With deer hunting totals below 10-year average, MDC points to decline in deer population

Missouri's Conservation Department says hunters killed nearly 239,000 deer during the 2011-12 firearms hunting season.

Conservation officials said the season's total was up about 7,400 from last year, but roughly 13,000 below the 10-year average.

Jason Sumners, a deer biologist with the Conservation Department, says this year's sharp departure from the 10-year average reflects a decline in deer populations in parts of central and northern Missouri.

At the same time, Sumners says deer numbers in southern Missouri continue to increase gradually.