Texas County dropped to sixth place in the fall archery deer season that began Sept. 15 in Missouri, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.
By Friday, Oct. 13, the count in the county stood at 224: Antlered bucks (99), button bucks (14) and does (111).
Leading the state are: Jefferson (415), Franklin (356), St. Louis (273), Carter (235), Howell (231), and Texas (224).
The first part of the archery deer season runs through Nov. 10, according to the conservation department.
Turkey archery season also is open. In Texas County, eight have been killed as of the morning of Saturday, Oct. 5: Adult hens (4), juvenile gobblers (3) and juvenile hens (1).
NEW ANTLERLESS SEASON
A new deer anterless season that ran Oct. 6-8 saw Texas County place eighth in the state. Topping out at first was Franklin (490). Texas County hunters killed 330. The breakdown was antlered bucks (1), button bucks (22) and does (307), according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.
“With deer numbers being at desired levels in most counties but continuing to increase, additional antlerless harvest is needed to stabilize the deer population,” said MDC Cervid Program Supervisor Jason Isabelle. “The goal of the new firearms early antlerless portion is to help increase antlerless deer harvest prior to the November portion of firearms season when many hunters focus on harvesting bucks.”
