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Lafayette County, Missouri: deer harvest and public hunting land

Lafayette County covers 639 square miles around Lexington. Hunters checked 1,684 deer here in the 2025 season, 841 of them antlered bucks, by MDC's harvest summary. That is up 2% from 2024. 1.2% of Lafayette County is public land open to the public, the largest share MDC conservation areas (2,735 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.

Map of Missouri's Lafayette County: public land by manager, the counties around it, highways I-70, US 40 and US 24; towns: Lexington, Odessa, Higginsville, Blackburn and Camden

MDC conservation areasNational wildlife refugesState parks and historic sitesCounty, city and regional landLafayette CountyNeighboring countiesLakeHighway

Lafayette County at a glance
Size408,866 acres (639 square miles)
Deer checked, 20251,684 (841 antlered bucks, 127 button bucks, 716 does)
Firearms and archery, 20251,380 by firearms, 304 by archery
Public land1.2% (4,822 acres)
MDC lands10 (2,666 acres inside Lafayette County)
MRAP landNone mapped this year
Towns in and near itLexington, Odessa, Higginsville, Blackburn, Camden and Oak Grove

How many deer are harvested in Lafayette County?

Hunters checked 1,684 deer in Lafayette County in 2025: 841 antlered bucks, 127 button bucks and 716 does. By method: 1,380 by firearms (958 of them in the November portion) and 304 by archery; the rest came on managed hunts.

SeasonDeer checkedAntlered bucksButton bucksDoesFirearmsNovember portionArchery
20251,6848411277161,380958304
20241,6528371256901,3841,043268
20231,5988141166681,3661,028230
20221,6968111557301,4501,223245
20211,5287701356231,293235

Source: MDC deer harvest summaries (2021 to 2025 seasons), Lafayette 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 Lafayette County?

4,822 of Lafayette County's 408,866 acres are public land open to the public (1.2%). The biggest share is MDC conservation areas: 2,735 acres.

ManagerAcresShare of Lafayette County
MDC conservation areas2,7350.7%
National wildlife refuges1,7240.4%
State parks and historic sites2440.1%
County, city and regional land119under 0.1%
All public land open to the public4,8221.2%

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 Lafayette County

MDC lands in Lafayette County, largest first, with the acres of each inside it:

Other large public areas here, by PAD-US: Big Muddy National Fish And Wildlife Refuge (1,724 acres).

How do you get to Lafayette County?

Highways through it: I-70 (about 66 miles inside), US 40 (about 65 miles inside), US 24 (about 37 miles inside), MO 13 (about 25 miles inside) and MO 23 (about 19 miles inside). Towns inside: Lexington, Odessa, Higginsville, Concordia, Napoleon and Waverly. Nearby: Blackburn (on the line), Camden (on the line), Oak Grove (on the line) and Fleming (on the line).

Which counties border Lafayette County?

Lafayette County touches 6 other counties. Their latest MDC harvest and public land, for comparison:

CountyDeer harvestedYearPublic landMRAP land sites
Ray County1,80020250.7%
Pettis County2,86720250.9%
Saline County2,04820252.7%1
Carroll County2,35820250.9%
Jackson County2,41520257.9%
Johnson County3,05720251.7%

Questions hunters ask

How many deer were harvested in Lafayette County in 2025?

Hunters checked 1,684 deer: 841 antlered bucks, 127 button bucks and 716 does (MDC). In 2024: 1,652.

Is there public hunting land in Lafayette County?

Yes. 4,822 acres, 1.2% 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 (2,735 acres). MDC's map shows 10 conservation areas here.

Does Lafayette County have MRAP land?

Not on MDC's MRAP layer of tracts open to hunting.

Get a Missouri hunt plan when they open

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Where these numbers come from

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 Ray County Pettis County Saline County Carroll County Jackson County Johnson County