HARRISBURG (TNS) — Hunters killed an estimated 376,810 whitetail deer in the 2021-22 seasons, down sharply from the previous hunting-license year, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
That total fell about 13% from the 435,180 deer killed in 2020-21, when hunters recorded the largest deer harvest in 16 years. But it was similar to the estimated statewide deer harvests in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
Since 1993 Pennsylvania hunters have harvested more than 400,000 deer in a license year 10 times. Twice during that period, deer harvests exceeded 500,000, first in 2000 and then again in 2002, when the state’s record overall deer harvest of 517,529 was set.
The large drop in harvest numbers is not cause for concern, according to commission Deer and Elk Section Supervisor David Stainbrook.
The 2020-21 season was above average, and the 2021-22 season is back on track with previous years.
About 22% of hunters took an antlered deer, he noted. That’s right in line with the previous four-year average and better than in years past.
“When corrected by the number of hunters, success rates are higher today than in the past, even with antler-point restrictions,” Stainbrook said. “That our hunters are able to replicate that level of harvest speaks to just how sustainable our deer population is here in Pennsylvania.”
He said the harvest also points to how antlerless allocations — and not length of seasons — drive deer harvests. The 2021 firearms deer season featured two weeks of concurrent buck and doe hunting for the first time statewide in more than a decade, yet with the number of antlerless tags available down compared to the year before, the overall harvest was lower.
In addition, many of the bucks harvested were older. Sixty-two percent of antlered deer taken by hunters were 2.5 years old or older. Only 38% were 1.5 years old.
That’s an almost complete reversal of how things were even two decades ago.
“Pennsylvania is routinely producing some really impressive deer, on both public and private ground,” said commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans said. “We see that in the entries coming into our Big Game Records Program, in the photos smiling hunters share, and in the deer we see when our staff visits deer processors to collect harvest data.
“We couldn’t have any of that without a well-managed deer herd and cooperation on the part of our hunters.”
In addition, 25% of antlerless tags issued resulted in a deer harvest by a hunter this past season, which is consistent with other recent years.
About 69% were adult females, 16% button bucks and 15% doe fawns. All those figures are consistent with long-term averages.
Bowhunters again last year accounted for a bit more than a third of the total deer harvest, taking 130,650 whitetails (68,580 bucks and 62,070 antlerless deer). The 2020-21 archery harvest was 160,480 deer (80,130 bucks and 80,350 antlerless deer).
The estimated muzzleloader harvest was 21,060 (1,020 bucks, 20,040 antlerless deer). The 2020-21 muzzleloader harvest was 28,260 (1,140 bucks, 27,120 antlerless deer).
Deer harvest estimates by wildlife management unit for 2021-22 (with 2020-21 figures in parentheses) are as follows:
WMU 1A, 6,000 antlered (9,000), 13,200 antlerless (18,000); WMU 1B, 9,300 antlered (11,700), and 12,600 antlerless (17,800); WMU 2A, 6,800 antlered (8,100), and 10,600 antlerless (11,800); WMU 2B, 5,200 antlered (6,200), and 12,100 antlerless (15,000). WMU 2C, 9,300 antlered (8,400), and 15,400 antlerless (15,700); WMU 2D: 11,500 antlered (12,000), and 19,900 antlerless (18,700); WMU 2E, 5,900 antlered (6,500), and 9,500 antlerless (11,300); WMU 2F, 8,900 antlered (10,700), and 10,200 antlerless (10,000); WMU 2G, 6,200 antlered (7,500), and 4,800 antlerless (6,800); WMU 2H, 2,500 antlered (2,900), and 1,900 antlerless (1,600).
WMU 3A, 5,400 antlered (7,000), and 5,400 antlerless (6,700); WMU 3B, 6,700 antlered (9,100), and 7,600 antlerless (8,500); WMU 3C, 7,600 antlered (10,800), and 9,400 antlerless (14,500); WMU 3D, 4,700 antlered (6,200), and 6,300 antlerless (6,400); WMU 4A, 4,900 antlered (5,200), and 10,300 antlerless (10,800); WMU 4B, 3,500 antlered (5,000), and 8,400 antlerless (10,800); WMU 4C, 5,700 antlered (7,000), and 6,400 antlerless (8,100); WMU 4D, 7,200 antlered (9,100), and 10,300 antlerless (12,300); WMU 4E, 7,900 antlered (8,600), and 11,800 antlerless (11,200).
WMU 5A, 3,100 antlered (3,500), and 7,200 antlerless (6,100); WMU 5B: 7,800 antlered (9,600), and 17,100 antlerless (16,400); WMU 5C, 6,600 antlered (8,400), and 14,700 antlerless (15,200); WMU 5D, 2,600 antlered (2,200), and 6,300 antlerless (6,500); and unknown WMU, 20 antlered (80), and 90 antlerless (200).
