I keep thinking whitetail hunters can’t get any more selective when it comes to buck harvest, and then every year when NDA’s Deer Report compiles all the data from around the nation – we do. Once again, the average percentage of yearling bucks in the national buck harvest has fallen to a new record low of 23%, down from the previous floor of 26% set the prior season. That means the percentage of older bucks climbed: Mature bucks, or all those 3½ or older, made up an estimated 46% of the 2024 buck harvest, up from 43%, and a new record.
Could we see mature bucks representing half of the national buck harvest in the near future? Since I didn’t think we’d get to 46%, I won’t make a prediction. The amazing thing to remember about this figure is it is not just a percentage. The total buck harvest remains at an all-time high over 3 million, only the third time this century (26 years) it’s been at this level. So, in actual numbers of deer, hunters are taking more mature bucks than any time in history.
This is not entirely about mandatory antler-point restrictions. If anything, APRs are less common than they once were, and many of the leading states in mature buck harvest do not have any statewide APRs. That includes the state that holds the No. 1 position for the second year running. This is about deer hunters making voluntary choices to wait for an older buck.
Top-10 States in Mature Buck Harvest
Below you’ll see a chart showing the percentage of mature bucks in the buck harvest by state and region for all 21 states that provided this information for NDA’s 2026 Deer Report, which focuses on the 2024-25 season, the most recent season with complete harvest data available for all states.
The top-5 states in mature-buck harvest did not change from the previous season. Though it fell from 85% mature bucks in 2023 to 81%, Oklahoma managed to hang onto the top spot because Mississippi dropped 2 percentage points to 80%. Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas bring up the rest of the top-5, all remaining in their same positions.
Rhode Island at 53% took sixth place, and this was a shift upward one spot since 2023 because Rhode Island increased its mature-buck harvest from 43% to 53% in one year. Also, Georgia, the previous No. 6 state, tumbled all the way out of the top-10 to twelfth place with a drop from 43% to 38% mature bucks in the buck harvest.
Bringing up the rest of the top-10 were Alabama at 49%, Virginia at 45%, Nebraska at 43%, and North Carolina at 42%. Virginia held the same position at No. 8 as the previous season, but the other three states are new to the top-10 since 2023. This feat was most impressive for North Carolina, which made an amazing one-year jump in mature-buck harvest from 26% to 42%!
Though they are still a long way from the top-10, or even the top of their region, I want to put the spotlight on Maine for being on one of the fastest upward tracks of any state. In only three seasons, Maine hunters have raised their mature-buck harvest from 11% to 28%, though deer harvests in the far Northeast can swing dramatically from year to year with the severity of winter weather.
How Did Oklahoma Do It?
The highest percentage of 3½-plus bucks in the harvest ever estimated by any state was 85% by Oklahoma in the 2023 season. Though they’ve slipped from that height, they remain at No. 1 in 2024, and that is especially amazing for one, main reason: Oklahoma does not regulate buck harvest with any type of APR. Oklahoma’s philosophy is “educate instead of regulate.”
Starting in 2013, Oklahoma’s Department of Wildlife Conservation promoted the slogan “Hunters in the Know Let Young Bucks Grow.” The campaign included everything from bumper stickers and educational videos to on-site DMAP assistance. Where yearling bucks made up 56% of the buck harvest in 1999, they now represent 10%. Though we asked all states for the percentage of bucks age 3½ and older, Oklahoma breaks it down even further: 31% of their 2024 buck harvest was 5½ or older!
Oklahoma hunters have voluntarily made the state a leader in buck age structure. In 2020, ODWC merged the buck campaign with another effort to promote doe harvest. Today, the department spends more time promoting a different slogan: “Hunters in the Know Take a Doe.”
Yearling-Buck Harvest
For deer hunters to take higher and higher percentages of mature bucks, they’ve got to be passing them as younger deer. The chart above is a mirror image of the mature-buck harvest: States with the highest percentages of 3½-year-old and older bucks in the harvest naturally tended to have the lowest rates of yearling-buck harvest.
In this chart, we added the yearling-buck harvest rates from 10 years ago, the 2014 season. Nearly every state with data available for the two seasons has declined significantly in yearling-buck harvest rates in the last 10 years. This is not a new trend. It’s been going for more like 30 years. Any hunter who still complains about high yearling-buck harvest in their state may be overlooking the progress that’s been made.
Where’s My State?
State wildlife agencies use different techniques to collect age data on the deer harvest, and some collect more data than others. Some states only estimate the youngest age classes, which is why we have data on yearling-buck harvest from 29 states but data on older age classes for only 21 states.
In the Midwest region, for example, eight states estimated the yearling-buck harvest rate, but only three estimated it – or submitted it for our most recent report – for mature bucks. Some states only collect the data every two or three years. In past reports, as many as seven Midwestern states have submitted mature-buck harvest information. If your state is not listed in the charts on this page, they either did not collect that particular data or did not submit it in time for our 2026 Deer Report. For those reporting only a yearling-buck harvest percentage, this alone can give you an idea of where a state stands in mature-buck harvest.
How Is This Information Gathered?
State wildlife agencies do not have to know the age of every buck harvested in their states to be able to accurately estimate the age of the harvest. Statistical sampling works just fine to produce accurate estimates. Wildlife biologists visit deer processors, check stations, or other locations on popular days during hunting season. They collect jawbone age estimates and biological data from deer at these locations. With a large enough sample from a few locations around the state, they can make an accurate estimate of the age of the entire buck harvest statewide.
Hunter Hesitation Is Not Always Good
Hunters being more selective about buck harvest is a good thing. Biologically, deer populations function best when they contain bucks of diverse ages. Hunting is more exciting when we can witness the full range of rut behaviors and intensified rut action.
The problem today, however, is that hunters are also more and more selective about doe harvest. The antlerless deer harvest is declining in many states. In many areas, doe harvest is not enough to manage deer population growth. But that is a topic for another day.