JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows that young hunters ages 6 through 15 harvested 15,591 deer during Missouri’s early youth portion of the 2020 deer hunting season, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Top counties were Franklin with youth hunters harvesting 336 deer, Howell with 324, and Osage with 320.

View additional harvest numbers for the 2020 early youth portion at https://extra.mdc.mo.gov/widgets/harvest_table/.

Last year, youth hunters harvested 18,289 deer during the early youth portion. Get more information on past season deer harvests at https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer/deer-harvest-reports/deer-harvest-summaries.

“This year’s harvest total is about on par with the average over the last few years,” said MDC Cervid Program Supervisor Jason Isabelle. “Whenever you have a short season portion like the two-day early youth portion, you can expect variability in the harvest total from year-to-year. This year’s harvest of about 15,600 deer puts us about in the middle of the range when compared to harvest totals from the past five years.”

Missouri’s deer archery season continues through Nov. 13 and resumes Nov. 25 through Jan. 15, 2021. The November portion of firearms deer season runs Nov. 14-24 followed by the late youth portion Nov. 27-29. The antlerless portion of firearms deer season runs Dec. 4-6 followed by the alternative methods portion Dec. 26 through Jan. 5, 2021.

PROFESSIONAL PROCESSORS

MDC encourages hunters who will have their deer professionally processed to check with meat processors about their availability to process deer this fall. Some meat processors around the state are reporting higher-than-normal business and may not be accepting deer for processing or will have significant delays in processing deer.

CWD TESTING

MDC will continue to offer statewide voluntary sampling and testing of harvested deer for chronic wasting disease (CWD) during the entire deer season at select locations throughout the state, including participating MDC offices, cooperating taxidermists, and new freezer head-drop locations. Sampling and test results are free. MDC reminds deer hunters to follow carcass movement restrictions that are in effect to slow the spread of CWD. Get more information on CWD, sampling station locations, and related regulations online at www.mdc.mo.gov/CWD.

Find more information on deer hunting from MDC’s 2020 Fall Deer & Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, available where hunting permits are sold and online at https://short.mdc.mo.gov/ZXv.