Missouri deer regulations change for 2026 season

With summer nearly over, many outdoor enthusiasts are shifting their attention from fishing to Missouri’s fall hunting seasons. Deer hunters will see several notable regulation changes this year. Some respond to concerns raised by hunters, while others reflect the Missouri Department of Conservation’s evolving statewide approach to managing chronic wasting disease, or CWD.

The antler-point restriction, which required a buck to have at least four points on one side, has been eliminated statewide. In Platte County, the restriction previously applied north of Missouri Route 92.

Originally enacted to encourage the harvest of antlerless deer, the restriction was removed to help slow the spread of CWD. Young bucks are more likely to travel long distances as they mature and establish territories, potentially spreading the disease.

Landowners may still voluntarily use an antler-point restriction as part of a quality deer management plan on their property or cooperatively with neighboring landowners.

The former CWD Management Zone also has been eliminated, along with rules limiting which parts of a deer carcass could be moved between counties. Hunters may now transport an intact carcass between counties, but the deer must be Telechecked before it or any of its parts leave the county where it was harvested.

Mandatory CWD sampling during the opening weekend of the November firearms portion will rotate among groups of counties on a four-year cycle, with 28 counties selected each year.

This year, mandatory sampling will take place Nov. 14-15, and Buchanan County is among the designated counties. Anyone who harvests a deer in Buchanan County during that weekend must take the deer — or its head — to a mandatory sampling station on the day it is harvested. Sampling locations are listed in the 2026 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet.

Two other changes reflect public input: a reduced antlered-deer limit for some nonresident hunters and a new date for the early youth firearms portion.

Hunters using a Nonresident Archer’s Hunting Permit or Nonresident Firearms Any-Deer Hunting Permit may take only one antlered deer during the archery and firearms seasons combined. For example, a hunter who takes a buck during the early archery season cannot harvest another antlered deer with an any-deer firearms permit.

Separate rules apply to nonresident landowners hunting on qualifying property. Limits for resident hunters remain unchanged.

The early youth firearms portion will be held Oct. 24-25 this year, three weeks before the November firearms portion begins. It was moved one week earlier because it otherwise would have overlapped with Halloween weekend, a conflict hunters frequently cited in surveys as a barrier to youth participation.

For questions about these or other regulations, call me at 816-244-0702 or Conservation Agent Tyler Besaw at 816-835-6086.

To report a suspected violation, call Operation Game Thief at 800-392-1111. Callers may remain anonymous, and rewards may be available.