Jefferson City, Missouri - The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reports that hunters harvested 11,025 deer during the Alternative Methods portion of the 2014 deer hunting season, which ran Dec. 20-30. Top harvest counties were Oregon with 269, Franklin with 248, and Howell with 244. The total harvest for last year’s Alternative Methods portion was 11,967.

For 2014 harvest totals by county and season portion, and for past season totals, visit the MDC website at http://mdc.mo.gov/node/29442.

This season’s deer hunting continues with archery hunting through Jan. 15 and the firearms late youth weekend Jan. 3-4.

The alternative methods portion replaced the muzzleloader portion of firearms deer season in 2012. Hunters are allowed to use muzzle-loading firearms, center-fire pistols, air-powered guns, bows, crossbows, or atlatls during the alternative-methods hunt.

Conservation makes Missouri a great place to hunt deer for about 520,000 hunters. Deer hunting is also an important economic driver in Missouri. It supports more than 12,000 jobs and gives a $1 billion annual boost to state and local economies. Many businesses rely on deer hunting as a significant source of revenue, such as meat processors, taxidermists, hotels, restaurants, sporting goods stores, and others.

For more on Missouri deer hunting, go online to www.mdc.mo.gov.