DELAWARE DEER HUNTING REGULATIONS
7.0 Deer
(Penalty Section 7 Del.C. §103(d))
7.1 Limit
7.1.1 Unless otherwise provided by law or regulation of the Department, it shall be unlawful for any person to:
7.1.1.1 Kill or take or attempt to kill or take more than 4 antlerless deer in any license year;
7.1.1.2 Possess or transport an antlered deer that was unlawfully killed.
7.1.1.3 Possess or transport an antlerless deer that was unlawfully killed.
7.1.1.4 Kill any antlered deer without first purchasing a Delaware Resident Combination Hunter's Choice Deer tag and Quality Buck Deer Tag, a Delaware Nonresident Antlered Deer Tag, or a Nonresident Quality Buck Deer Tag except that, residents and nonresidents, exempt from purchasing a hunting license shall be entitled to 1 Hunter's Choice Deer Tag or 1 Nonresident Antlered Deer Tag, respectively, at no cost.
7.1.1.5 No hunter may harvest more than 2 antlered deer during a license year between July 1 and June 30 of the next calendar year.
7.1.2 For the purposes of this section, a person "driving deer" and not in possession of any weapon or firearm shall not be treated as if they are hunting deer, provided they are assisting lawful hunters.
7.1.3 It shall be unlawful for any person to purchase, sell, expose for sale, transport or possess with the intent to sell, any deer or any part of such deer at any time, except that hides from deer lawfully killed and checked may be sold. This subsection shall not apply to venison approved for sale by the United States Department of Agriculture and imported into Delaware.
7.1.4 Notwithstanding subsection 7.1.1 of this section, a person may purchase Antlerless Deer Tags to kill or take additional antlerless deer during the open season. Hunters may take additional antlerless deer on Antlerless Deer Damage Tags at no cost.
7.1.5 Notwithstanding subsection 7.1.1 of this section, a person may use 1 Quality Buck tag to take an antlered deer with a minimum outside antler spread of 15 inches, provided the tag is valid for the season in which it is used. Hunters exempt from the requirement to purchase a hunting license must purchase a Quality Buck tag in order to take a second antlered deer in any 1 license year.
7.2 Tagging, Deer Harvest Report Cards, and Registering Harvested Deer.
7.2.1 Attaching Tags and Punching Deer Harvest Report Cards. Each licensed person who hunts and kills a deer shall, immediately after killing and before removing the deer from the location of the killing, punch/cut the appropriate portion of their approved Deer Harvest Report Card and record in ink the date of harvest on the Deer Harvest Report Card. An approved tag on a Deer Harvest Report Card shall mean an Antlerless Deer Tag received with the hunting license, a Delaware Resident Quality Buck Deer Tag, a Delaware Resident Hunter's Choice Deer Tag, a Delaware Nonresident Quality Buck Deer Tag, a Delaware Nonresident Antlered Deer Tag, an Antlerless Deer Damage Tag, or an Antlerless Tag purchased in addition to the hunting license tags. Any unlicensed person not required to secure a license shall punch/cut the appropriate portion of their Deer Harvest Report Card. Deer Harvest Report Cards shall remain in a hunter's possession at all times while hunting deer.
7.2.2 Retention of Tag and Deer Registration Number. If a harvested deer is no longer in a hunter's possession, a self-produced or Division issued possession tag shall remain affixed to the deer bearing either the deer registration number if the deer has been registered or the hunter's hunting license or License Exempt Number and the harvest date if the deer has not been registered. The deer registration number shall be recorded on the possession tag once it has been registered.
7.2.3 Registering Deer. Each person who hunts and kills a deer shall, within 24 hours of killing said deer, register their deer by phone or over the internet through systems authorized by the Division. Deer taken to a processor, taxidermist, or given to another person must be registered before the animal is transferred. After registering a deer, hunters will be given a deer registration number. This number must be recorded in ink on the approved tags or the hunter's approved Deer Harvest Report Card listed in subsection 7.2.1 of this section. It shall be unlawful to knowingly enter incorrect information when registering a deer.
7.2.4 Dressing. It shall be unlawful for any person to remove from any deer any part thereof, except those internal organs known as the viscera, or cut the meat thereof into parts, until such deer has been registered using the phone or internet system authorized by the Division.
7.2.5 Deer Registration Number. The Deer Registration number provided by the automated phone/internet system must remain with the head and carcass until the mount is picked up from the taxidermist or the meat is processed and stored as food.