Missouri deer-hunting seasons end with harvest of nearly 280,000

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News from the region
Statewide
Published Date
01/19/2016
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri's 2015-2016 deer-hunting seasons ended Jan. 15 with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reporting a preliminary total harvest of 279,401 deer. Top counties for the overall season were Texas with 5,812 deer harvested, Franklin with 5,463, and Howell with 5,440. Hunters harvested 258,341 deer during the 2014-2015 deer hunting seasons.

Deer hunting ended with the close of the archery season. Preliminary data from MDC showed that hunters checked 50,085 deer during the archery season. Top counties for the archery season were Jefferson with 1,153 deer harvested, St. Louis with 1,051, and Franklin with 1,012. Archery hunters checked 51,755 deer the previous year.

2015-2016 fall archery turkey hunting also ended Jan. 15. Preliminary data from MDC showed 3,067 turkeys harvested. Top counties for the fall archery turkey season were Texas with 80 birds harvested, Franklin with 74, and Laclede with 67. For the previous year, hunters harvested 2,587 turkeys.

For more information on this season's deer harvest numbers (Telecheck: Deer and Turkey Harvest Data) and past-year harvest summaries (Deer Harvest Summaries), go online to huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer/deer-harvest-reports.

For more information on this season's fall turkey harvest numbers (Fall Turkey Harvest Map) and past-year fall harvest summaries (Turkey Harvest Summaries For Past Seasons), go online to huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/turkey/turkey-reports.

MDC reported seven firearms-related hunting incidents during the fall deer and turkey hunting seasons. All were non-fatal and involved self-inflicted injuries. In addition, the Department was notified of three tree-stand falls, one of which was fatal.

Conservation makes Missouri a great place to hunt deer and turkey. For more information, go online to huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping.