Missouri’s deer herd has been thinned by about 150,000 deer in the early days of the fall firearms hunting season. A lot of them have been killed by younger hunters. The general firearms hunting season started last weekend with an estimated one-million deer in the woods. Knock that number down to about 850,000 after the first regular weekend. The Conservation Department’s Lonnie Hanson says the record has been set even though the Department is restricting hunting in several counties to deer with at least four points on one antler. Before the general season began, young hunters had a weekend and they set a record that’s about 50 percent higher than the one set last year. The usual counties have been the best – Callaway, Texas, Howell, Montgomery, Pike. Macon County is usually in that top list, but its killings might be down because of the antler point restrictions. The season goes for another week.
