What methods of population control exist?
Population control comes in many forms but essentially all are lethal measures designed to reduce deer numbers. Hunting is the most traditional population control and is often considered a recreational activity. Over the last 10 years it has taken on much more of a population reduction role whereby the recreation aspect becomes secondary. Historically, hunting traditions over the last 60 years were designed around buck harvest. More recently, as many areas began to fill with suitable deer numbers to match good habitat and human tolerance, doe harvest has grown in focus. In areas where population control is the goal does should be the primary target of the hunting. Most hunting is done on private land where liberal permits and landowner desires manage deer to their own needs. This program does work quite well statewide. Deer hunting in Missouri offers many options for participants. Modern center-fire firearms are used to take the most deer (200,000 – 240,000 annually) in the state. Hunt
