2018 Fall Deer Harvest Higher in Illinois and Missouri

The Missouri Department of Conservation reports a near record deer harvest for the fall of 2018.

Preliminary data shows that nearly 200,000 deer were harvested during the November portion of the fall firearms deer season.

The total harvest is about seven-thousand more than a year ago, but about 5,000 short of the record harvest in 2012.

The top Missouri county for deer harvest this fall was Franklin County, with just over 4,000 deer bagged, followed by Howell County with over 38-hundred and Callaway County with nearly 3,700 deer harvested.

Deer hunters in Illinois harvested over 7,000 more deer during the first weekend of the firearm deer season than a year ago.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources reports that hunters bagged nearly 58,000 deer statewide, compared to just over 51,000 a year ago.

As usual, western Illinois was well represented in the individual county totals. Adams County hunters harvested 1,647 deer, good for second place, while Pike County came in fourth with a harvest of 1,361 deer.

Illinois’ firearm deer season wraps up November 29th through December 2nd.