White-tailed deer carry the largest Maryland record of any mammal in this atlas, 12,067 occurrences touching all 24 counties. Montgomery County alone holds 3,863, and the heaviest single concentrations sit on well-traveled ground: the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Assateague Island National Seashore, and the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
An edge animal in a patchwork state
Whitetails browse twigs, buds, leaves, and acorns, and they do best where woods meet open ground, exactly the mix of forest, field, and lawn that covers most of Maryland. That is why the record runs so strong through the Piedmont and suburban counties, and why deer turn up even on a barrier island at Assateague and along the wooded Appalachian National Scenic Trail corridor in the west. Deep Creek Lake State Park anchors the Garrett County end of the range.
Fawns behind the early summer crest
Reports climb through spring and peak in May and June, when does bear their spotted fawns. A newborn fawn lies motionless in grass or low cover for its first weeks, visited by its mother to nurse, and by midsummer the fawns are mobile and the year’s young are suddenly everywhere. Autumn shifts the rhythm again as the rut puts bucks on the move at all hours, and deer remain plainly visible right through winter.
Status in Maryland
NatureServe ranks the white-tailed deer S5, Secure, in Maryland, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
