MDC reports hunting season totals

Missouri's 2016-17 deer hunting season ended Jan. 15 with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reporting a preliminary total harvest of 263,832 deer.

Top harvesting counties for the season were Franklin with 5,272 deer killed, Howell with 5,242 and Texas with 4,608. Hunters killed a total of 273,249 deer during the 2015-16 deer-hunting seasons.

Deer hunting ended with the close of the archery season. Preliminary data from MDC shows hunters checked 47,550 deer during the archery season.

Top counties for the archery season were Jefferson with 1,118 deer killed, Wayne with 980 and St. Louis with 979. Archery hunters checked 49,759 deer the previous year.

Fall archery turkey hunting also ended Jan. 15. Preliminary data from MDC shows 2,304 turkeys killed.

Top counties for the fall archery turkey season were St. Clair with 57 birds harvested, Franklin with 51 and Greene with 50. For the previous year, hunters killed 3,042 turkeys.

The past season was the first in which MDC allowed crossbows as a legal method during the deer and turkey archery season. Of the 47,550 deer killed under archery methods, 14,336 were with crossbows. Of the 2,304 turkeys killed under archery methods, 853 were with crossbows.

MDC reported four firearms-related hunting incidents during the fall deer and turkey hunting seasons. All were non-fatal. Three involved self-inflicted injuries, and one involved the ricochet of a bullet fragment from one hunter to another. In addition, MDC was notified of one tree-stand fall, which was not fatal.