JANUARY DEER HARVEST HELPS SET OVERALL RECORD

JEFFERSON CITY -- Missouri's first January firearms deer season added 7,691 to the annual deer harvest, pushing the 1996-97 deer kill to a new record. Officials with the Missouri Department of Conservation are pleased with results from the hunt on Jan. 4 and 5, saying it is one step toward developing ways to keep deer numbers in northern Missouri and around the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas at acceptable levels.

The deer kill of 180,395 reported during the first 11 days of firearms deer hunting (Nov. 16-26) fell short of the record of 186,697 set in 1995. But the boost provided by the January hunt put the 1996-97 harvest over the top. The MDC recorded 188,091 deer killed by firearms deer hunters during the November and January firearms hunts. No firearms deer hunting accidents were reported during the January hunt.

MDC Wildlife Research Biologist Lonnie Hansen, who oversees the agency's deer management program, said it was difficult to predict what the deer harvest might be during the January hunt, since it was unprecedented in Missouri. "I thought we might kill 10,000," he said, "and 7,691 is getting up near that. I'd say we did pretty well. Any time we take more than 200 deer in a county where we want to reduce numbers, it's going to have a positive effect."

However, Hansen said it is too soon to tell if the January deer hunt will be part of the solution to Missouri's deer management challenges or even if it will be repeated. "We'll have to look at the statistics and do some figuring to see if we think this is the best tool to achieve our management goals," he said.

According to Hansen, those goals include providing the best possible opportunities for hunters while responding to landowners' concerns about how growing deer numbers affect agriculture and other human activities.

Suburban areas -- with growing numbers of both deer and humans -- present a particular challenge. Deer damage to landscape plants and deer-vehicle accidents both concern suburban residents. The deer harvest in St. Louis County during the January hunt was minimal. No data are available yet about the January deer harvest in counties surrounding Kansas City.

"The harvest is not enough to make a significant difference in the overall St. Louis area deer population," said Hansen. "The big problem is that firearms deer hunters have trouble getting access to hunt on private land, where most deer live. Hunting will help in some local areas, but it will not solve the overall problem with too many deer in urban areas."

Top counties for the January portion of the deer hunting season were: Boone, 297 deer harvested; Macon, 286; and Linn, 285.