Missouri's deer-hunting season ended Jan. 15 with the Missouri Department of Conservation reporting a preliminary total harvest of 290,339.
Top counties for the overall season were Franklin with 5,826 deer killed, Callaway with 5,545, and Howell with 5,350. Of the total killed, 136,776 were antlered bucks, 30,116 were button bucks, and 123,447 were does.
Hunters killed 284,477 deer during the 2017-2018 season. The most recent record season was in 2012-2013 with a total harvest of 313,254.
Deer hunting ended with the close of archery season Jan. 15. Preliminary data shows hunters checked 54,447 deer during the archery season. Top counties for the archery season were Jefferson with 1,262 deer killed, 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 shows 2,095 turkeys killed. Top counties were Callaway with 56 birds, Franklin with 44, and Monroe with 38. For the previous year, hunters killed 2,426 turkeys.
Eight firearms-related hunting incidents were reported 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.
Sports on 01/22/2019