The overall total harvest during the early Youth Deer Hunt season held this past weekend was below totals in 2014. Much of the drop could be attributed to weather, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. The total kill was 14,200, which was considerably below the 2014 total of 18,091. It was the lowest total since 2010. The Youth Deer Hunt is open only to hunters aged six through 15 years.
Saturday, Oct. 31, was the first day, and it was less than perfect with high winds and showers. The second day turned out to be almost ideal with cool temperatures and calm winds.
Youth hunters in Stoddard County harvested 118 total deer, far below the 177 taken last year during the early segment of the Youth Deer Hunt. The harvest included 62 antlered bucks, 16 button bucks and 39 does.
The counties with the highest totals in Missouri were Franklin with 341, Osage with 340 and Howell with 291.
Carter County youngsters killed 169 deer, which was only four less than in 2014. Ripley County hunters took home 248 deer, compared to 281 a year ago. In the Southeast Region, Butler County hunters tagged 155 deer, down from 181 in 2014's early segment. In Wayne County, young hunters killed 235 deer, a 25-percent drop from last year's 310. In Dunklin County, hunters took 25 deer, almost half of last year's 41.
No accidents were reported over the course of the youth season weekend.
Youth hunters who weren't successful last weekend still can hunt in the other upcoming seasons, including the regular November portion Nov. 14-24, the alternative methods season Dec. 19-29 and the late youth portion, scheduled for Jan. 2-3.
Archery deer hunting continues through Nov. 13 and again from Nov. 25 though Jan. 15, 2016.
Up next for deer hunting in Missouri is the November portion of firearms deer season, which runs Nov. 14 through 24.
That will be followed by the firearms deer antlerless portion running Nov. 25 through Dec. 6.
The firearms deer alternative methods portion will run Dec. 19-29.
(The harvest numbers for 2015 were taken from the Department of Conservation on Thursday morning, Nov. 5.)