Maryland Deer Season 2026-27: Dates, Regions & What to Know

Maryland has not yet published its official 2026-27 deer season dates — as of July 1, 2026, the current Guide to Hunting and Trapping still covers 2025-26, and DNR's 2026-2028 regulation proposals are working through the process. The new guide typically lands in late summer. Here's last season's confirmed calendar so you can sketch your fall, plus the one date pattern Maryland hunters can bank on.

01Status: Pending

The Maryland DNR Wildlife and Heritage Service publishes the annual Guide to Hunting and Trapping (hosted on the eRegulations platform) with the official season tables. The current edition is 2025-26. DNR has also posted Hunting and Trapping Regulation Proposals for 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 — proposals, not final rules. Until the 2026-27 guide posts, don't act on any projected date.

One tradition worth noting while you wait: Maryland's two-week firearms season has long opened the Saturday after Thanksgiving — which would fall on November 28 in 2026 — but that is a historical pattern, not a published 2026 date.

02For Reference: Last Season (2025-26) Confirmed Dates

From the official 2025-26 Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping (accessed July 1, 2026). Sunday hunting applies only in certain counties — always check the Sunday chart.

03Region A vs. Region B

Maryland's calendar and bag limits split into two regions:

• Region A (Garrett, Allegany, and western Washington County): the mountain west. Tighter antlerless limits (two total across archery, muzzleloader, and firearms last season, one per day), no January firearms segment, and some antlerless hunting limited to designated public lands.
• Region B (the rest of the state): liberal antlerless bags (10-15 by season last season, unlimited in the Suburban Deer Management Zone of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George's counties) and extra season segments, including the January firearms days.

Statewide, the antlered white-tailed bag has been two per year (max one per weapon season) with a three-points-on-one-antler restriction on all but one buck, plus an optional Bonus Antlered Deer Stamp in Region B. Sika deer on the lower Eastern Shore run on their own stamp and bag limits — a genuinely different hunt inside the same seasons. Also note the firearms map: some counties allow all legal firearms, others restrict deer hunting to shotguns, straight-walled cartridge rifles, and handguns.

04License Basics

You'll need a Maryland hunting license (apprentice, junior, resident, or nonresident), and archery or muzzleloader hunting requires the corresponding stamp for some license types. All deer must be checked within 24 hours via the online Big Game Check-In or phone. Fluorescent orange/pink is required during firearms, muzzleloader, and junior days. Sunday deer hunting exists but is county-by-county — the single most common Maryland violation trap for traveling hunters.

05Check the Official Source

Watch these two official pages for the 2026-27 guide and calendar: Maryland DNR Guide to Hunting & Trapping and the deer seasons and bag limits section of the official guide — both accessed July 1, 2026. We'll update this post as soon as the 2026-27 dates are final.

06Plan the Season

While the calendar firms up:

• The Maryland rut prediction for 2026 projects the seeking and chasing peaks — Maryland bowhunters historically get the entire rut before the firearms opener.
• The Maryland solunar calendar rates every day by feeding-activity windows.
• Out this week? Best time to hunt today in Maryland has today's movement windows.
• Trail Pro Intel's free Hunt Forecast blends wind, fronts, and solunar timing for your exact stand — from a Montgomery County suburban lot to a Garrett County ridge.

Maryland's long archery season and generous Region B doe bags make it one of the Mid-Atlantic's best values. Get your license and stamps squared away now, and check back for the official 2026-27 table before opening morning.