Missouri’s November firearms deer season wrapped up Tuesday evening, and after 11 days, hunters managed to kill 187,967 deer statewide.
That’s a decent amount higher than the 177,769 taken over the same period last year and even tops the 2019 harvest of 178,936. It’s also the third best harvest since 2012, when 204,647 deer were killed.
The top counties in the state were Franklin with 4,144 deer taken, Texas with 4,050 and Howell with 3,244.
The southeast part of the state didn’t seem to fare as well as other regions, with significantly lower harvest numbers in most counties and many hunters reporting minimal deer movement.
In Butler County, hunters killed 811 deer, down sharply from the 1,230 taken last year.
Carter County also saw a big drop in its harvest, with 999 taken this year compared to 1,427 last year.
Dunklin County hunters killed 272 deer in the firearms season, falling just shy of last year’s 290.
In Ripley County, hunters tagged 1,961 deer, far below last year’s 2,575.
Wayne County, which usually leads the region, was down as well with 1,945 deer taken compared to 2,651 a year ago.
The two bright spots in our reader area were Reynolds and Stoddard counties.
In Reynolds County, hunters easily topped last year’s 1,796 deer taken with 2,301 this year.
In Stoddard County, this year’s 1,240 deer killed was about 9% better than last year’s 1,136.
The Missouri Department of Conservation reported two non-fatal, self-inflicted hunting incidents during the season.
Young hunters age 6-15 get another shot at taking a deer Friday through Sunday, when the second portion of the youth deer season runs in Missouri.
Just like during the first portion, young hunters must be accompanied by a hunter-education certified adult mentor, unless they are hunter-education certified themselves, and they must be able to hold, aim and fire their weapon by themselves.
Hunter orange is required of both hunters and mentors.
If a youngster still has firearms permits but took an antlered deer during the first portion of the youth season or the regular November firearms season, they can only take antlerless deer during the second portion.
The next firearms deer season in Missouri is the antlerless season in select counties (only Ripley around here). That season will run Dec. 4-12.
Following that, the statewide alternative methods deer season will run Dec. 25-Jan. 4.
With the closure of the November firearms season, Missouri’s archery deer and turkey season reopened Wednesday. It will continue through Jan. 15.
As a reminder, bowhunters will have to wear hunter orange Friday through Sunday this week because of the youth deer season.
Missouri’s short-lived first segment of the South Zone duck season opened Thursday, but will close Sunday.
The second portion of the South Zone season will open Dec. 7 and continue through Jan. 31.
If you hunt ducks in Arkansas, the first segment of the statewide season there will close on Monday. The second portion will run Dec. 11-23.
With deer season over for most folks, many will change their focus to crappie fishing.
Very few people have been fishing on Wappapello Lake lately, but with the water temperature falling, fishing should be pretty decent.
Look for crappies among submerged cover near the river channel in the upper portion of the lake, and if the afternoon sun warms the shallows enough, it could pay to try the flats as well.
Paul Davis is the outdoor editor for the Daily American Republic and can be reached at pdavis.dar@gmail.com.