In Missouri, you can kill up to two antlered deer per year across all seasons combined, plus a county-dependent number of antlerless deer that ranges from zero firearms antlerless deer in a handful of southeast counties to an effectively unlimited archery antlerless harvest in every county.1Missouri Department of Conservation. Deer: Regulations A hunter working both archery and firearms seasons in a four-permit county can realistically take a dozen or more deer in a single year.
The Antlered Deer Cap
Two antlered deer. That is the ceiling, regardless of how many permits you buy or how many seasons you hunt. Of those two, only one can come during the firearms season (all portions combined), and only one can come during archery season before the November firearms portion opens.2Justia Law. Missouri Code 3 CSR 10-7.431 – Deer Hunting Seasons: General Provisions
An antlered deer is any deer carrying at least one antler three inches or longer. Anything shorter is counted as antlerless.
One exception stretches the cap: deer taken on managed hunts do not count toward the two-antlered-deer limit, so a drawn managed-hunt permit can get you a third antlered deer on top of the normal two.2Justia Law. Missouri Code 3 CSR 10-7.431 – Deer Hunting Seasons: General Provisions
Antlerless Deer Limits by County
This is where the real number comes from, and where Missouri is unusually generous. Antlerless rules split cleanly between archery and firearms.
Archery Antlerless: No Cap
During archery season, you can purchase and fill an unlimited number of archery antlerless permits in every Missouri county.3Missouri Department of Conservation. Antlerless Deer Hunting County Restrictions Each permit covers one doe or button buck and costs $7.50 for residents, $34 for nonresidents.4Missouri Department of Conservation. Deer Permits If you keep shooting and keep buying permits, the state keeps selling them.
Firearms Antlerless: Four County Tiers
Firearms antlerless limits depend entirely on where you hunt. For the 2025–26 season, the Missouri Department of Conservation sorts counties into four tiers:3Missouri Department of Conservation. Antlerless Deer Hunting County Restrictions
- Zero firearms antlerless permits: Atchison, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, and Pemiscot.
- One firearms antlerless permit: Andrew, Butler, Carter, Holt, Iron, Nodaway, Reynolds, Scott, Stoddard, and Wayne.
- Two firearms antlerless permits: Bollinger, Madison, and Shannon.
- Four firearms antlerless permits: The vast majority of counties, including Boone, Greene, Jackson, St. Charles, St. Louis, and roughly 90 others.
Whatever your county allows, the number applies across all firearms portions combined: youth, November, antlerless, and alternative methods. MDC updates the tiers every year, so verify your county before buying permits.
Your Realistic Season Total
Add it up for a hunter working both seasons in a typical four-permit county:
- Two antlered deer (one archery, one firearms)
- Four firearms antlerless deer
- Any number of additional archery antlerless deer
That is six deer before you even count the archery doe permits you can keep stacking. A disciplined hunter in a high-deer county can comfortably take ten or more. In a one-permit firearms county, the practical ceiling drops to two antlered plus one firearms antlerless plus unlimited archery antlerless. In the five zero-permit counties, you lose firearms antlerless entirely and lean on archery for does.
Managed Hunts Add to the Total
MDC runs roughly 145 managed deer hunts each year on conservation areas and other designated properties, and anything you take on one of them sits outside your normal archery and firearms limits.5Missouri Department of Conservation. Managed Hunts: Deer The application window runs July 1–31, you can apply for only one managed deer hunt per year, and selection is by weighted random drawing with preference points for prior unsuccessful applications. Results post August 15.
Permits You Need to Reach Those Numbers
Each permit authorizes a specific type and number of deer:4Missouri Department of Conservation. Deer Permits
- Resident Archer’s Hunting Permit ($22): Two deer of either sex, with only one antlered before the November firearms portion.6Missouri Department of Conservation. Deer Hunting
- Resident Firearms Any-Deer Permit ($19.50): One antlered or antlerless deer.
- Archery Antlerless Permit ($7.50 resident / $34 nonresident): One antlerless deer per permit, no cap on how many you buy.
- Firearms Antlerless Permit ($7.50 resident / $34 nonresident): One antlerless deer per permit, capped by county tier.
Nonresident archer’s and firearms any-deer permits each run $360, and nonresidents must hold one of those qualifying primary permits before they can buy any antlerless permits.4Missouri Department of Conservation. Deer Permits
Landowner Permits
Missouri residents who own at least 20 contiguous acres (and their immediate household members living there at least 30 days) qualify for free landowner deer permits.7Missouri Department of Conservation. Landowner Permits The standard package covers one firearms any-deer permit, one archer’s hunting permit (two deer), and two archery antlerless permits where county rules allow. Landowners with 75 or more contiguous acres in a single county also get two free firearms antlerless permits on top of the base package.3Missouri Department of Conservation. Antlerless Deer Hunting County Restrictions Business entities (partnerships, corporations, LLCs) need at least 75 contiguous acres to qualify at all.
County Rules That Narrow What Counts
Two overlays can change which bucks you’re allowed to shoot in the first place, even if you still have antlered tags to fill.
Antler Point Restrictions
Eighteen counties require any antlered deer you harvest to carry at least four points on one side, with a point counting if it’s at least one inch long (the main beam tip counts). The restriction runs through both archery and firearms seasons.8Missouri Department of Conservation. Antler-Point Restrictions
Those counties are Andrew, Atchison, Bates, Benton, Buchanan, Cass (partial), Cooper, DeKalb, Gentry, Holt, Johnson, Lafayette, Lincoln, Nodaway, Pettis, Pike, Platte (partial), and Worth.8Missouri Department of Conservation. Antler-Point Restrictions Youth hunters age 15 or younger on September 15 of the current year are exempt.
CWD Management Zone
MDC has lifted the four-point rule in all CWD Management Zone counties, so if your county is in the zone, no minimum point count applies to your antlered harvest.9Missouri Department of Conservation. Chronic Wasting Disease Regulations Over 80 counties fall within the CWD zone for 2025–26, and those counties carry extra sampling and carcass-handling rules that don’t change your deer count but do shape how you handle each animal.
Season Dates
You have four months of hunting to work with. For 2026–27:10Missouri Department of Conservation. Hunting Seasons (at a Glance)
- Archery: September 15 – November 13, 2026, and November 25, 2026 – January 15, 2027
- Firearms youth portions: October 24–25, 2026, and November 27–29, 2026
- Firearms November portion: November 14–24, 2026
- Firearms alternative methods: December 26, 2026 – January 5, 2027
Archery pauses during the November firearms portion and picks back up afterward. Shooting hours in every season run from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.2Justia Law. Missouri Code 3 CSR 10-7.431 – Deer Hunting Seasons: General Provisions