Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows young hunters ages 6-15 harvested 2,881 deer during Missouri’s late youth portion of the 2022 deer hunting season, Nov. 25-27. Of the 2,881 deer harvested, 1,302 were antlered bucks, 322 were button bucks, and 1,257 were does.
Top counties for the late youth portion were Lincoln with 82 deer harvested, Franklin with 65, and Osage with 52.
Last year’s harvest total for the late youth portion was 3,534, with 1,498 being antlered bucks, 390 button bucks, and 1,646 does.
“It’s typical to see quite a bit of variability in the number of deer taken during our shorter season portions, due primarily to the effect of weather on deer movement, the number of hours hunters spend in the field, or both,” said MDC Cervid Program Supervisor Jason Isabelle.
Isabelle noted that harvest totals for the late youth portion over the past several years have ranged from about 2,000 deer to just under 4,000 deer.
“This year’s harvest total was slightly below average, but that wasn’t unexpected given the rain that moved through portions of the state Saturday evening and Sunday morning,” said Isabelle.
For current ongoing preliminary harvest totals by season, county, and type of deer, visit the MDC website at https://extra.mdc.mo.gov/widgets/harvest_table/.
For harvest summaries from past years, visit https://short.mdc.mo.gov/4ZM.
Archery deer season runs through Jan. 15, 2023. The antlerless portion of firearms deer season runs Dec. 3-11 (in open counties) followed by the alternative methods portion Dec. 24 through Jan. 3, 2023.
