Read Maryland’s Primitive Hunting Season Rules here

Seemingly in response to growing interest in “primitive” hunting, Maryland is continuing with it’s Primitive Deer Hunting season in 2022. This is the kind of season all “Primitive” or Muzzleloader hunting seasons were started on in the mid to late 20th century here in the US. Hunters are restricted to traditional muzzleloaders and longbows. Traditional, by Maryland’s rules is pretty much anything pre catridge firearm, but they define the limits as follows:

• Hunters may only use long bows, recurve bows or flintlock and sidelock percussion muzzleloading rifles or handguns during these days. Muzzleloading revolvers are prohibited during the Primitive Deer Hunt Days.

• The use of draw-locks and telescopic or other electronic aiming devices are prohibited.

• Antlered white-tailed deer taken with a bow during the Primitive Deer Hunt Days will count towards the regular antlered archery bag limit.

• Antlered white-tailed deer taken with a muzzleloader during the Primitive Deer Hunt Days will count towards the regular antlered muzzleloader bag limit.

• All deer hunters must wear fluorescent color clothing during the Primitive Deer Hunt Days.

For more clarification, check out this statement from the Maryland DNR:

Primitive hunting devices are defined as long bows, recurve bows, flintlock, or sidelock percussion muzzleloaders. Hunters may not use compound bows, crossbows, drawlocks, and telescopic or other electronic aiming devices. However, fiber optic sights are permitted on otherwise legal primitive bows or muzzleloaders.

Hunters are encouraged to consult the Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping for more information on the Primitive Deer Hunt and other deer hunting regulations.

Keeping this short primitive season, running only through one weekend, is important to the Maryland DNR. The inclusion of fiber optic sights on an otherwise legal muzzleloader is a concession many states to help visibility based on age or time of day restrictions and doesn’t seem to affect “Feature Creep” in the season based on what we see across the country. As many traditional muzzleloading enthusiasts across the country request more restrictive muzzleloading seasons, it’s nice to see Maryland allotting extra time for hunters, rather than taking time away from others.