Missouri records that nearly 300,000 deer were harvested this hunting season, up from last year
According to the MDC, hunters harvested 296,516 deer this year, including bucks, button bucks and does
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It was a good year for hunting in yet another state.
Missouri’s Department of Conservation reported that nearly 300,000 deer were harvested in the most recent hunting season. This number is higher than last year’s harvest by about 11,000.
According to the MDC, hunters harvested 296,516 deer this year, including bucks, button bucks and does. (iStock)
According to the MDC, hunters harvested 296,516 deer this year, including bucks, button bucks and does. Last year, the MDC reported that 285,873 deer were harvested.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The MDC Cervid Program Supervisor Jason Isabelle said, "Although harvest was down slightly during the November portion of firearms deer season, when most of the deer harvest occurs, increases in most of the other season portions contributed to about a four-percent increase in this year’s total deer harvest over last year’s. The increased harvest is largely a reflection of increasing deer numbers throughout much of the state."
Multiple states have reported record numbers for various hunts during the past season.
ARKANSAS DEER HUNTERS SET RECORD HARVEST NUMBERS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News previously reported that the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game announced on its website that 1,183 bears were harvested in the 2020 season. This number marks a 33% increase from the previous year’s harvest and it is also 42% higher than the five-year average.
Andrew Timmins, New Hampshire’s Fish and Game bear project leader, spoke with New Hampshire NPR about the factors that he believes contributed to the season’s record-breaking harvest.
"People were recreating a little more," he said. "There was more interest in hunting just because people weren’t at work as much, and they were at home."
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Vermont has also reported a record bear season in 2020, with hunters taking 914 bears as the sport’s popularity surges amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hunters in the Green Mountain State harvested the record number last year, surpassing the previous record of 750 bears in 2019. Forrest Hammond, a bear biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, cited cabin fever as a contributing factor.
Fox News' Janine Puhak contributed to this report.