2024 Deer Harvest Preliminary Numbers

[HorizontalHunter]

The 2024 preliminary numbers are in for the last deer season. I thought for sure it would be a record year due to the terrific weather and the extra two weeks of archery season.

Preliminary results indicate that the 2024 hunting season had a harvest of 15,032 deer, which
was a decline of approximately 3% from 2023 and 5% from the record-setting 2022 season.
Archery season had a record high harvest of 6,988 deer, likely due to excellent hunting weather
and a two-week longer archery season in Wildlife Management Zones (WMZs) 1-9. This
exceeded the previous record of 6,655 set in 2020. The shotgun and primitive season harvests
were negatively impacted by poor weather and a 4-day shorter primitive season due to the late
Thanksgiving. There was a record antlerless harvest of 7,237 deer exceeding the previous
record of 7,146 set in 2022.
Thanks to donations of harvested deer by generous hunters, over 30,000 meals of venison were
distributed during the 2024 season through MassWildlife’s Hunters Share the Harvest program.
Since the program’s inception in 2022, over 50,000 meals of venison have been distributed to
Massachusetts communities experiencing food insecurity.

https://www.mass.gov/doc/2024-deer-harvest-preliminary-summary/download

 

[Sparkey]

I know a lot of out of state hunters gave up Mass this year due to new gun laws and confusion over them. So maybe less people hunting less deer taken.

 

[whacko]

I know a lot of out of state hunters gave up Mass this year due to new gun laws and confusion over them. So maybe less people hunting less deer taken.

I'm a resident mass hunter that's given up hunting in mass. I didn't hunt a single day in mass last year......all my hunting was in nh.

 

[Mark from ?]

I only archery hunted last year and passed a few deer in my buddy's primo spot. He had plenty of venison for me to grab and take home. Im mulling even bothering to get a license this year, certainly not for deer hunting.

Shotgun numbers go down because older guys are shotgun hunters....and are likely aging out.....been on a boomer down trend for a while now, seeing it big in bird hunting on state land in west central. Very few hunters anymore...lots more bird availability.

archery numbers are up because they keep adding days, and urban areas where a lot of archery takes place are loaded with deer due to lack of gun hunting.

Central/Western zones are fairly pathetic with numbers when you consider the square footage and open land that they have.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

I only archery hunted last year and passed a few deer in my buddy's primo spot. He had plenty of venison for me to grab and take home. Im mulling even bothering to get a license this year, certainly not for deer hunting.

Shotgun numbers go down because older guys are shotgun hunters....and are likely aging out.....been on a boomer down trend for a while now, seeing it big in bird hunting on state land in west central. Very few hunters anymore...lots more bird availability.

archery numbers are up because they keep adding days, and urban areas where a lot of archery takes place are loaded with deer due to lack of gun hunting.

Central/Western zones are fairly pathetic with numbers when you consider the square footage and open land that they have.

Excellent synopsis of where we are and where we are heading.

Bob

 

[RIFLEMAN1000]

Southeast Mass had large crop of acorns and beechnuts last year , Deer movement was non existant , they stayed in yards and small patches of woods and didn't move at all . I saw the fewest number deer in my area in years , lots of my fellow hunters complained of the lack of movement in our area . Last year was the first time in years i didn't get a deer during archery. I took a 7 pointer in shotgun and my daughter took a large doe in shotgun season. I'm hoping for less mast this year to get the deer moving .