JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri’s 2020-2021 deer-hunting season ended Jan. 15 with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reporting a preliminary total deer harvest for the season of 296,516. Of the deer harvested, 140,468 were antlered bucks, 28,587 were button bucks, and 127,461 were does.
Top harvest counties for the overall deer season were Franklin with 5,786 deer harvested, Howell with 5,367, and Callaway with 4,989.
Hunters harvested 285,873 deer during the 2019-2020 deer hunting season with 134,092 being antlered bucks, 27,970 being button bucks, and 123,811 being does.
“Although harvest was down slightly during the November portion of firearms deer season, when most of the deer harvest occurs, increases in most of the other season portions contributed to about a four-percent increase in this year’s total deer harvest over last year’s,” said MDC Cervid Program Supervisor Jason Isabelle. “The increased harvest is largely a reflection of increasing deer numbers throughout much of the state.”
ARCHERY DEER RESULTS
Deer hunting ended with the close of the archery season. Preliminary data from MDC showed that hunters checked 67,180 deer during the 2020-2021 archery deer season. Top counties for the archery deer season were Jefferson with 1,630, Saint Louis with 1,384, and Franklin with 1,315.
Hunters checked 61,407 deer during the 2019-2020 archery deer season.
For preliminary deer harvest totals by season, county, and type of deer, visit the MDC website at extra.mdc.mo.gov/widgets/harvest_table/.
For deer harvest summaries from past years, visit huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer/deer-harvest-reports/deer-harvest-summaries.
For more information on deer hunting in Missouri, visit huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer.
ARCHERY TURKEY RESULTS
Fall archery turkey hunting also ended Jan. 15. Preliminary data from MDC showed 2,905 turkeys harvested. Top counties for the fall archery turkey season were Greene with 84, Franklin with 78, and Texas with 61.
Hunters harvested 2,406 turkeys during the 2019-2020 fall archery turkey season.
For more turkey harvest information for the current season, go online to extra.mdc.mo.gov/widgets/harvest_table/.
For more harvest information on past turkey seasons, visit huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/turkey/turkey-reports/turkey-harvest-summaries-past-seasons.
For more information on turkey hunting in Missouri, visit huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/turkey.
HUNTING INCIDENTS
MDC reported four firearms-related hunting incidents during the 2020-2021 fall deer and turkey hunting seasons. The incidents were all self-inflicted and non-fatal.
