Missouri sees below-average deer harvest for opening weekend of hunting season

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- More than 70,000 deer were harvested by Missouri hunters in the opening weekend of firearms season, an increase from last year but sharply lower than average totals from the previous five years.

The Missouri Department of Conservation reported Monday that 70,173 deer were harvested during the opening of the November portion of firearms season on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16.

The top harvest counties were Franklin with 1,761 deer, followed by Howell with 1,269 and Wayne with 1,232.

While the number of harvested deer surpassed the 68,057 recorded during the opening weekend of 2024, totals were significantly lower compared with years prior.

The state regularly averaged between 89,000 and 90,000 deer, reaching as high as 99,470 harvested in 2018. Conservation officials told state media outlets that warm temperatures likely factored into the state's low deer totals this year.

Previous opening weekend deer harvest totals:

2025: 70,173

2024: 68,057

2023: 90,253

2022: 93,355

2021: 89,939

2019: 88,760

2018: 99,470

More harvest data can be found at extra.mdc.mo.gov/widgets/harvest_table/.