The biggest hunting season of the year has come to an end with 188,205 deer killed. Conservation department deer biologist Lonnie Hansen says the kill count was down in the Ozarks, as expected, but it was up in north Missouri, also as expected.
The firearms season this year also allowed people using atlatls to throw spears to hunt deer. Hansen has not heard how many deer were killed by spears.
Before the firearms season the department held seasons for archers and had controlled hunts in parks and urban areas. It also had a brief youth session. The total kill at the start of this day was almost 240,000.
The firearms deer season lasted 11 days. A brief season for taking antlerless deer is underway now. Various other seasons will continue into the first couple of days of 2011. He expects the final total to be slightly less than 300,000. But he says the 2010-2011 season still will be a good one.
Lonnie Hansen talks deer with BP 7:12 mp3
