The 2016-2017 deer-hunting season ended Jan. 15 with a preliminary total harvest of 263,832 deer. Top counties for the overall season were Franklin with 5,272 deer harvested, Howell with 5,242, and Texas with 4,608.
Hunters harvested 273,249 deer during the 2015-2016 deer hunting seasons.
Deer hunting ended with the close of the archery season. Preliminary data showed hunters checked 47,550 deer during the archery season. Top counties for the archery season were Jefferson with 1,118 deer harvested, Wayne with 980, and St. Louis with 979. Archery hunters checked 49,759 deer the previous year.
Fall archery turkey hunting also ended Jan. 15. Preliminary data from MDC showed 2,304 turkeys harvested.
Top counties for the fall archery turkey season were St. Clair with 57 birds harvested, Franklin with 51, and Greene with 50. For the previous year, hunters harvested 3,042 turkeys.
The past season was the first with crossbows as a legal method during the deer and turkey archery season. Of the 47,550 deer harvested under archery methods, 14,336 were with crossbows. Of the 2,304 turkeys harvested under archery methods, 853 were with crossbows.
Get more deer and turkey harvest data for the current season at short.mdc.mo.gov/Z3g.
For deer harvest data for past seasons visit short.mdc.mo.gov/Z3M.
Turkey harvest data for past seasons is available at short.mdc.mo.gov/Z3Y.
MDC reported four firearms-related hunting incidents during the fall deer and turkey hunting seasons. All were non-fatal. Three involved self-inflicted injuries and one involved the ricochet of a bullet fragment from one hunter into another. In addition, the Department was notified of one tree-stand fall, which was not fatal.