Missouri Deer Hunters Took Aim Over The Weekend

(Missourinet) — Deer hunters were out and about this weekend for the second portion of the November firearms season.

Jason Isabelle of the Missouri Department of Conservation says the state’s deer population is good…current estimates are somewhere between 1.5 and 1.7 million.

Isabelle says, “Hunters took about 70-thousand deer last weekend, which was about 10-thousand fewer than normal.” He blames the lower number on the warm weather last weekend, and even though the numbers aren’t in yet, he expects hunters to have had better luck this last weekend.

During all deer seasons in Missouri, hunters will harvest about 300-thousand deer. That’s about 20-percent of the herd each year.

He says, “It provides a really important service to all of us in Missouri because we know that deer can certainly be overabundant and where they are overabundant, they can cause problems. Whether that’s deer-vehicle collisions, damage to agricultural crops, landscaping, you name it. And so by harvesting, deer hunters are really providing an important service.”

Archery season in Missouri reopens Wednesday and runs through January 15th.