Pa. sees 6% rise in deer harvest

More than 505,000 deer were killed statewide in 2025-26.

By MEGAN TROTTER
TribLive

Pennsylvania hunters killed an estimated 6% more deer during the 2025-26 season.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission said Monday that 505,600 deer were killed statewide. Of the deer killed, 185,310 of them had antlers and 320,290 were without antlers — typically does.

This year, the state’s Wildlife Management Units issued more doe licenses to reduce deer populations in some areas and protect forests. The units manage nearly all game except elk, waterfowl and other migratory birds, and the move also aims to slow the spread of Chron- ic Wasting Disease, a fatal, contagious neurological illness.

“Deer are one species that can impact the composition of their own environment, with consequences not just for themselves, but for our forests and fields and all the other wildlife that habitat sustains,” said Steve Smith, executive director of the Game Commission.

Game Commission Deer and Elk Section Supervisor David Stainbrook said the Game Commission’s estimates are calculated using antlered and antlerless harvest reports submitted by hunters along with data from deer checked at processors across the state.

During the 2024-25 season, hunters reported more than 150,000 deer and Game Commission personnel checked more than 25,000 deer at processors.

This year’s antlered deer harvest was up about 9% over the most-recent threeyear average, and the antlerless harvest was about 17% higher.

Statewide, about 29% of deer hunters took an antlered deer.

The Game Commission reported that it was the highest success rate since at least 2007 and two out of three deer killed were at least 2½ years old.