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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows that deer hunters in Missouri harvested 178,936 deer during the November portion of fall firearms deer season, Nov. 16- 26. Of the 178,936 deer harvested, 91,420 were antlered bucks, 17,237 were button bucks, and 70,279 were does.
Top harvest counties were Franklin with 4,008 deer checked, Texas with 3,734, and Callaway with 3,369.
Last year hunters checked 200,738 deer during the 2018 November portion of firearms deer season with 103,582 being antlered bucks, 20,040 being button bucks, and 77,116 being does.
For current ongoing preliminary harvest totals by season, county, and type of deer, visit the MDC website at extra.mdc.mo.gov/widgets/harvest_table/
For harvest summaries from past years, visit huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer/deer-harvest-reports/deer-harvest-summaries
MDC reported six firearms-related hunting incidents during the November portion of the firearms deer season with four being self-inflicted, one non-fatal incident involving a shooter and victim, and one fatal incident involving a shooter and victim.
Deer hunting in Missouri continues with archery deer hunting from Nov. 27 through Jan. 15, 2020. The late youth portion of firearms deer season runs Nov. 29 through Dec. 1. The antlerless portion of firearms deer season runs Dec. 6-8. Lastly, the alternative methods portion will run Dec. 28 through Jan. 7, 2020. Learn more about deer hunting in Missouri at huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer or from MDC’s 2019 Fall Deer & Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, available where permits are sold and online at huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/downloads/2019FDT.pdf
CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF DEER HUNTING: Habitat loss and unregulated hunting decimated Missouri’s native white-tailed deer numbers to mere hundreds by the 1930s. Deer were mostly limited to small herds in the Ozarks when the voter-approved and newly-formed Missouri Conservation Commission closed deer hunting in 1937. Then the restoration work began. In 1944, the newly-created Missouri Department of Conservation held the first modern deer season with 7,757 hunters harvesting 519 bucks during a two-day, bucks-only season in 20 counties. MDC’s ongoing conservation efforts -- in partnership with landowners, hunters, and others -- have brought deer numbers back! Missouri now has more than a million deer throughout the state with about a half-million deer hunters harvesting hundreds-of-thousands of deer annually. Deer hunting also helps boost business in Missouri communities by more than a billion dollars annually while nourishing family traditions for many and putting food on the table for even more.
