Last weekend was urban deer season in Missouri, allowing hunters to harvest antler-less deers in and around St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia/Jefferson City.
In total, hunters in those regions killed 570 deer. In the St. Louis area, hunters harvested 165 deer in St. Louis, Jefferson and St. Charles counties between October 7-11.
The Missouri Department of Conservation says higher-than-normal temperatures last weekend resulted in a below average harvest statewide for the urban season. Temperatures last weekend broke 80 degrees in most of Missouri. The normal temperature for early October is around 72 degrees.
"Deer are less active on warm fall and winter days, as their winter coat doesn't allow them to dissipate heat as easily," says MDC resource scientist Jason Sumners. "At the same time, deer hunters may hesitate to shoot a deer if they are worried about spoilage due to high temperature."
Sumners adds that some hunters simply don't feel like hunting deer if they break a sweat getting to their stand.