During the 2024–25 deer hunting season, hunters reported harvesting 205,759 deer in Virginia, down just 0.4% from the 206,586 deer taken during the same time frame the previous season. This year’s total included 101,238 antlered bucks, 665 bucks that had shed their antlers, 13,019 button bucks, and 90,837 does (44.1%).
The youth and apprentice deer-hunting weekend resulted in a harvest of 2,443 deer. Archery hunters took 14% of the total deer harvest while muzzleloading deer hunters and firearms hunters took 24% and 62% of the total harvest, respectively. In counties where dogs could be used to hunt deer, 52% of deer were harvested with the aid of dogs during the general firearms season.
The 2024–25 deer harvest was up approximately 4% from the last ten-year average of 198,398. The increase in percent females harvested, up from 42.5% the previous year, should be beneficial in helping to stabilize or reduce deer herds on private lands where desired. Currently, 51% of the state’s deer management units (counties) are above population objectives, 45% are meeting the current objective, and 4% are below current objective.
Data presented in this summary are preliminary and do not include deer taken during the late urban archery or special late antlerless-only deer seasons. Data also do not include deer taken on out-of-season deer kill permits or those deer hit and killed by vehicles. Annual deer harvest totals by county dating back to 1947, including the county-specific deer harvest totals, can be found on DWR’s website along with additional information on deer management in Virginia.
Deer Kill Data: 1947–2024
