CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) – The Missouri Department of Conservation has released the numbers for the final deer harvest for the season.According to MDC Cervid Program Supervisor Jason Isabelle, the overall drop in harvest this year was due to a combination of factors including a week-later start to the November portion of firearms deer season […]
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) – The Missouri Department of Conservation has released the numbers for the final deer harvest for the season.According to MDC Cervid Program Supervisor Jason Isabelle, the overall drop in harvest this year was due to a combination of factors including a week-later start to the November portion of firearms deer season and a bumper acorn crop.In Heartland counties, the following amount of deer were harvested:This year’s harvest total was reportedly down 15% from last year’s record total of 326,448 and was 8% below the five-year average.
- Bollinger County: 3,294 deer
- Butler County: 1,491 deer
- Cape Girardeau County: 3,109 deer
- Carter County: 1,537 deer
- Dunklin County: 475 deer
- Madison County: 1,895 deer
- Mississippi County: 341 deer
- New Madrid County: 3405 deer
- Pemiscot County: 226 deer
- Perry County: 2,800 deer
- Ripley County: 2,862 deer
- Scott County: 929 deer
- Stoddard County: 2,111 deer
- Wayne County: 2,687 deer
Of the deer harvested, 129,252 were antlered bucks, 23,842 were button bucks, and 123,168 were does. The top harvest counties for the overall deer season were Franklin with 6,208, Jefferson with 4,900, and Macon with 4,495.Deer hunting ended with the close of the archery season. Preliminary data from MDC showed that hunters checked 56,347 deer during the 2024-2025 archery deer season.The top counties for the archery deer season were Jefferson with 1,579, Franklin with 1,216, and St. Louis with 994. This year’s archery deer harvest total was slightly higher than last year’s total of 55,731.Copyright 2025 KFVS. All rights reserved.For deer harvest totals by season, county, and type of deer, you can visit the MDC website.Isabelle noted that the counties with the largest decline in harvest were in the forest-dominated Ozark counties where acorn abundance has a more significant effect on deer movement.According to the MDC, Missouri’s 2024-2025 deer-hunting season ended on January 15 with a preliminary total deer harvest for the season of 276,262.
