Shore sees steady deer harvest numbers in 2025-2026 season

Hunters on Virginia’s Eastern Shore saw a strong deer harvest this past season, with numbers in both Accomack and Northampton counties tracking closely with — and in some cases slightly above — recent years, even as statewide totals climbed sharply.

Across Virginia, hunters reported harvesting 227,302 deer during the 2025–2026 seasons, including early September antlerless seasons. That total represents about a 10 percent increase over last year and a 14 percent increase over the 10-year average, according to preliminary data released by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. The total included 108,163 antlered bucks, 14,631 button bucks, 973 shed bucks, and 103,535 does, with does accounting for 45.5 percent of the overall harvest.

On the Eastern Shore, Accomack County hunters reported a total harvest of 3,192 deer in 2025. That figure is slightly lower than 2024’s total of 3,246, but well above the 2023 harvest of 2,933. This year’s Accomack harvest included 1,140 antlered bucks, 288 male fawns, and 1,764 females, with does making up 55 percent of the total harvest — a level consistent with the county’s recent trend toward higher doe harvests.

Northampton County recorded 1,256 deer harvested in 2025, up from 1,215 in 2024 and 1,202 in 2023. The 2025 Northampton harvest consisted of 546 antlered bucks, 91 male fawns, and 619 females. Female deer accounted for 49 percent of the county’s total harvest, slightly below last year but above the 2023 percentage.

Statewide, archers harvested 32,730 deer, muzzleloader hunters took 51,472, and firearms hunters accounted for 143,100 deer. During the youth and apprentice weekend alone, hunters reported taking 2,636 deer. In counties where hunting deer with dogs is legal, dogs were used to harvest about half of all deer taken during the general firearms season and 35 percent of the total deer harvest across all seasons.

DWR officials noted that several regulation changes — largely implemented west of the Blue Ridge — were aimed at increasing hunting opportunity and boosting doe harvests to better meet population objectives. While those changes likely contributed to the higher statewide harvest, daily deer kill numbers were already running ahead of last year’s pace from the opening day of archery season. Currently, about 58 percent of Virginia’s counties are above deer population objectives, 38 percent are meeting objectives, and 4 percent are below desired levels.

The department emphasized that the figures released are preliminary and do not include deer taken during late urban archery seasons, special late antlerless-only firearms seasons, deer harvested under kill permits, or deer killed in vehicle collisions.

DWR credited the state’s big game harvest reporting system as the backbone of Virginia’s deer management program. By law, every harvested deer must be reported, with details on sex, weapon, date, and county of kill recorded. Unlike many states that rely on estimates, Virginia’s system provides an actual known minimum count of harvested deer, giving wildlife managers — and the public — confidence in the data.