Pike County, Missouri: deer harvest and public hunting land
Pike County covers 685 square miles around Louisiana. Hunters checked 4,848 deer here in the 2025 season, 1,818 of them antlered bucks, by MDC's harvest summary. That is up 10% from 2024. 3.9% of Pike County is public land open to the public, the largest share MDC conservation areas (12,538 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 wildlife refugesCounty, city and regional landPike CountyNeighboring countiesLakeHighway
| Size | 438,233 acres (685 square miles) |
|---|---|
| Deer checked, 2025 | 4,848 (1,818 antlered bucks, 488 button bucks, 2,542 does) |
| Firearms and archery, 2025 | 3,885 by firearms, 949 by archery |
| Public land | 3.9% (17,080 acres) |
| MDC lands | 10 (12,488 acres inside Pike County) |
| MRAP land | None mapped this year |
| Towns in and near it | Louisiana, Bowling Green, Eolia, Middletown, Vandalia and Whiteside |
How many deer are harvested in Pike County?
Hunters checked 4,848 deer in Pike County in 2025: 1,818 antlered bucks, 488 button bucks and 2,542 does. By method: 3,885 by firearms (2,402 of them in the November portion) and 949 by archery; the rest came on managed hunts.
| Season | Deer checked | Antlered bucks | Button bucks | Does | Firearms | November portion | Archery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 4,848 | 1,818 | 488 | 2,542 | 3,885 | 2,402 | 949 |
| 2024 | 4,425 | 1,570 | 477 | 2,378 | 3,572 | 2,475 | 837 |
| 2023 | 4,855 | 1,876 | 480 | 2,499 | 4,068 | 2,800 | 774 |
| 2022 | 4,567 | 1,912 | 420 | 2,235 | 3,685 | 2,812 | 866 |
| 2021 | 4,026 | 1,548 | 467 | 2,011 | 3,221 | 796 |
Source: MDC deer harvest summaries (2021 to 2025 seasons), Pike 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 Pike County?
17,080 of Pike County's 438,233 acres are public land open to the public (3.9%). The biggest share is MDC conservation areas: 12,538 acres.
| Manager | Acres | Share of Pike County |
|---|---|---|
| MDC conservation areas | 12,538 | 2.9% |
| National wildlife refuges | 4,468 | 1% |
| County, city and regional land | 71 | under 0.1% |
| Land trusts and other open land | 2 | under 0.1% |
| State parks and historic sites | 1 | under 0.1% |
| All public land open to the public | 17,080 | 3.9% |
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 Pike County
MDC lands in Pike County, largest first, with the acres of each inside it:
- Ted Shanks Conservation Area: 6,801 acres
- Upper Mississippi Conservation Area: 2,256 acres
- Ranacker Conservation Area: 1,832 acres
- Dupont Reservation Conservation Area: 1,345 acres
- Edward Anderson Conservation Area: 137 acres
- Jack Floyd Memorial Lake (Bowling Green): 43 acres
- Hamburg Ferry Access: 27 acres
- West Lake (Bowling Green): 27 acres
- Prairie Slough Conservation Area: 12 acres
- Ashley Access: 8 acres
Other large public areas here, by PAD-US: Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge (3,740 acres) and Great River National Wildlife Refuge (729 acres).
How do you get to Pike County?
Highways through it: MO 79 (about 40 miles inside), US 54 (about 25 miles inside) and MO 161 (about 17 miles inside). Towns inside: Louisiana, Bowling Green, Eolia, Clarksville, Frankford and Curryville. Nearby: Middletown (on the line), Vandalia (3 miles), Whiteside (3 miles) and Elsberry (4 miles).
Which counties border Pike County?
Pike County touches 4 other counties. Their latest MDC harvest and public land, for comparison:
| County | Deer harvested | Year | Public land | MRAP land sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ralls County | 2,742 | 2025 | 0.4% | |
| Audrain County | 2,305 | 2025 | 0.6% | |
| Lincoln County | 4,503 | 2025 | 4.3% | |
| Montgomery County | 3,419 | 2025 | 1.4% |
Questions hunters ask
How many deer were harvested in Pike County in 2025?
Hunters checked 4,848 deer: 1,818 antlered bucks, 488 button bucks and 2,542 does (MDC). In 2024: 4,425.
Is there public hunting land in Pike County?
Yes. 17,080 acres, 3.9% 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 (12,538 acres). MDC's map shows 10 conservation areas here.
Does Pike County have MRAP land?
Not on MDC's MRAP layer of tracts open to hunting.
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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 Ralls County Audrain County Lincoln County Montgomery County