St. Louis County, Missouri: deer harvest and public hunting land
St. Louis County covers 523 square miles around Wildwood. Hunters checked 1,922 deer here in the 2025 season, 808 of them antlered bucks, by MDC's harvest summary. That is about the same as 2024. 9.8% of St. Louis County is public land open to the public, the largest share MDC conservation areas (13,336 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 refugesNational park land (Ozark National Scenic Riverways and others)State parks and historic sitesOther state landCounty, city and regional landLand trusts and other open landSt. Louis CountyNeighboring countiesLakeHighway
| Size | 334,968 acres (523 square miles) |
|---|---|
| Deer checked, 2025 | 1,922 (808 antlered bucks, 145 button bucks, 969 does) |
| Firearms and archery, 2025 | 499 by firearms, 1,073 by archery |
| Public land | 9.8% (32,811 acres) |
| MDC lands | 25 (13,269 acres inside St. Louis County) |
| MRAP land | None mapped this year |
| Towns in and near it | Wildwood, Chesterfield, Maryland Heights, Pacific, Arnold and Weldon Spring |
How many deer are harvested in St. Louis County?
Hunters checked 1,922 deer in St. Louis County in 2025: 808 antlered bucks, 145 button bucks and 969 does. By method: 499 by firearms (320 of them in the November portion) and 1,073 by archery; the rest came on managed hunts.
| Season | Deer checked | Antlered bucks | Button bucks | Does | Firearms | November portion | Archery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,922 | 808 | 145 | 969 | 499 | 320 | 1,073 |
| 2024 | 1,917 | 797 | 145 | 975 | 561 | 418 | 998 |
| 2023 | 2,015 | 845 | 167 | 1,003 | 707 | 529 | 1,025 |
| 2022 | 2,144 | 861 | 174 | 1,109 | 697 | 539 | 1,068 |
| 2021 | 2,184 | 899 | 184 | 1,101 | 671 | 1,120 |
Source: MDC deer harvest summaries (2021 to 2025 seasons), St. Louis 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 St. Louis County?
32,811 of St. Louis County's 334,968 acres are public land open to the public (9.8%). The biggest share is MDC conservation areas: 13,336 acres.
| Manager | Acres | Share of St. Louis County |
|---|---|---|
| MDC conservation areas | 13,336 | 4% |
| County, city and regional land | 11,939 | 3.6% |
| State parks and historic sites | 4,445 | 1.3% |
| Other state land | 2,061 | 0.6% |
| National wildlife refuges | 751 | 0.2% |
| Land trusts and other open land | 269 | 0.1% |
| National park land (Ozark National Scenic Riverways and others) | 10 | under 0.1% |
| All public land open to the public | 32,811 | 9.8% |
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 St. Louis County
MDC lands in St. Louis County, largest first, with the acres of each inside it:
- Columbia Bottom Conservation Area: 4,386 acres
- Pelican Island Natural Area: 2,570 acres
- Rockwoods Reservation: 1,923 acres
- Rockwoods Range: 1,461 acres
- Forest 44 Conservation Area: 989 acres
- Saint Stanislaus Conservation Area: 877 acres
- Creve Coeur Park Lake (St. Louis County): 303 acres
- Pacific Palisades Conservation Area: 166 acres
- Bellefontaine Conservation Area: 142 acres
- Simpson Park Lake (St. Louis County): 75 acres
- Roger Klamberg Woods Conservation Area: 68 acres
- August G. Beckemeier Conservation Area: 52 acres
- Pelican Island Access: 43 acres
- Dorothy E. Aselman Memorial Addition to Forest 44 Conservation Area: 41 acres
- Spanish Lake (St. Louis County): 31 acres
- Howell Island Conservation Area: 28 acres
- Sunfish Lake (St. Louis County): 27 acres
- Jean and Joan Goodson Conservation Area (Bittersweet Woods): 20 acres
- Gravois Creek Conservation Area: 14 acres
- Phantom Forest Conservation Area: 13 acres
- Bee Tree Park Lake (St. Louis County): 10 acres
- Allenton Access: 10 acres
- Hickory Woods Conservation Area: 10 acres
- Preslar Lake (Fenton): 5 acres
- January-Wabash Park Lake (Ferguson): 5 acres
Other large public areas here, by PAD-US: Big Muddy National Fish And Wildlife Refuge (751 acres).
How do you get to St. Louis County?
Highways through it: I-270 (about 70 miles inside), US 50 (about 54 miles inside), I-44 (about 50 miles inside), MO 141 (about 47 miles inside) and US 61 (about 45 miles inside). Towns inside: Wildwood, Chesterfield, Maryland Heights, Hazelwood, Bridgeton and Florissant. Nearby: Pacific (on the line), Arnold (on the line), Weldon Spring (on the line) and Parkdale (on the line).
Which counties border St. Louis County?
St. Louis County touches 4 other counties. Their latest MDC harvest and public land, for comparison:
| County | Deer harvested | Year | Public land | MRAP land sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin County | 6,751 | 2025 | 3.1% | |
| Jefferson County | 5,173 | 2025 | 1.9% | |
| St. Charles County | 2,141 | 2025 | 8.3% | |
| St. Louis City County | 7.1% |
Questions hunters ask
How many deer were harvested in St. Louis County in 2025?
Hunters checked 1,922 deer: 808 antlered bucks, 145 button bucks and 969 does (MDC). In 2024: 1,917.
Is there public hunting land in St. Louis County?
Yes. 32,811 acres, 9.8% 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 (13,336 acres). MDC's map shows 25 conservation areas here.
Does St. Louis 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.
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