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Texas County, Missouri: deer harvest and public hunting land

Texas County covers 1,179 square miles around Cabool. Hunters checked 4,974 deer here in the 2025 season, 2,475 of them antlered bucks, by MDC's harvest summary. That is up 21% from 2024. 9.1% of Texas County is public land open to the public, the largest share national forest (50,190 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 Texas County: public land by manager, the counties around it, highways MO 17, US 63 and MO 137; towns: Cabool, Houston, Raymondville, Mountain Grove and Mountain View

MDC conservation areasNational forestNational park land (Ozark National Scenic Riverways and others)State parks and historic sitesOther state landCounty, city and regional landTexas CountyNeighboring countiesLakeHighway

Texas County at a glance
Size754,684 acres (1,179 square miles)
Deer checked, 20254,974 (2,475 antlered bucks, 395 button bucks, 2,104 does)
Firearms and archery, 20254,272 by firearms, 702 by archery
Public land9.1% (68,361 acres)
MDC lands13 (16,321 acres inside Texas County)
MRAP landNone mapped this year
Towns in and near itCabool, Houston, Raymondville, Mountain Grove, Mountain View and Willow Springs

How many deer are harvested in Texas County?

Hunters checked 4,974 deer in Texas County in 2025: 2,475 antlered bucks, 395 button bucks and 2,104 does. By method: 4,272 by firearms (3,026 of them in the November portion) and 702 by archery; the rest came on managed hunts.

SeasonDeer checkedAntlered bucksButton bucksDoesFirearmsNovember portionArchery
20254,9742,4753952,1044,2723,026702
20244,1211,9973531,7713,5082,917613
20236,1902,5485113,1315,3954,215792
20224,7002,1014752,1244,1263,610572
20215,4822,6345422,3064,740740

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

68,361 of Texas County's 754,684 acres are public land open to the public (9.1%). The biggest share is national forest: 50,190 acres.

ManagerAcresShare of Texas County
National forest50,1906.7%
MDC conservation areas16,4192.2%
National park land (Ozark National Scenic Riverways and others)1,0400.1%
Other state land7120.1%
All public land open to the public68,3619.1%

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 Texas County

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

Other large public areas here, by PAD-US: Mark Twain National Forest (50,202 acres) and Ozark National Scenic Riverways (1,040 acres).

How do you get to Texas County?

Highways through it: MO 17 (about 66 miles inside), US 63 (about 50 miles inside), MO 137 (about 37 miles inside), MO 32 (about 35 miles inside) and US 60 (about 31 miles inside). Towns inside: Cabool, Houston, Raymondville, Licking, Summersville and Plato. Nearby: Mountain Grove (on the line), Mountain View (4 miles), Willow Springs (5 miles) and Edgar Springs (7 miles).

Which counties border Texas County?

Texas County touches 8 other counties. Their latest MDC harvest and public land, for comparison:

CountyDeer harvestedYearPublic landMRAP land sites
Dent County2,659202519.9%
Howell County5,474202510%
Phelps County2,723202516%
Wright County3,62520252.2%
Douglas County3,69520258.3%
Laclede County3,32820257.3%
Pulaski County2,501202511.4%
Shannon County3,030202541.7%

Questions hunters ask

How many deer were harvested in Texas County in 2025?

Hunters checked 4,974 deer: 2,475 antlered bucks, 395 button bucks and 2,104 does (MDC). In 2024: 4,121.

Is there public hunting land in Texas County?

Yes. 68,361 acres, 9.1% of the county, are public land open to the public by USGS PAD-US 4.1 and MDC conservation area boundaries, the largest share national forest (50,190 acres). MDC's map shows 13 conservation areas here.

Does Texas County have MRAP land?

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

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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 Dent County Howell County Phelps County Wright County Douglas County Laclede County Pulaski County Shannon County