Deer harvest.doc
Texas County finishes second in state deer harvest
Texas County finished second in Missouri in the fall firearms deer season that ended on Tuesday of last week (Nov. 21), according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Hunters downed 4,374 deer in the county.
Preliminary data from the MDC shows deer hunters harvested 191,368 deer during the November portion of fall firearms deer season, Nov. 11-21. The total included 99,431 antlered bucks, 20,148 button bucks and 71,789 does.
Top harvest counties were Howell with 4,564 deer checked, Texas with 4,374 and Franklin with 4,095.
Last year hunters checked 185,062 deer during the November firearms deer season, including 95,381 antlered bucks, 18,888 button bucks and 70,793 does.
“The uptick in harvest this year is likely due to a combination of favorable weather and the continued recovery of deer populations in some areas hit hard by the 2012 drought,” MDC deer biologist Barb Keller said. “As the November firearms portion creeps one day earlier each year, it tends to coincide with more of the deer in rut – resulting in higher deer harvest.”
MDC reported three firearms-related hunting incidents during the fall firearms November portion. One of the incidents involved a hunter wounding another hunter in Benton County. Another case involved a hunter in Washington County loading a gun in a truck and it went off, hitting another hunter sitting in the truck. The third involved a self-inflicted firearm wound in Bates County.
Archery deer hunting continues in Missouri through Jan. 15.
The late portion of youth firearms deer season runs Nov. 24-26, and the antlerless portion of firearms deer season runs Dec. 1-3. The alternative methods portion will run Dec. 23- Jan. 2, 2018.
For current ongoing preliminary harvest totals by season, county, and type of deer, visit the MDC website at http://on.mo.gov/1jjz7Ew. For harvest summaries from past years, visit http://on.mo.gov/2fyMaBN.