Missouri Deer Harvest Totals In & Numbers Way Down from Last Year

The state of Missouri now has the totals for the firearms portion of deer season and while the final number is still large, it's way down from last year.

The Missouri Department of Conservation just released final numbers today for the firearms portion of this year's deer season which ran from November 16 through November 26. Here is their breakdown:

159,120 deer harvested
82,613 were antlered bucks
13,203 were button bucks
63,304 were does

How did this year's Missouri deer season compare to last year?

The Missouri Department of Conservation says that in 2023, there were 193,885 deer harvested. That translates into this year's deer harvest being down more than 33,000 deer and is 15% lower than the 5-year average in Missouri.

Why were less deer taken this year in Missouri compared to last year? Many believe that the warmer temperatures in 2024 compared to 2023 during the Fall months and easier access to food sources like acorns resulted in fewer deer out in the open compared to a normal year.

Next year will be interesting to see if this downward Missouri deer harvest is a trend or a fluke one-off year.