Missouri hunters are active

The Missouri Department of Conservation reports that hunters checked 600 deer during the Urban Portion of Missouri’s Firearms Deer Season. County harvest totals during the urban portion were: Boone, 77; Cass, 39; Christian, 9; Clay, 30; Cole, 33; Franklin, 57; Greene, 104; Jackson, 33; Jefferson, 64; Platte, 9; St. Charles, 98; and St. Louis, 47. Female deer made up 83 percent of this year’s urban portion harvest. Hunters are only allowed to shoot antlerless deer during the Urban Portion. This focus on harvesting female deer is designed to control deer numbers in urban and suburban areas, where hunting pressure is lighter and the potential for deer-vehicle accidents and property damage is greater.
This year’s harvest was below average for the urban portion, which became part of the firearms deer season in 2003.