Pursuing white-tailed deer is an activity that has a long history in Missouri.
November 16 is the opening day of the pinnacle event in Missouri deer hunting — the November portion of firearms deer season. This year’s season has a historical note to it — this year marks the 75th anniversary of Missouri’s modern deer hunting seasons. While the deer season we enjoy today in Missouri has a direct lineage back to 1944, deer hunting in the state has a much longer history.
Bison and elk made relatively early exits from the state, but deer continued to be found here as Missouri’s landscape became settled.