Southern Deer Hunting By the Numbers: A Comparison of Deer Harvest Data in the Southeast

If you’ve ever wondered how many deer do hunters kill in your state or how your state’s deer harvest compares to other states around you, then this article is for you! 

We focus on the nine southern states that Get Outdoors South traditionally covers: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Sorry Texas! 

For each state, we dig deep into each state’s data to share things like number of hunters, total deer harvest, buck harvest by age class, deer harvest by weapon type and more.

A Note About the Data

Before you start emailing or messaging me about how the data is wrong or that I’m full of crap, let me explain where this data comes from. 

Each year the National Deer Association sends out a survey to all the state wildlife agencies collecting data from their previous deer season. They then compile this data into their annual Deer Report, which is a great (and free) resource for deer nerds like myself.

Download your own copy of NDA’s 2023 Deer Report.

The data provided in the tables and graphs below come directly from that report, and is based on each state’s 2021-2022 deer season.

Whether or not you believe the data provided by your state’s wildlife agency is up to you, but that’s where the numbers come from. 

For those of you who wonder how they get this data when you aren’t required to physically check the deer in, it’s from sources such as post-season phone surveys, deer processor checks, WMA harvest data, DMAP data, among others. 

When I worked for the Georgia DNR, I had specific counties for which I had to visit deer processors to collect data from the deer they had in their coolers – sex of the deer, age, and some antler measurements on bucks.

The hunters who shot those deer never knew the data was being collected. But that’s how they get some of the figures like the age class of bucks harvested.

Now, having said all that, let’s dive into the data.

Total Deer Harvest

The South’s long deer seasons and generous bag limits result in lots of deer being harvested annually! For the nine southern states covered in this article, Alabama leads the pack for total harvest at just over 300,000 deer. That’s a lot of venison!

Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana finish out the top four, each with a harvest exceeding 200,000. 

North Carolina, Arkansas and South Carolina all killed over 150,000 deer for the 2021-2022 season, and Tennessee and Florida round out the list at 132,314 and 74,071 respectively. 

Deer Harvest by State (2021-2022)

State	Antlered Buck Harvest	Antlerless Harvest	Total Harvest
Alabama	123,280	177,842	301,122
Arkansas	86,577	94,822	181,399
Florida	52,254	21,817	74,071
Georgia	97,056	160,398	257,454
Louisiana	128,370	105,030	233,400
Mississippi	114,860	155,041	269,901
North Carolina	89,246	79,181	168,427
South Carolina	95,351	87,529	182,880
Tennessee	74,516	57,698	132,214

Deer Harvest by Weapon Type

Southern states tend to have long, generous firearms deer seasons, so the vast majority of deer killed in the south are done so with a rifle. Bows and crossbows (which are not separated out in this data) comprise anywhere from 8 to 22 percent of the harvest, and muzzleloaders range from 2 to 21 percent. 

Deer Harvest by Weapon Type (2021-2022)

State	Bow/Crossbow	Muzzleloader	Rifle/Shotgun
Alabama	21	3	76
Arkansas	16	10	74
Florida	22	8	67
Georgia	15	2	83
Louisiana	9	12	79
Mississippi	16	11	73
North Carolina	14	10	76
South Carolina	8	2	90
Tennessee	13	21	66

Total Deer Hunters

Lots of deer get shot in the South because there are lots of deer hunters who hit the woods each fall! And the data provided by the Deer Report is pretty eye opening in this regard.

I would have never guessed Arkansas to lead the pack of southern states in number of deer hunters, but they do at 300,000!

North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana all have over 200,000 deer hunters.

And the remaining four states range anywhere from just 106,926 deer hunters in Florida to 195,380 in Mississippi.

In addition to the total number of deer hunters for each state, we have also broken down those numbers by weapon type.

You’ll quickly notice that adding bow, muzzleloader and firearm deer hunters for each state yields a number much higher than the listed Total. That’s because many hunters (myself included) hunt with more than one weapon type during the course of a deer season.  

Deer Hunters by Weapon Type

State	Bow/ Crossbow	Muzzleloader	Firearm	Total
Alabama	97,580	22,773	216,348	237,878
Arkansas	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	300,000
Florida	63,407	33,254	94,309	106,926
Georgia	83,314	24,818	187,797	209,742
Louisiana	68,400	100,200	199,300	208,200
Mississippi	78,254	63,692	180,665	195,380
North Carolina	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	241,619
South Carolina	37,962	11,247	129,591	129,591
Tennessee	55,870	81,742	143,381	185,893

Age of the Buck Harvest

This data never ceases to amaze me. When it comes to harvesting fewer yearling bucks and more 3.5+ year olds, the South is king! Much of that is due to long-standing antler restrictions in many southern states.

A quick look at the data shows that for most states in our report, less than 15% of the antlered bucks harvested each year are 1.5 years old, and in several cases over 60% of the antlered buck harvest is 3.5 years old or older.

Mississippi posts some incredible numbers, with 79% of their buck harvest being at least 3.5 years old! 

% of Antlered Buck Harvest by Age Class

State	1.5 Years Old	2.5 Years Old	3.5+ Years Old
Alabama	12	27	61
Arkansas	12	24	64
Florida	11	49	40
Georgia	24	37	39
Louisiana	12	15	73
Mississippi	10	11	79
North Carolina	32	39	29
South Carolina	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Tennessee	22	46	32

Private Land vs Public Land Deer Harvest

And we’ll finish out our deer data with a look at the percentage of deer harvested on private vs public land for each state. Aside from Florida, where 24% of their deer harvest is on public land, the results were pretty consistent.

Most southern states harvest around 95% of their deer on private land vs 5% on public. 

Not real surprising. 

I’m betting if you looked at private vs public acreage for each state, you would probably see similar results. 

% of Harvest on Private vs Public Land

State	% Private	% Public	%Unknown
Alabama	95	5	0
Arkansas	94	6	0
Florida	75	24	1
Georgia	97	3	0
Louisiana	89	11	0
Mississippi	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
North Carolina	97	3	0
South Carolina	94	4	2
Tennessee	92	8	0

Final Thoughts

I hope you guys enjoyed this type of information for our southern states! If you have questions about the data, or would like to see other data covered in future articles, don’t hesitate to reach out through our contact page or by emailing me directly. 

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