FilledTag Get a hunt plan

Pettis County, Missouri: deer harvest and public hunting land

Pettis County covers 686 square miles around Sedalia. Hunters checked 2,867 deer here in the 2025 season, 1,348 of them antlered bucks, by MDC's harvest summary. That is down 5% from 2024, and the fewest in the 5 years shown. 0.9% of Pettis County is public land open to the public, the largest share MDC conservation areas (3,533 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 Pettis County: public land by manager, the counties around it, highways US 65, US 50 and MO 127; towns: Sedalia, La Monte, Green Ridge, Ionia and Windsor

MDC conservation areasState parks and historic sitesCounty, city and regional landPettis CountyNeighboring countiesLakeHighway

Pettis County at a glance
Size439,270 acres (686 square miles)
Deer checked, 20252,867 (1,348 antlered bucks, 236 button bucks, 1,283 does)
Firearms and archery, 20252,331 by firearms, 536 by archery
Public land0.9% (3,907 acres)
MDC lands14 (3,499 acres inside Pettis County)
MRAP landNone mapped this year
Towns in and near itSedalia, La Monte, Green Ridge, Ionia, Windsor and Sweet Springs

How many deer are harvested in Pettis County?

Hunters checked 2,867 deer in Pettis County in 2025: 1,348 antlered bucks, 236 button bucks and 1,283 does. By method: 2,331 by firearms (1,647 of them in the November portion) and 536 by archery; the rest came on managed hunts.

SeasonDeer checkedAntlered bucksButton bucksDoesFirearmsNovember portionArchery
20252,8671,3482361,2832,3311,647536
20243,0071,3582361,4132,4241,881583
20233,1461,3382811,5272,6351,995511
20223,0811,4442681,3692,5362,118545
20212,8941,3802491,2652,357537

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

3,907 of Pettis County's 439,270 acres are public land open to the public (0.9%). The biggest share is MDC conservation areas: 3,533 acres.

ManagerAcresShare of Pettis County
MDC conservation areas3,5330.8%
State parks and historic sites2600.1%
County, city and regional land114under 0.1%
All public land open to the public3,9070.9%

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 Pettis County

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

How do you get to Pettis County?

Highways through it: US 65 (about 52 miles inside), US 50 (about 37 miles inside), MO 127 (about 32 miles inside), MO 52 (about 12 miles inside) and MO 135 (about 6 miles inside). Towns inside: Sedalia, La Monte, Green Ridge, Smithton, Houstonia and Hughesville. Nearby: Ionia (on the line), Windsor (on the line), Sweet Springs (2 miles) and Emma (2 miles).

Which counties border Pettis County?

Pettis County touches 7 other counties. Their latest MDC harvest and public land, for comparison:

CountyDeer harvestedYearPublic landMRAP land sites
Henry County3,300202514.2%
Benton County4,228202512.9%
Cooper County2,32020252%
Morgan County3,96220251%
Saline County2,04820252.7%1
Johnson County3,05720251.7%
Lafayette County1,68420251.2%

Questions hunters ask

How many deer were harvested in Pettis County in 2025?

Hunters checked 2,867 deer: 1,348 antlered bucks, 236 button bucks and 1,283 does (MDC). In 2024: 3,007.

Is there public hunting land in Pettis County?

Yes. 3,907 acres, 0.9% 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 (3,533 acres). MDC's map shows 14 conservation areas here.

Does Pettis 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

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 Henry County Benton County Cooper County Morgan County Saline County Johnson County Lafayette County