Boone County, Missouri: deer harvest and public hunting land
Boone County covers 691 square miles around Columbia. Hunters checked 3,439 deer here in the 2025 season, 1,652 of them antlered bucks, by MDC's harvest summary. That is up 8% from 2024. 4.4% of Boone County is public land open to the public, the largest share MDC conservation areas (10,390 acres), by USGS PAD-US 4.1 and MDC conservation area boundaries.
Data updated October 2026. Harvest: MDC's deer harvest summaries, 2021 to 2025. Land: PAD-US 4.1 and MDC's conservation area and MRAP layers.
MDC conservation areasNational forestNational wildlife refugesState parks and historic sitesCounty, city and regional landLand trusts and other open landMRAP landBoone CountyNeighboring countiesLakeHighway
| Size | 442,311 acres (691 square miles) |
|---|---|
| Deer checked, 2025 | 3,439 (1,652 antlered bucks, 251 button bucks, 1,536 does) |
| Firearms and archery, 2025 | 2,482 by firearms, 902 by archery |
| Public land | 4.4% (19,672 acres) |
| MDC lands | 19 (9,874 acres inside Boone County) |
| MRAP land | None mapped this year |
| Towns in and near it | Columbia, Ashland, Centralia, Lupus, Wooldridge and Clark |
How many deer are harvested in Boone County?
Hunters checked 3,439 deer in Boone County in 2025: 1,652 antlered bucks, 251 button bucks and 1,536 does. By method: 2,482 by firearms (1,432 of them in the November portion) and 902 by archery; the rest came on managed hunts.
| Season | Deer checked | Antlered bucks | Button bucks | Does | Firearms | November portion | Archery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3,439 | 1,652 | 251 | 1,536 | 2,482 | 1,432 | 902 |
| 2024 | 3,174 | 1,520 | 224 | 1,430 | 2,363 | 1,557 | 811 |
| 2023 | 3,644 | 1,616 | 305 | 1,723 | 2,855 | 2,026 | 789 |
| 2022 | 3,653 | 1,736 | 271 | 1,646 | 2,802 | 2,193 | 851 |
| 2021 | 3,303 | 1,579 | 249 | 1,475 | 2,458 | 844 |
Source: MDC deer harvest summaries (2021 to 2025 seasons), Boone County, from the county tables of each season (all methods, firearms, archery and the November portion). The 2021 summary has no separate November table.
How much public land is in Boone County?
19,672 of Boone County's 442,311 acres are public land open to the public (4.4%). The biggest share is MDC conservation areas: 10,390 acres.
| Manager | Acres | Share of Boone County |
|---|---|---|
| MDC conservation areas | 10,390 | 2.3% |
| National forest | 4,221 | 1% |
| State parks and historic sites | 3,152 | 0.7% |
| County, city and regional land | 1,759 | 0.4% |
| Land trusts and other open land | 144 | under 0.1% |
| Other state land | 6 | under 0.1% |
| All public land open to the public | 19,672 | 4.4% |
Measured by FilledTag inside the county line from USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee land open to the public) and MDC conservation area boundaries. Hunting rules differ by manager: MDC conservation areas allow the hunting each area's page lists; national forest is open; Corps of Engineers lake land is open to hunting in many places under each project's own rules; refuges follow U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rules; the Ozark National Scenic Riverways allows hunting under state rules while most other national park land is closed; state parks and city and county land are closed to most hunting.
MDC lands in Boone County
MDC lands in Boone County, largest first, with the acres of each inside it:
- Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area: 4,596 acres
- Rocky Fork Lakes Conservation Area: 2,225 acres
- Three Creeks Conservation Area: 1,621 acres
- Hart Creek Conservation Area: 659 acres
- Lick Creek Conservation Area: 295 acres
- Henry Jackson Waters and C. B. Moss Memorial Wildlife Area: 110 acres
- Tri-City Community Lake: 100 acres
- Hinkson Woods Conservation Area: 81 acres
- A. Perry Philips Park Lake (Columbia): 41 acres
- Hartsburg Access: 36 acres
- Huntsdale Access: 20 acres
- Twin Lakes (Columbia): 19 acres
- Central Regional Office: 18 acres
- Ashland Lake (University of Missouri): 13 acres
- Columbia (Vineyards Park Lake): 12 acres
- Stephens Park Lake (Columbia): 9 acres
- Cosmo-Bethel Lake (Columbia): 7 acres
- Providence Access: 6 acres
- Rudolf Bennitt Conservation Area: 6 acres
Other large public areas here, by PAD-US: Mark Twain National Forest (4,179 acres).
How do you get to Boone County?
Highways through it: US 63 (about 88 miles inside), I-70 (about 43 miles inside), US 40 (about 38 miles inside), MO 124 (about 26 miles inside) and MO 163 (about 12 miles inside). Towns inside: Columbia, Ashland, Centralia, Hallsville, Sturgeon and Harrisburg. Nearby: Lupus (on the line), Wooldridge (2 miles), Clark (2 miles) and Jamestown (4 miles).
Which counties border Boone County?
Boone County touches 7 other counties. Their latest MDC harvest and public land, for comparison:
| County | Deer harvested | Year | Public land | MRAP land sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole County | 2,029 | 2025 | 2.6% | 1 |
| Cooper County | 2,320 | 2025 | 2% | |
| Howard County | 2,304 | 2025 | 3.5% | |
| Audrain County | 2,305 | 2025 | 0.6% | |
| Callaway County | 5,197 | 2025 | 4.4% | |
| Moniteau County | 1,822 | 2025 | 1.8% | 3 |
| Randolph County | 2,476 | 2025 | 2.3% |
Questions hunters ask
How many deer were harvested in Boone County in 2025?
Hunters checked 3,439 deer: 1,652 antlered bucks, 251 button bucks and 1,536 does (MDC). In 2024: 3,174.
Is there public hunting land in Boone County?
Yes. 19,672 acres, 4.4% of the county, are public land open to the public by USGS PAD-US 4.1 and MDC conservation area boundaries, the largest share MDC conservation areas (10,390 acres). MDC's map shows 19 conservation areas here.
Does Boone County have MRAP land?
Not on MDC's MRAP layer of tracts open to hunting.
Get a Missouri hunt plan when they open
Hunt plans for Missouri are coming. Join the list and you'll hear first. The first 50 hunters in each new state get their plan free.
Until then, the free FilledTag app for iPhone has a map that works in every state, Missouri included.
Where these numbers come from
- Deer 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. conservation areas: MDC conservation area boundaries. MRAP land: MDC Missouri Recreational Access Program (MRAP) lands.
- Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 cartographic county boundaries. Highways and towns: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 primary and secondary roads; U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer, places.
FilledTag is not part of the Missouri Department of Conservation. Numbers are copied from MDC and the federal sources above, or measured from their maps; nothing on this page is estimated by FilledTag.
Missouri hunting Cole County Cooper County Howard County Audrain County Callaway County Moniteau County Randolph County