvest, but unpredictable weather patterns keep us guessing what the overall outcome will be.”
Still don’t like the (fairly) new firearm discharge ordinance? There’s a potential way around it. “Hunters may get written permission from the landowner to waive the 500-ft firearms discharge ordinance if they feel comfortable doing so (landowner and hunter),” LaBonte said.
All in all, the 2024 forecast offers positives and negatives. “[In 2022], hemorrhagic disease (HD) was documented in four different zones (1, 2, 10, and 12) and seemed to be most prevalent in northwestern Connecticut, which also mildly impacted harvest numbers in that area. So far, weather conditions have been much different than last year. Hopefully HD will have a minimal presence/impact in the state this year. Acorn availability and weather conditions during the hunting season will determine how the season goes.”
Delaware
Delaware is home to about 31,000 deer. That might seem low, but for the size of the state, it has a solid deer density. Furthermore, it offers a good buck age structure, decent trophy potential, and moderate hunting pressure. It even offers one of the longest deer seasons in the country.
As with other states, Delaware is one of the latest to ban trail cameras on public lands. “The most recent change is the restricted use of trail cameras on state wildlife area properties,” said Samuel Millman, a wildlife biologist with the Deer Division of the DNREC.
Don’t overlook these opportunities, though. “Do not underestimate the wildlife areas productivity of big bucks,” Millman said. “I would encourage hunters to dig deep into the forested wildlife areas as these bucks will keep to the forests for cover. When you think you’ve hiked deep into the forest, go a little deeper. You will not regret the extra effort.”
In short, Millman says that previous years’ harvests indicate that the state is on an upward harvest trend each year.
Maine
With about 360,000 deer and 210,000 deer hunters, Maine might seem like a pressured state. In some ways, it is, but it still offers promise.
This year, some seasons are shifting away from past formats. For example, the youth deer hunt will be a Friday and Saturday hunt this year, whereas it was traditionally just a Saturday.
Can’t find a place to hunt? Maine makes it easier. “We have an open access land tradition whereby you may legally hunt on unposted land,” said deer biologist Nathan Bieber.“This is entirely reliant on the good will and grace of our landowners, so please make every effort to respect private property, and we highly recommend you contact any landowners whose land you would like to hunt.”
Another thing unique to Maine? Island hunting. “Our coastal islands that are not connected to land at low tide or by manmade structures are in our expanded archery area, and you can purchase unlimited antlerless and one additional either-sex tag for expanded archery,” Bieber said. “Many of these islands hold a lot of deer and are very sparsely hunted. These islands can offer excellent hunting opportunities for those willing to put in some extra work.”
In summary, this fall should be another good year for Maine deer hunters. “We had a very mild winter, good spring recruitment conditions, and we issued a very high number of antlerless permits,” Bieber said. “We’re expecting a very productive year. The seasons are a little late this year, so the tail end especially is a little bit more likely than usual to have snow.”
Furthermore, according to Bieber, hunters during the expanded archery season may now use crossbows.
The Northeast is rich in big-woods deer hunting.
Maryland
Perhaps one of the most underrated states in the country, Maryland is shaping up to have another great season. This year, the state is projected to see about 200,000 whitetails and 90,000 licenses sold.
“Maryland is a diverse state with deer occupying coastal pine barrens to rugged mountains,” said Jonathan Trudeau, black bear, and co-deer project leader with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. “There are many opportunities for hunters to take part in both white-tailed and sika deer hunting in the state. Despite having highly populated portions of the state, much of the state still has highly productive agriculture. Farmers are interested and willing to allow hunters on their property to harvest additional deer but oftentimes are not approached by hunters. Ask your local farmer if they are willing to allow you on their property to harvest venison for your freezer this fall.”
There are some changes this year. According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the CWD Management Area was expanded to include Allegany, Carrol, Frederick, and Washington counties. Also, the apprentice license may now be purchased multiple times for anyone age 16 and under. And many of the license and stamp fees have increased.
