It’s no surprise that the white-tailed deer is the United States’ most popular big game species. Between 2009 and 2013, the total reported harvest came in between 6.1 and 6.4 million animals.

 

Using data from multiple sources, which was then compiled in its 2015-2016 Industry Reference Guide, the National Shooting Sports Foundation reports that these were the top 20 states in terms of harvest figures from 2013:

 

Texas 625,577

Georgia 453,952

Michigan 378,794

Pennsylvania 352,920

Wisconsin 342,631

Alabama 302,060

New York 273,567

Mississippi 260,725

Missouri 251,924

Virginia 244,322

South Carolina 225,806

Arkansas 213,190

Ohio 190,603

North Carolina 188,130

Minnesota 172,781

Tennessee 168,494

Louisiana 166,200

Illinois 148,081

Kentucky 144,409

Indiana 125,635

 

Some related facts:

• Nationwide, the yearly harvest is made up of 46% bucks and 54% does
• The 5 states with no hunting population of whitetails are California, Nevada, Utah, Alaska and Hawaii
• The average annual deer harvest provides more than 345 million pounds of meat.
• At $6 per pound, the 2013 venison harvest provided an economic impact of $2.07 billion