The National Deer Association’s 2026 Deer Report is hot off the press, and it reveals three positive trends in the whitetail world. The harvest of 6,194,659 deer across America is the fifth highest in modern records, and the most since the 2020 season. Hunters everywhere are shooting more older rack bucks than ever, too. The doe harvest is up in several regions as well, which is leading to healthier herds with more balanced sex ratios.

Image: older_bucks

Nationwide, hunters shot more deer during the 24-25 season than any season since 2020. They also had the highest percentage of mature bucks taken in history, according to the 21 states that provided harvest data to the National Deer Association. Image by John Hafner

3 MILLION BUCKS AND COUNTING

Bow and gun hunters combined tagged 3,047,741 bucks during the 2024-25 season. If that sounds like a lot of racks, it is. The NDA says this was only the third time the buck kill has eclipsed 3 million since the turn of the 21st century. Texas hunters shot the most bucks (425,529), followed by Pennsylvania (175,280), and Wisconsin (162,336).

The bigger news is that we are being more selective than ever before pulling the trigger. An average of 46% of those bucks were 3 1/2 years or older, at least among the 21 states that provided harvest data to the NDA. That’s the highest percentage of mature bucks in the harvest, ever! The top three states for mature buck harvest were Oklahoma, with a whopping 81% of bucks 3 1/2 years or older checked in, followed closely by Mississippi (80%), and Louisiana (75%).

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For the mature buck harvest to climb in any state, the killing of young deer must obviously fall. The NDA reported that during the 2024-25 season, the yearling-buck harvest dropped to a new all-time low of 23%. Regionally, the Southeast recorded the fewest 1 1/2-year-old bucks in the harvest (only 14%), followed by the Midwest (28%).

DOE HARVEST IS UP

“Nationally, the buck harvest has been on an upward trend for 10 years and still sits near record highs, but the doe harvest has been struggling to stay ahead of it,” said Kip Adams, NDA’s Chief Conservation Officer and co-author of the Deer Report. For the last couple of years, Adams has encouraged hunters, especially those of us in eastern states, to shoot a doe or two or three, whatever the legal limit is. Hunters listened last year, and took more does to fill freezers.

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The total harvest of 3,146,918 antlerless deer in the 2024-25 season is the highest doe kill since 2020, and the second highest antlerless harvest since 2013. Hunters in the Northeast shot 12% more does than in recent seasons, and the Southeast increased its antlerless harvest by 7%. It’s interesting to note that 62 percent of does tagged were 2 1/2 years old or older.

MORE FACTS FROM THE NDA REPORT

* Top 3 states with highest whitetail population: Texas (5,045,00 deer), Wisconsin (2,100,000), and Missouri (1,700,000).

* Top 3 states with longest bow season: Rhode Island (197 days), Arkansas (158), and New Jersey (155).

* Top 3 states with longest rifle season: Florida (144 days), South Carolina (140), and Alabama (95).

* Annual deer harvest by type of weapon: Firearm (66%); archery (25%); muzzleloader (9%).

* Top 3 states for percentage of deer harvest by archery (compound and crossbow): New Jersey (63%), Connecticut (51%), and Massachusetts (50%).

* Top states for percentage of harvest by muzzleloader: Rhode Island (45%), New Hampshire (25%), and Virginia (24%).

* Top 3 States with highest buck limit: Connecticut (6 buck tags), New Jersey (6), Florida (5).

Download the NDA’s 2026 Report here.