FilledTag Get a hunt plan

Saline County, Missouri: deer harvest and public hunting land

Saline County covers 767 square miles around Marshall. Hunters checked 2,048 deer here in the 2025 season, 1,076 of them antlered bucks, by MDC's harvest summary. That is up 5% from 2024. 2.7% of Saline County is public land open to the public, the largest share MDC conservation areas (9,314 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 Saline County: public land by manager, MRAP land, the counties around it, highways I-70, US 40 and US 65; towns: Marshall, Sweet Springs, Slater, Emma and Glasgow

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

Saline County at a glance
Size490,797 acres (767 square miles)
Deer checked, 20252,048 (1,076 antlered bucks, 122 button bucks, 850 does)
Firearms and archery, 20251,649 by firearms, 399 by archery
Public land2.7% (13,137 acres)
MDC lands9 (8,962 acres inside Saline County)
MRAP land1 site, 102 acres
Towns in and near itMarshall, Sweet Springs, Slater, Emma, Glasgow and De Witt

How many deer are harvested in Saline County?

Hunters checked 2,048 deer in Saline County in 2025: 1,076 antlered bucks, 122 button bucks and 850 does. By method: 1,649 by firearms (1,077 of them in the November portion) and 399 by archery; the rest came on managed hunts.

SeasonDeer checkedAntlered bucksButton bucksDoesFirearmsNovember portionArchery
20252,0481,0761228501,6491,077399
20241,9541,0291108151,6141,065340
20232,1981,0671679641,8871,409311
20222,2921,1101771,0051,9061,449386
20212,0261,1071367831,676346

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

13,137 of Saline County's 490,797 acres are public land open to the public (2.7%). The biggest share is MDC conservation areas: 9,314 acres.

ManagerAcresShare of Saline County
MDC conservation areas9,3141.9%
National wildlife refuges2,7210.6%
State parks and historic sites9720.2%
County, city and regional land130under 0.1%
All public land open to the public13,1372.7%

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 Saline County

MDC lands in Saline 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 (2,721 acres).

MRAP land in Saline County

MDC's MRAP layer shows 1 tract in Saline County open to some hunting, 102 acres of private land enrolled for public access. Each tract's map says what it allows. MDC: MRAP.

How do you get to Saline County?

Highways through it: I-70 (about 48 miles inside), US 40 (about 48 miles inside), US 65 (about 41 miles inside), MO 41 (about 30 miles inside) and MO 240 (about 26 miles inside). Towns inside: Marshall, Sweet Springs, Slater, Miami, Nelson and Blackburn. Nearby: Emma (on the line), Glasgow (on the line), De Witt (on the line) and Blackwater (2 miles).

Which counties border Saline County?

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

CountyDeer harvestedYearPublic landMRAP land sites
Cooper County2,32020252%
Howard County2,30420253.5%
Pettis County2,86720250.9%
Carroll County2,35820250.9%
Chariton County2,33120252.6%3
Lafayette County1,68420251.2%

Questions hunters ask

How many deer were harvested in Saline County in 2025?

Hunters checked 2,048 deer: 1,076 antlered bucks, 122 button bucks and 850 does (MDC). In 2024: 1,954.

Is there public hunting land in Saline County?

Yes. 13,137 acres, 2.7% 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 (9,314 acres). MDC's map shows 9 conservation areas here.

Does Saline County have MRAP land?

Yes. 1 tract open to some hunting, 102 acres, on MDC's MRAP layer.

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 Cooper County Howard County Pettis County Carroll County Chariton County Lafayette County