JEFFERSON CITY – Hunters checked 190,089 deer during Missouri’s 11-day November firearms deer hunt, slightly surpassing last year’s figure despite a slow start on opening weekend.

Extremely windy weather, combined with reduced deer populations in some areas, dropped the opening-weekend harvest 10,000 below the 2010 figure. Hunters persevered, however, and more than made up lost ground in the following nine days of the November hunt. In the end, they harvested 1,884 more than last year, a 1-percent increase.

Top harvest counties were Howell with 3,483 deer checked, Macon with 3,393 and Texas with 3,284. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) recorded six firearms-related deer-hunting accidents during the November hunt, down from nine last year.

MDC Resource Scientist Jason Sumners said changes to hunting regulations over the past 20 years are responsible for producing more large-antlered deer.

Sumners noted that in 2003, antlered deer made up 37 percent of the November firearms deer harvest. Last year, 40 percent of the harvest consisted of antlered deer. This year, the figure was 43 percent. This narrowing of the gap between doe and buck harvest began with implementation of the four-point rule for antlered deer in 2004.

MDC Director Bob Ziehmer hailed this year’s deer harvest numbers as good news for all Missourians.

“A robust firearms deer harvest is proof of a healthy deer herd that benefits all Missourians, whether they hunt or not,” said Ziehmer. “Resident deer hunters and a significant number of hunters from out of state spend approximately $700 million on their sport. That spending generates more than $1 billion in business activity. In all, deer hunting supports 11,000 Missouri jobs. In these economic times, that’s a big boost to the state’s economy.”