Youth Deer hunting numbers are in

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that young hunters ages 6 through 15 harvested 15,608 deer during Missouri’s early youth portion of the 2021 deer hunting season October 30th and 31st. The top counties were Osage with youth hunters harvesting 359 deer, Franklin with 329, and Howell with 310. The counts in counties in the Fort Leonard Wood area included Texas with 278, Miller with 216, Maries with 208, Laclede with 197, Phelps with 176, Camden with 171, and Pulaski with 142. This year’s overall total for the early youth deer hunting season was slightly less than last year’s totals.