Callaway County hunters harvested the second-most deer in the state, final season data shows.
They also topped the charts for fall turkey archery season.
Missouri's 2018-2019 deer-hunting season ended Jan. 15 with the Missouri Department of Conservation reporting a preliminary total harvest of 290,339 deer. Top counties for the overall season were Franklin with 5,826 deer harvested, Callaway with 5,545, and Howell with 5,350. Of the 290,339 deer harvested, 136,776 were antlered bucks, 30,116 were button bucks, and 123,447 were does.
Hunters in Callaway County harvested 2,428 antlered bucks, 594 button bucks and 2,523 does, bagging 1.9 percent of the total for the state.
Hunters harvested 284,477 deer during the 2017-2018 deer hunting season. The most recent record season was in 2012-2013 with a total harvest of 313,254.
Deer hunting ended with the close of the archery season. Preliminary data from Missouri Department of Conservation showed that hunters checked 54,447 deer during the archery season. Top counties for the archery season were Jefferson with 1,262 deer harvested, St. Louis with 1,083, and Franklin with 1,068. Hunters checked 51,991 deer during the 2017-2018 archery season.
Fall archery turkey hunting also ended Jan. 15. Preliminary data from the Department of Conservation showed 2,095 turkeys harvested. Top counties for the archery turkey season were Callaway with 56 birds harvested, Franklin with 44, and Monroe with 38. For the previous year, hunters harvested 2,426 turkeys during the fall archery season.
The Department of Conservation reported eight firearms-related hunting incidents during the 2018 fall deer and turkey hunting seasons. Three were fatalities with two occurring incidental to hunting while at hunting camps and one was a self-inflicted incident in the field. Of the five non-fatal incidents, four were self-inflicted and the fifth occurred when the shooter shot a victim while swinging on game.
One self-inflicted hunting incident took place near Fulton Nov. 14. A 17-year-old male was injured non-fatally while hunting deer.
At 10:43 a.m., deputies responded to a private property off State Road F, just outside Fulton, for a reported deer hunting accident. By 10:51 a.m., deputies had located the deer hunter in a creek bed.
Deputies administered first aid. When other first-responders arrived, the deputies assisted in bringing the hunter to a waiting ambulance.