Missouri deer research / Cass County

Cass County, Missouri — Deer Hunting Research

Provisional FDR Deer Herd Index 56.7 Provisional — ranked #28 of 114 ranked Missouri counties. Built from Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Telecheck records, 2015–2025 plus public-land access.

B - Strong
56.7 / 100
Provisional FDR Index
#28 of 114
Ranked-county rank
6
Trophy records
2,018
Public-land acres
2,731
2025 deer harvest

What drives the Cass County index

Provisional components, each scored 0–100 against the ranked Missouricounties. Provisional — trophy and roadway components are pending.

Herd quality · 28%81
Population · 18%35
Trophy history · 15%68
habitat · 15%19
Momentum · 12%87
Deer-vehicle crash rate · 12%38

Trophy record

Trophy record-book production for Missouri is a later input to the FDR Index — cross-book deduplicated record-book data has not been ingested for this state yet. Trophy figures show as coming rather than a fabricated zero.

20152025 harvest trend

SeasonTotal harvest
20252,731
20242,496
20232,662
20222,675
20212,495
20202,382
20191,636
20182,312
20172,148
20162,037
20152,023

Harvest totals from Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Telecheck records, 2015–2025. MDC reports totals by county and season; archery / firearm splits are not broken out in this dataset.

See full Cass County harvest charts →

Harvest composition

MDC reports each deer as an Antlered Buck, Doe, or Button Buck (a male fawn). In 2025, Cass County ran 1,444 antlered bucks, 1,077 does, and 210 button bucks.

SeasonAntlered buckDoeButton buckTotal
20251,4441,0772102,731
20241,3559871542,496
20231,3341,1351932,662
20221,4131,0472152,675
20211,3729511722,495
20201,3268881682,382
20199745491131,636
20181,1599212322,312
20171,1038471982,148
20161,0328191862,037
20159518582142,023

Antlered buck = adult male; button buck = male fawn; doe = adult female. Only MDC's additive method portions are summed, so the three sum to the county total — no double-counting.

See full Cass County composition charts →

Herd & land detail

MetricValue
Latest season (2025)2,731 deer
Harvest per sq mi3.92
Buck : doe ratio1.34
County land (sq mi)696.60
Public-land acres2,018

Methodology

Provisional index. Provisional index — herd, harvest, trophy (single record book), and roadway (exposure-normalized deer-vehicle crash rate) components; habitat/age-structure partial where the state does not publish them.. FULLY DRAWN RESEARCH — Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) PROVISIONAL COUNTY DEER INDEX

Informational only. Built from public-record Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) county harvest data, US Census TIGER county land area, a single trophy record book (one of three), and exposure-normalized deer-vehicle crash rates where published. Provisional index — some components partial or pending. Not a prediction or guarantee. Verify with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC).

See Cass County on the map

Parcels with owner & acreage, public hunting land, leaf-off imagery, and this research — together on one hunting map.

Nearby counties

← #27 Carroll County#29 Clay County →

Frequently asked questions

Is Cass County, Missouri good for deer hunting?

Cass County scores 56.7 of 100 on the provisional FDR Deer Herd Index (B - Strong), ranked #28 of 114 ranked Missouri counties. The provisional index is built from MDC public harvest records; some components are partial or pending, as noted in the methodology.

How many deer were harvested in Cass County last season?

MDC records show 2,731 deer harvested in Cass County, Missouri in 2025, the most recent reported season.