JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The numbers are in on the November portion of the firearms deer season in Missouri, which ended Tuesday. The Missouri Department of Conservation says hunters took just more than 200,000 deer. That's about 14,000 fewer than were harvested last year.

  In the Ozarks, Benton and Texas counties were in the top three counties of the number of deer taken.  The Conservation Department says the lower number of deer taken is likely because more hunters were required to pass on deer that didn't have at least four points on one side.
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Edited news release from Department of Conservation:

Missouri’s November firearms deer harvest dipped by 6.4 percent this year, leading the state’s top deer expert to believe antler-point restrictions and an emphasis on shooting antlerless deer are paying off.

The statewide deer harvest during the 11-day November portion of Firearms Deer Season was 200,679, down 13,815 from last year.

The top harvest counties were Macon, with 4,021 deer checked; Benton with 3,600 and Texas with 3,590.

Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen is in charge of the Missouri Department of Conservation’s deer-management program. He says, except for a cold, windy opening day, weather was not much of a factor in holding down the deer harvest this year. He describes conditions as “about as close to perfect as possible.”

Hansen also dismisses acorn availability as a significant factor in reducing the deer kill this year. Instead, he attributes the reduced harvest to a combination of regulation changes and disease.

“I think there is no question that more than doubling the number of counties with antler-point restrictions reduced the harvest,” said Hansen. “Requiring hunters to pass up deer that don’t have at least four points on one side necessarily reduces the number of deer they can shoot. That is especially true the first year, before younger deer have a chance to mature and grow into the legal range.”

When antler-point restrictions went into effect in 29 counties in 2004, the overall deer harvest dropped by about 14 percent in the northern portion of the pilot area and approximately 3 percent in the southern portion. Hansen said the harvest decrease this year is consistent with that pattern.

Antlered deer made up 37 percent of this year’s November deer harvest compared to 45 percent last year.

Hansen noted deer numbers also are decreasing in some areas in response to other factors.

“We have been trying to encourage hunters to shoot more does for at least a decade,” he said. “Attitudes change slowly but I think hunters have kind of taken the doe-harvest message to heart. In addition to our encouragement, popular deer hunting groups, like the Quality Deer Management Association and Whitetails Unlimited, also encourage doe harvest.”

Hansen said more hunters are recognizing responsible deer management is needed to minimize the incidence of deer-car accidents and crop damage and to improve the quality of deer hunting. “Over time it is becoming more acceptable to shoot does,” he said.

Hansen said localized outbreaks of epizootic hemorrhagic disease, particularly in southern Missouri, also played a role in reducing deer numbers and therefore deer harvest.

Missouri’s record November firearms deer harvest of 235,409 was in 2006.

Hansen said Missouri’s deer herd remains healthy and relatively stable, and he expects future years’ November deer harvests to hover somewhere around 200,000.

“Overall, I am very pleased with this year’s harvest, and with the trend in deer harvests. Deer management is a balancing act between the advantages of having enough deer and the disadvantages of having too many deer. I think a lot of people would be unhappy if our deer population increased or decreased much from where it is now.”

The Conservation Department recorded four firearms-related deer hunting incidents – all nonfatal – during the November hunt. That is the same as the record low last year.