Missouri
1,500,000
Est. Whitetail Population
475,000
No. Licenses Sold Annually
$18 and up
A firearms any-deer permit is $18. Archery and antlerless hunting permits are also available.
Resident hunting license and deer permit
$276.50 and up
A nonresident firearm permit is $276.50. Archery and antlerless hunting permits are also available.
Non-resident hunting license and deer permit
205"
Taken by Larry Gibson in Randolph County in 1971. The buck ranks No. 4 of all time.
Record B&C Typical Stat
585
Total B&C Typical Entries
333 7/8"
Picked up in 1981 in St. Louis County, ranks No. 1 of all time.
Record B&C Non-Typical Stat
428
Record B&C Non-Typical Entries
Check out the latest info for Missouri. Image by Paul Tessier
Season Dates (2024):
Archery season is Sept. 15 to Nov. 15 and Nov. 27 to Jan. 15. The main firearms season is Nov. 16 through 26. Youth seasons are Nov. 2-3 and Nov. 29-Dec. 1. There are additional special methods and antlerless seasons. Check the MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION (MDC) WEBSITE to confirm all season dates.
The Grade: A
Missouri is a big state with good hunting for big whitetails. It’s currently ranked No. 7 overall in Boone and Crockett’s list of top trophy producing states, and is home to the Missouri Monarch, the largest non-typical whitetail in the B&C record books. That deer was found dead in St. Louis County in 1981.
Good as the hunting is in the Midwestern powerhouse, heavy hunting pressure, season timing, and multiple buck tags probably keep Missouri from producing as many top-end monsters as it could. Competition is stiff for the best areas.
Antler Nation Knowledge:
Look to the northern third of the state for top-end deer. Rich soils, varying timber, mixed grasslands, increased ag and antler-point restrictions really benefit this region. An older buck age structure is the result. Generally, the closer to the Iowa border, the better the hunting. Adair, Clark, Harrison, Knox, Linn, Macon, Nodaway, Putnam, and Scotland are top contenders.
“Although nice bucks are harvested throughout the state each year, northern Missouri generally has the greatest potential to produce larger-antlered bucks,” said Jason L. Isabelle, cervid program supervisor for the Missouri Department of Conservation. “The mixture of forest, cropland, and grassland of many northern Missouri counties provides ideal habitat for whitetails. There is an antler-point restriction in place in many northern Missouri counties, which helps to increase age-structure of the buck segment of the population.”
Several central counties produce solid numbers of Booners, too, including Boone, Callaway, Howard, Jackson, Lincoln, Pike, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Vernon. Though record deer aren’t as common in southern counties, and overall deer densities are lower, Greene, Phelps, and Pulaski counties produce solid stats for the region.
Public-land opportunities are in great supply. You’ll find large tracts of public land managed by the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies. Also, the MDC manages many conservation areas THROUGHOUT THE STATE. Many of these are weapon-specific. Some are even muzzleloader and archery or archery only.
“Missouri provides a tremendous amount of public land deer hunting opportunities,” Isabelle said. “Visit mdc.mo.gov for more information.”
