Perry County and Missouri deer hunters are certainly harvesting their venison and trophy bucks this fall.
Opening weekend was a success as preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows deer hunters in Missouri harvested 93,355 deer during opening weekend of the November portion of firearms deer season Nov. 12-13. Of the 93,355 deer harvested, 55,267 were antlered bucks, 7,250 were button bucks, and 30,838 were does.
“After a mild start to the month of November, the weather sure turned colder just in time for opening weekend,” said MDC Cervid Program Supervisor Jason Isabelle. “Although Saturday was a bit blustery, we had some good conditions, overall, for opening weekend this year and the long-term forecast looks very good at this point as well.”
Last year, hunters checked 89,939 deer during opening weekend of the November portion of firearms deer season.
As of Tuesday that number has grown to 113,366 throughout the state with Perry County having harvested 1,277 deer with 637 bucks, 528 does and 112 button bucks.
Currently the top counties are Franklin (2,383), Texas (2,101), Callaway (1,984) and Bollinger (1,948).
The numbers are right on track to match last season’s deer harvest totals as there were 188,928 deer killed during the November deer season. Perry County is right on track with its totals from 2021 as there were 886 deer killed during opening weekend with 503 bucks, 296 doe and 87 button bucks. There were 2,051 deer killed in Perry County last year.
The November portion of firearms deer season continues through Nov. 22. Missouri’s archery deer and turkey season resumes Nov. 23 through Jan. 15, 2023. The late youth portion of firearms season runs Nov. 25-27. The antlerless portion of firearms deer season runs Dec. 3-11 (in open counties) followed by the alternative methods portion Dec. 24 through Jan. 3, 2023.
