Community Deer Management Pilot

Hunters and landowners are key partners as we work together to achieve our common goal of maintaining a healthy deer herd and strong hunting tradition. MDC staff are working with hunters, landowners, and partners to develop a localized approach in which hunter harvest is the primary tool to manage the deer herd and chronic wasting disease (CWD) during the regular deer hunting season.

As a result of public engagement and continued evaluation, MDC has discontinued its targeted removal efforts, and there are currently no plans to resume this approach. 

MDC will be conducting a Community Deer Management Pilot in eight CWD Core Areas (areas within 1–2 miles of where CWD has been detected) during the 2026 deer season. The pilot focuses on building partnerships with landowners and putting hunters at the forefront of deer and CWD management by encouraging additional harvest during deer season. By increasing deer harvest, CWD will spread less, the herd will be healthier, and quality hunting will be maintained.

MDC will hold meetings with landowners in the pilot CWD Core Areas this fall to share information about deer management and CWD, answer questions, and learn about landowners’ deer management goals. MDC will mail an invitation to landowners in the CWD Core Areas.

All landowner meetings will be held from 6–8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

• Sept. 22 in Mountain View — Mountain View Community Center, 125 E. 1st St.
• Sept. 23 in Lowry City — Lakeland Scout Center, 2740-2998 State Highway A
• Sept. 28 in Carthage — YMCA Youth Activity Center, 400 S. Maple St.
• Sept. 29 in Moberly — Lodge at Rothwell Park, 109 Rothwell Park Road
• Oct. 1 in Hillsboro — Hillsboro Intermediate School, 10486 Business 21
• Oct. 5 in Cape Girardeau — Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center, 2289 County Park Drive
• Oct. 6 in Harrisburg — Lions Club, 120 E. Sexton St.
• Oct. 8 in Tina, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. — Tina-Avalon School Gymnasium, 11896 US-65

In response to public input, MDC will conduct road-based deer surveys in the pilot areas to monitor trends in deer numbers. MDC will use what it learns from this year’s pilot to develop a template that can be replicated in other CWD Core Areas in the future.