JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows that hunters harvested 11,424 deer during the state’s chronic wasting disease (CWD) portion of the firearms deer-hunting season, Nov. 27 – Dec. 1, in CWD Management Zone counties. Of the 11,424 deer harvested, 3,917 were antlered bucks, 1,052 were button bucks, and 6,455 were does.
MDC initiated the CWD portion last year to increase deer harvest in the CWD Management Zone to help slow the spread of the disease. For a list of CWD Management Zone counties, visit the MDC website at mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer/chronic-wasting-disease/cwd-management-zone-regulations.
Hunters were allowed to use any unfilled firearms deer hunting permits during the CWD portion and had to abide by the statewide limit of one antlered deer during the firearms deer season, all portions combined. Hunters also had to abide by county-specific firearms antlerless permit numbers.
Top counties for the CWD portion were Franklin with 413 deer harvested, Jefferson with 301, and Howell with 279. For more information on this season’s harvest totals, visit the MDC website at extra.mdc.mo.gov/widgets/harvest_table/.
Perry County hunters harvested 207 deer: 55 antlered bucks, 17 button bucks, and 135 does.
Sainte Genevieve hunters harvested 162 deer: 57 antlered bucks, 16 button bucks and 89 does.
Last year’s harvest total for the CWD portion was 11,707 deer. For more information on harvest summaries from past years, visit MDC online at mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer/deer-reports/deer-harvest-summaries.
Archery deer hunting continues through Jan. 15, 2025. The late antlerless portion of firearms deer season runs Dec. 7-15 in open counties and the alternative methods portion will occur Dec. 28 through Jan. 7, 2025.
Get more information on Missouri deer hunting from MDC’s 2024 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, available where hunting permits are sold and online at mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer.