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Missouri deer hunting: harvest by county, conservation areas and public land

Missouri hunters checked 301,125 deer in the 2025 season, 144,772 of them antlered bucks, by MDC's harvest summary. For 2026 MDC removed the CWD portion of the firearms season and the antler-point restriction in every county, and nonresidents may take one antlered deer across archery and firearms combined (MDC).

Data updated October 2026. Seasons: MDC's deer page, read October 2026. Harvest: MDC's deer harvest summaries. Land: PAD-US 4.1, MDC's conservation area layer and MRAP layer.

Map of Missouri's counties; the ones with a FilledTag page are shaded, and each MDC area with a page is a green dot
Shaded: counties with a page of their own. Green dots: MDC lands with a page.

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When are Missouri's 2026 hunting seasons?

Missouri's 2026 deer seasons, from MDC's deer hunting page. Permits, limits and the counties open in each antlerless portion are there too.

SeasonDates
ArcherySeptember 15 to November 13, 2026, and November 25, 2026 to January 15, 2027
Firearms: early antlerless portionOctober 9 to 11, 2026
Firearms: early youth portionOctober 24 to 25, 2026
Firearms: November portionNovember 14 to 24, 2026
Firearms: late youth portionNovember 27 to 29, 2026
Firearms: late antlerless portionDecember 5 to 13, 2026
Firearms: alternative methods portionDecember 26, 2026 to January 5, 2027

Source: MDC, Deer (read October 2026). New for 2026, in MDC's words: the CWD Management Zone and the CWD portion are removed, the antler-point restriction is removed for all counties, and new managed deer hunts were added while others were removed or changed.

How many deer do Missouri hunters take?

Deer checked by hunters, statewide, by season. Antlerless deer are button bucks and does together.

SeasonDeer checkedAntlered bucksButton bucksDoes
2025301,125144,77225,063131,290
2024275,656128,93523,779122,942
2023326,448147,85029,094149,504
2022299,719140,73527,028131,956
2021295,143143,81526,750124,578

Source: MDC deer harvest summaries (2021 to 2025 seasons), the season summary table of each year.

How many deer are checked in each Missouri county?

All 115 counties, with MDC's harvest for the 2025 season and the public land in each.