Overall, expect a good 2024 season. “Maryland’s deer herd is considered stable across most of the state, meaning harvest opportunities should be like years past,” Trudeau said. “However, a large hemorrhagic disease outbreak on the lower shore in 2022 resulted in a decline in the area’s deer population. This coming deer season should grant greater opportunities for hunters on the lower shore as the population is now rebounding from the outbreak.”
Massachusetts
Another northeastern state that hunters rarely talk about, Massachusetts has about 100,000 deer and 70,000 hunters. It’s relatively cheap to hunt here, too, even for non-residents. Surprisingly, it’s even put nearly 30 bucks in the B&C book, which is surprising for the size of the state.
This area has quite a bit of public land, too. And most of the state’s record-class bucks have been entered since the mid 90s. That signals the state is on an uptrend in quality bucks. All things considered, the 2024 season should be good.
New Hampshire
True to northeastern form, with about 100,000 deer and 50,000 hunters, New Hampshire has a typical 2:1 deer-to-hunter ratio. Like Massachusetts, it too is cheap to hunt here, including non-residents. In some cases, out-of-staters can hunt for about $100. In most states, you can’t find that.
Notedly, the deer harvest has been slightly down the past few years. That’s largely been attributed to record mast crops, though. Overall, the deer herd is quite strong. The buck age structure should be phenomenal for the 2024 season. And with 60 B&C bucks to its name — shocking for such a small state — it really gets the goosebumps going.
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A lot of northeastern bucks stick to the conifers, especially later in winter.
New Jersey
Home to about 145,000 whitetails and 73,000 deer hunters, New Jersey is no stranger to hunting pressure. And with only 16 bucks in the B&C book, there aren’t a lot of top-end deer. But it does have a lot of deer (for the size of the state), and a good number of decent bucks.
Of course, this destination is made up of a lot of small tracts, and it’s very suburban-esque. So, archery hunters oftentimes have better luck securing access to better ground. With recent mild winters, and several good mast crops, this fall holds promise.
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New York
Often under fire, New York state offers quality deer hunting. It has about 1 million deer and approximately 550,000 licensed hunters. This year, a small change was made.
“The paper used for sporting licenses and carcass tags changed from special stock (Valeron) to plain paper,” said Brendan Quirion, a biologist with the New York DEC. “This change allows hunters to receive their license and tags through email and print them from home. Also, legislation passed that removed the requirement for hunters to wear a backtag while hunting anywhere in New York State.”
It even has over 140 B&C bucks on record. Hunters who hunt here routinely find respectable bucks. “DEC’s Let Young Bucks Go and Watch Them Grow educational campaign encourages hunters to voluntarily pass up opportunities at young bucks to allow more bucks to reach older age classes, while protecting the freedom of hunters to harvest any buck they desire,” Quirion said. “Throughout the campaign’s implementation, DEC has documented a steady decrease in the percentage of yearling bucks (1.5 years old) in the buck harvest, with the percentage of older bucks (at least 2.5 years old) in the harvest continuing to increase. As a result, more older bucks are being harvested in New York than ever before. We expect this trend to continue during the 2024-25 deer hunting season.”
This year, the herd is expected to be stable to growing. The eastern part of the state is especially populated, with some areas harboring more than 100 deer per square mile. (That’s over 10 times the desired capacity.) Furthermore, it offers about 4 million acres of public land, which creates a lot of opportunities. Overall, 2024 should be a good year.
“Strong soft and hard mast crops in 2023 coupled with a mild winter in 2023-24 contributed to strong fawn production and survival in 2024,” Quirion said. “We expect antlerless deer harvest opportunities to be abundant during the 2024-25 season.”
On another positive note, New York seems to be handling CWD well. “Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was first discovered within New York in captive and wild deer in Oneida County in 2005,” Quirion said. “A swift, intensive, and comprehensive $1 Million testing and culling operation by DEC and NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets was able to stop the outbreak. New York is the only state to have eliminated CWD. No subsequent outbreaks of CWD have been detected through DEC’s strategic, risk-based CWD surveillance program meant to identify the earliest intrusions of CWD into New York.”
