Updated on September 7, 2026. Confirm every fee, hunter-education rule, and stamp on the Maryland DNR hunting licenses, stamps and permits page and the 2026–27 hunting licenses chapter before you buy. This is the field readout, not the proclamation.
| Who this is for | Resident and nonresident hunters of white-tailed deer and, on the lower Eastern Shore, sika deer. |
|---|---|
| Buy it here | MD Outdoors, a sport license agent, or 866-344-8889. Official hub: Maryland hunting licenses. |
| Hunter education | Required for first-time license buyers unless you held a hunting license before July 1, 1977. Other-state cards count. Apprentice is the supervised shortcut. |
| What you actually buy | Full-season hunting license. Archery stamp for bow/crossbow season. Muzzleloader stamp for that season. Sika stamp if you hunt sika. Optional bonus antlered stamp. Firearms deer rides on the license. |
| OTC vs draw | Deer licenses and stamps are over the counter. No statewide deer draw. Bear is lottery. Some public tracts need a free permit, reservation, or managed-hunt application. |
| License year | Valid from the day issued through the next July 31. On sale July 1. License year runs August 1 through July 31. |
| Antlerless / bonus | Whitetail antlerless is a bag, not a separate tag. One Bonus Antlered Deer Stamp per year; not valid for sika; not valid Oct. 22–24, 2026 early muzzleloader. |
| WMA / public extras | Free Public Hunting Permit on tracts marked f. Free archery permit for Liberty, Loch Raven, and Prettyboy Reservoirs. Blackwater and Assateague run their own hunts. |
| Youth / apprentice | Junior license under 16. One-time free junior package after hunter ed. Apprentice: short online course, hunt at a licensed resident mentor’s elbow. |
| Where to hunt next | Maryland deer hunting guide · sika vs whitetail · Delaware |
Buy the Maryland license before you park at Green Ridge
I have watched Pennsylvania plates roll into a Green Ridge lot with a home-state license in the console. Maryland does not care that you “hunt the Shore.” You need a Maryland hunting license — and the right stamps — to hang a deer here. The national walkthrough lives at how to get a hunting license. This page is Maryland’s cart. Seasons and where to sit: Maryland hunting guide.
Step 1: Hunter education
Maryland is not a 1960 birth-year state. The hunter education rule is first-timer: you need a Certificate of Competency in Firearms and Hunter Safety before DNR will sell you a hunting license, unless you held a hunting license issued before July 1, 1977. License-exempt landowners still meet hunter ed and pull a free DNRid. Two paths: a traditional classroom, or — if you are 13 or older — Hunter-Ed.com plus a one-day Field Day Workshop. Other-state cards are accepted; bring the card. Register at Register-Ed.
Step 2: Resident or not
Residency is not a Cambridge weekend house and a Pennsylvania tax return. A Virginia or Delaware address with a Dorchester marsh lease is a nonresident. Nonresidents who own Maryland property still buy the nonresident hunting license — the landowner exemption is for Maryland residents hunting their own ground. College students enrolled here can buy at the resident rate, but only at a Licensing and Registration Service Center with proof. Active-duty stationed in Maryland buy resident. Armed-forces leave rules are narrower than people think — read them on the licenses chapter.
Nonresident deer hunting is over the counter. Confirm the current price band on DNR the week you buy. On the sheet I checked, resident regular sits in the $30s and nonresident regular sits in the $160 band. The number that wrecks a sika trip is the nonresident sika stamp, in the $200 band. I am not pasting a fee table that will be wrong next July.
Step 3: What goes in the cart
Think in layers. Maryland does not sell a standalone deer tag the way some Midwest states do.
- Full-season hunting license — resident or nonresident, regular/junior/senior. This covers firearms deer.
- Archery stamp for archery season, including crossbows, and for a bow on Primitive Deer Hunt Days.
- Muzzleloader stamp for muzzleloader season.
- Sika stamp if you will take a sika in any deer season. Resident stamp is a small add-on. Nonresident stamp is the expensive one. The sika bag is independent of your whitetail bag — see sika vs whitetail.
- Bonus Antlered Deer Stamp only if you want the extra whitetail buck. One per year, buy it before you hunt that deer. Not valid for sika, and dead on the Oct. 22–24, 2026 early muzzleloader split.