CountyDeer harvestedYearPublic landConservation areas
Adair County2,63920252.9%9
Andrew County1,06520252.4%14
Atchison County54020253%10
Audrain County2,30520250.6%8
Barry County2,538202514.7%4
Barton County1,84420252.9%16
Bates County2,31620251.2%7
Benton County4,228202512.9%12
Bollinger County3,99220254.3%10
Boone County3,43920254.4%19
Buchanan County86720252.1%16
Butler County1,852202513.7%13
Caldwell County2,12920250.7%2
Callaway County5,19720254.4%11
Camden County3,71420254.4%9
Cape Girardeau County3,18620252.3%10
Carroll County2,35820250.9%5
Carter County2,210202541.7%4
Cass County2,73120251.6%12
Cedar County2,33420258.9%6
Chariton County2,33120252.6%10
Christian County2,458202515.5%3
Clark County2,75020252.8%7
Clay County1,13920257.2%4
Clinton County1,01620253.4%3
Cole County2,02920252.6%15
Cooper County2,32020252%5
Crawford County3,667202513.5%11
Dade County1,70220259.4%10
Dallas County2,95120253.1%8
Daviess County2,87320250.3%6
DeKalb County1,09720251.8%7
Dent County2,659202519.9%7
Douglas County3,69520258.3%6
Dunklin County49620252%8
Franklin County6,75120253.1%20
Gasconade County4,07320250.5%6
Gentry County1,53620250.7%5
Greene County2,95520252.3%9
Grundy County1,81220250.8%2
Harrison County3,22020252%7
Henry County3,300202514.2%16
Hickory County2,57820259.2%5
Holt County84920258.3%11
Howard County2,30420253.5%10
Howell County5,474202510%8
Iron County1,903202531.7%6
Jackson County2,41520257.9%13
Jasper County2,60720250.3%3
Jefferson County5,17320251.9%9
Johnson County3,05720251.7%5
Knox County2,64620250.4%2
Laclede County3,32820257.3%13
Lafayette County1,68420251.2%10
Lawrence County2,08820251.4%5
Lewis County2,40720253.1%6
Lincoln County4,50320254.3%11
Linn County2,59020253.1%4
Livingston County2,12020252.8%4
Macon County4,52520253.4%13
Madison County2,892202517.8%6
Maries County2,20420250.8%6
Marion County2,33920251.6%10
McDonald County1,90720251.5%6
Mercer County2,03620251%5
Miller County2,85020253.6%8
Mississippi County28220252.6%5
Moniteau County1,82220251.8%7
Monroe County3,74920250.7%6
Montgomery County3,41920251.4%5
Morgan County3,96220251%8
New Madrid County32320251.5%5
Newton County2,89020251.4%11
Nodaway County1,43320251.2%5
Oregon County4,176202521.2%4
Osage County3,74020251.2%8
Ozark County2,819202514.1%7
Pemiscot County16920252.9%7
Perry County3,16020251.1%5
Pettis County2,86720250.9%14
Phelps County2,723202516%7
Pike County4,84820253.9%10
Platte County1,15320252.9%10
Polk County3,15220253.1%7
Pulaski County2,501202511.4%5
Putnam County2,33620251.7%5
Ralls County2,74220250.4%5
Randolph County2,47620252.3%6
Ray County1,80020250.7%11
Reynolds County2,746202530.7%8
Ripley County3,088202527.2%5
Saline County2,04820252.7%9
Schuyler County1,51220250.6%3
Scotland County2,64020251.5%3
Scott County90020250.7%6
Shannon County3,030202541.7%8
Shelby County2,55920250.8%6
St. Charles County2,14120258.3%11
St. Clair County3,383202511.8%15
St. Francois County3,38120254.4%6
St. Louis County1,92220259.8%25
Ste. Genevieve County3,30620255.7%5
Stoddard County1,93520254.3%7
Stone County2,137202516.5%10
Sullivan County2,57720252.5%7
Taney County2,452202524.7%6
Texas County4,97420259.1%13
Vernon County3,13120255%15
Warren County2,78720252.9%3
Washington County3,425202520%7
Wayne County4,081202526.6%13
Webster County2,91420250.5%3
Worth County1,09620252%3
Wright County3,62520252.2%7

Harvest: MDC deer harvest summaries (2021 to 2025 seasons). Public land: USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee land open to the public) and MDC conservation area boundaries.

How much of Missouri is public hunting land?

3,143,094 acres of Missouri, 7% of the state, are public land open to the public, by USGS PAD-US 4.1 and MDC conservation area boundaries: national forest 1,510,128 acres, MDC conservation areas 1,062,914 acres, federal land, mostly Corps of Engineers lakes 251,961 acres, state parks and historic sites 118,307 acres, county, city and regional land 62,471 acres and national wildlife refuges 62,298 acres.

Missouri's big public hunting ground is in the Ozarks: the Mark Twain National Forest and MDC's large forested conservation areas in the south. North of the Missouri River public land is mostly conservation areas and Corps of Engineers land around the big reservoirs.

Which conservation areas are the largest?

MDC conservation areas that list hunting, with a page of their own, largest first:

333 MDC lands have a page of their own; each county page lists the rest.

What is MRAP land?

MDC's Missouri Recreational Access Program (MRAP) pays landowners to open private land to the public. Its layer shows 33 tracts open to some hunting, about 8,181 acres. MRAP land by county.

Questions hunters ask

What changed in Missouri's 2026 deer season?

MDC removed the CWD portion of the firearms season and the CWD Management Zone, though CWD rules still apply in some counties. The antler-point restriction is gone in every county, and nonresidents may take only one antlered deer across archery and firearms combined (MDC).

How many deer were harvested in Missouri last season?

Hunters checked 301,125 deer in the 2025 season: 144,772 antlered bucks, 25,063 button bucks and 131,290 does (MDC harvest summary).

When is Missouri's November firearms portion in 2026?

November 14 to 24, 2026 (MDC).

Can you hunt deer on Missouri conservation areas?

On many. Each area's MDC page lists the hunting it allows, species by species, and some areas allow deer only on managed hunts; the area pages here quote MDC's list.

Get a Missouri hunt plan when they open

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Until then, the free FilledTag app for iPhone has a map that works in every state, Missouri included.

Where these numbers come from

FilledTag is not part of the Missouri Department of Conservation. MDC's hunting pages are the final word on every rule.

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