Pennsylvania
A state with incredible deer hunting culture, Pennsylvania rarely disappoints. With about 837,000, it produces stiff competition, but that doesn’t stop people from having fun and filling tags. “Your chances of success increase if you travel more than ½ mile from a road or parking area,” said David Stainbrook, a deer biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
There have been some changes in recent years, though. In 2019, the firearms opening day was moved from Monday to Saturday. Skip to 2020, and Sunday was added to make it an opening weekend for firearms. In 2021, the 14-day statewide concurrent antlered-antlerless firearms season was approved (used to be antlered only the first week). Also, antlerless license limit changed from a purchase limit of 3 per person (with the exception of WMUs 2B, 5C, 5D where it was unlimited) to a limit of 6 unfilled per person statewide (could purchase more once filled and if still available). And this year, antlerless license sales are completely electronic.
Overall, expect this season to be like previous years. For now, the deer herd and deer hunting are stable and relatively unchanging. According to Pennsylvania deer biologists, there are plenty of deer statewide, especially antlerless deer, and the state typically tops the charts each year for deer harvest.
Acorns crops matter, especially in the Northeast.
Rhode Island
With a state that has a great deer herd, good buck age structure, and only 8,000 licensed hunters, Rhode Island is an intriguing deer hunting state. It even touts decent genetics.
It offers some unique muzzleloader timing, too. “The muzzleloader season starts right as the rut starts to peak and offers great opportunity to shoot mature bucks no matter where you hunt,” said Dylan Ferreira, a principal wildlife biologist with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Division of Fish and Wildlife.
And for bowhunters, door-knocking can still work. “Don’t be afraid to ask for permission on private property in urban areas,” Ferreira said.
Plus, it’s cheap for out-of-state hunters to come here. “There is a very low cost for nonresident hunters compared to other states,” Ferreira said. “I believe it one of the cheapest in the country. A nonresident hunting license only costs $55, and a buck and doe tag would cost another $26.50 each. So, you can deer hunt as a NR for just over $100 (or ~$80 if you were only after a buck). If you bought that nonresident hunting license in the spring, you could hunt the turkey season ($21.50 for one permit), come back for deer season, and even duck season (state duck stamp $8).”
Like most states, there are some changes. Natural urine is banned from use. Mandatory deer check stations now run during the first weekend of muzzleloader and shotgun seasons. The Northwest cooperative is closed to hunt. Dogs are now permitted to help recover deer. Deer decoys can be used on WMAs during archery season. And there are new town/private cooperative hunting properties in the Bristol area.
Also, note additional important takeaways. “Durfee Hill Management Area Deer Check Station will be closed for renovations,” Ferreira said. “George Washington Management Area will be open as a deer check station in replacement of Durfee Hill Check Station while the renovation is underway. New deer check station located at Smithfield Sportsman Club. New deer check station hours for November only will be 8:00am to 8:00pm, December will remain 8 am to 6 p.m.”
Overall, this season looks great. “We have the potential to break our highest recorded harvest,” Ferreira concluded. “We have been trending up for the past 10 years, and this past seasons harvest was 143 deer shy of the record harvest of 2008.”
Vermont
Another overlooked state, Vermont has about 140,000 deer and 80,000 deer hunters. While there aren’t many changes this year, several took effect in 2020. According to the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, these included: A one-buck annual limit across all seasons (previously two bucks); antler restrictions were removed in some WMUs; archery season was extended to 60 days (previously 28 days); crossbows allowed for all archery hunters (previously 50+ and disability); new antlerless-only muzzleloader season in late October; new novice season (allows first time adult hunters to hunt during youth season for one year); moved youth season two weeks earlier (late October); and an increased annual bag limit from three to four.
This season, Nick Fortin, the deer and moose project leader for the VANR, expects to see “the same or slightly more deer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a better herd or season.”
West Virginia
With 650,000 whitetails and 280,000 hunters, West Virginia is a strong deer hunting state. It isn’t anything like neighboring Kentucky or Ohio, but it still offers hope for those looking for a positive deer season.
The 2024 outing shouldn’t be any different. The state has been stable the past several years, and that continues onward. While weather, mast crops, and other factors can change and influence deer season, hunters should expect a good year.
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