Do not buy the nonresident 3-day waterfowl and small-game license and expect it to cover a buck. It does not cover deer, bear, or turkey. Screenshot the confirmation. Paper fails in a wet pack on Fishing Bay; so does a dead phone.
Step 4: When it goes on sale
Licenses go on sale July 1 and run through the next July 31. If you wait until the Friday before the firearms opener, you will still get a regular hunting license in a normal year — Maryland is not Iowa. What disappears is a managed-hunt slot or the hunter-ed field day you should have booked in August. I buy stamps at the kitchen table, not in a Dorchester gas station at 4:40 a.m.
How you carry it, tag it, and report it
Carry a printed or electronic copy of the license plus photo ID. DNR no longer prints field tags in the Guide. Before you move the deer, write your own field tag in ink — harvest date, county, your name, DNRid — and attach it to the head, or check the deer at the place of kill and get a confirmation number. Within 24 hours, register it in MD Outdoors, the app, or 888-800-0121. Keep the confirmation. Procedure: tagging and checking and how to tag a deer. Do not take the head or hide off, and do not cut the meat into parts, until you have that number. You need a land code at check-in.
CWD is not a license, but it will ruin the drive home. The CWD Management Area is Allegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, and Washington counties. Whole carcasses do not leave that box except to a listed processor, taxidermist, or landfill inside it. Meat or quarters with no spine or head can leave after you check the deer. Map: CWD in Maryland. Symptoms: CWD in deer.
Public land does not need a second deer license — it needs the right extra
Green Ridge, Savage River, Fishing Bay, and Chesapeake Forest Lands take the same Maryland hunting license. They do not take a Pennsylvania license or a sika stamp you meant to buy later. Tracts marked f on the public hunting lands list need the Free Public Hunting Permit from MD Outdoors. Liberty, Loch Raven, and Prettyboy are archery-only with a separate free reservoir permit. Blackwater and Assateague run their own hunt sheets. Temporary stands come out each day. Baiting is illegal on state-owned ground. Written permission is required on private land. Sunday hunting is county-specific. Stand safety: tree stand safety.
Youth and first-timers
There is no minimum age to hunt in Maryland, which is why DNR steers a lot of kids toward the apprentice license until they can pass the full course. Junior hunters (under 16) buy the junior license with a parent’s written permission. Resident juniors who finish hunter ed get a one-time free annual hunting license plus archery, sika, and muzzleloader stamps — submit the instructor form to a Licensing Service Center. Adults who have never held a Maryland hunting license get the apprentice once; juniors can buy it annually through age 16 after a short online hunter-safety course. Hunt with a Maryland resident 18 or older who holds a non-apprentice license, close enough that the mentor can take the gun or bow. Apprentice still needs the deer stamps. Out-of-state planning: planning an out-of-state deer hunt.
Common ways this goes wrong
- A Pennsylvania, Delaware, or Virginia license on Maryland dirt because “it’s the same peninsula.”
- Buying the 3-day waterfowl ticket and expecting it to cover a buck.
- No sika stamp on a Dorchester marsh.
- Archery or muzzleloader season with only the hunting license.
- A bonus antlered stamp used on a sika, or used Oct. 22–24, 2026.
- Moving a CWDMA carcass out, or quartering before the confirmation number.
Where to hunt once the tag is in the truck
Start with the Maryland deer hunting guide for seasons, Sundays, baiting, CWD, and the public-land list. If the animal in the phragmites is dark and screams, you wanted the sika page. Neighboring trips: Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Sibling carts already live: Delaware deer license and Michigan deer license. Overlooked woods: where to hunt. After the shot: how to field dress a deer.
Parent hub: how to get licensed · deer hunting · hunting by state · public land deer hunting.
FAQ
Can a nonresident buy a Maryland deer license over the counter? Yes. Buy the nonresident hunting license plus the stamps you actually need. Confirm on MD Outdoors. The 3-day license is not a deer tag.
Do I need hunter education? If this is your first Maryland hunting license and you did not hold a license before July 1, 1977, yes. Other-state cards count.
Does a Pennsylvania or Delaware license work in Maryland? No.
Do I need a separate license for Green Ridge or Fishing Bay? No. You need the Maryland hunting license, the method stamp for that season, a sika stamp if that is the deer, and whatever free public or reservoir permit that tract lists.
Where do I report a deer? Field-tag it or check it at the kill site. Register within 24 hours in MD Outdoors, the app, or 888-800-0121. Do not butcher first.