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MDC reports final deer harvest for season more than 290,300
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri's 2018-2019 deer-hunting season ended Jan. 15 with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reporting a preliminary total harvest of 290,339 deer. Top counties for the overall season were Franklin with 5,826 deer harvested, Callaway with 5,545, and Howell with 5,350. Of the 290,339 deer harvested, 136,776 were antlered bucks, 30,116 were button bucks, and 123,447 were does.
Hunters harvested 284,477 deer during the 2017-2018 deer hunting season. The most recent record season was in 2012-2013 with a total harvest of 313,254.
Deer hunting ended with the close of the archery season. Preliminary data from MDC showed that hunters checked 54,447 deer during the archery season. Top counties for the archery season were Jefferson with 1,262 deer harvested, St. Louis with 1,083, and Franklin with 1,068. Hunters checked 51,991 deer during the 2017-2018 archery season.
Fall archery turkey hunting also ended Jan. 15. Preliminary data from MDC showed 2,095 turkeys harvested. Top counties for the archery turkey season were Callaway with 56 birds harvested, Franklin with 44, and Monroe with 38. For the previous year, hunters harvested 2,426 turkeys during the fall archery season.
Get more deer and turkey harvest data for the current season at short.mdc.mo.gov/Z3g. Get deer harvest data for past seasons at short.mdc.mo.gov/Z3M. Get turkey harvest data for past seasons at short.mdc.mo.gov/Z3Y.
Conservation makes Missouri a great place to hunt deer and turkey. For more information, go online to huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/.
MDC reported eight firearms-related hunting incidents during the 2018 fall deer and turkey hunting seasons. Three were fatalities with two occurring incidental to hunting while at hunting camps and one was a self-inflicted incident in the field. Of the five non-fatal incidents, four were self-inflicted and the fifth occurred when the shooter shot a victim while swinging on game.