MDC reports more than 90K deer harvested during firearms opening weekend

MISSOURI (KFVS) - Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows deer hunters throughout the state harvested 90,334 deer during opening weekend of the November portion of firearms deer season.

Of those deer harvested Nov. 11-12, conservationists say 53,159 were antlered bucks, 7,163 were button bucks and 30,012 were does.

They say the top harvested counties for opening weekend were Franklin County with 2,114 deer harvested, Texas County with 1,825 and Howell County with 1,726.

According to MDC, this year’s opening weekend harvest was similar to the previous five-year average. In 2022, hunters checked 93,355 deer during opening weekend.

You can click here for more information on harvest totals.

“With the cool mornings and comfortable afternoons, it would have been hard to ask for more pleasant conditions to be deer hunting this past weekend,” MDC Cervid Program Supervisor Jason Isabelle, said in a news release.

In addition, the department thanked the thousands of deer hunters who participated in its mandatory sampling efforts in 39 counties.

They say they collected tissue samples from more than 20,600 hunter-harvested deer for CWD testing on Nov. 11-12.

You can find CWD test results free online. The results are available within four weeks from the time of sampling.

The November portion of firearms deer season runs through Nov. 21 followed by the CWD portion Nov. 22-26 in open counties. Archery deer hunting resumes Nov. 22 through Jan. 15, 2024. The late youth portion runs Nov. 24-26. The late antlerless portion of firearms deer season runs Dec. 2-10 in open counties and the alternative methods portion will occur Dec. 23 through Jan. 2, 2024.

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