Deer hunt numbers 'almost unbelievable'

"It's almost unbelievable," said Fred Butler when told how many deer have been taken so far this year. "I never thought I would see the day when Missouri deer hunters would take 300,000 whitetails in a season."

Butler recalled that when he was in high school and someone hit a deer on 65 highway. "People would flock around to see the deer, but today, unless you had a 14 pointer or better, it wouldn't raise an eyebrow."

Things have really changed since the 40s when just seeing a deer was worth bragging about. Butler said, "I never thought I would see the day when there would be more deer than rabbits in the state."

The December antlerless part of the season which started on Dec. 11 and continued through Dec. 19, could very well see another 30,000 deer added to the totals of the regular firearm season, the urban hunt, the special youth hunt as well as the archery season that runs through Jan. 15, 2005.

A record firearm season saw 222,329 deer taken beating the old record of 217,435 from the 2002 season. The special youth hunt weekend added another 13,466, which was 4,412 more than the previous season, the urban hunt added another 1,955 deer in the 11 counties that were open, The recent muzzleloader season also saw a record as 11,938 more deer were added to the total and the archery totals are expected to beat last season's totals.

"It goes without saying that there are plenty of deer in the state," said Butler. "Just this morning I saw seven deer in a field near my house, so I'm sure there will be plenty of deer left after all the seasons have ended. Like the turkey restoration program, the whitetail deer have made a big comeback since I first started hunting."

Among some of the unusual deer taken this season was a big doe with a nine point rack taken in Benton County and a 12 point buck that still had velvet on it's rack taken in Southwest Missouri.

An observer at a check station in St. Clair county said, "I wish I had the film concession because there have been so many photos taken of the deer brought in."

It has been a big season for Missouri deer hunters with no end in sight.