Missouri deer research / Ray County
Ray County, Missouri — Deer Hunting Research
Provisional FDR Deer Herd Index 51.8 Provisional — ranked #48 of 114 ranked Missouri counties. Built from Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Telecheck records, 2015–2025 plus public-land access.
C - Above AverageWhat drives the Ray County index
Provisional components, each scored 0–100 against the ranked Missouricounties. Provisional — trophy and roadway components are pending.
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.
2015–2025 harvest trend
| Season | Total harvest |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,800 |
| 2024 | 1,588 |
| 2023 | 1,746 |
| 2022 | 1,699 |
| 2021 | 1,567 |
| 2020 | 1,561 |
| 2019 | 1,154 |
| 2018 | 1,478 |
| 2017 | 1,420 |
| 2016 | 1,340 |
| 2015 | 1,335 |
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 Ray County harvest charts →
Harvest composition
MDC reports each deer as an Antlered Buck, Doe, or Button Buck (a male fawn). In 2025, Ray County ran 994 antlered bucks, 663 does, and 143 button bucks.
| Season | Antlered buck | Doe | Button buck | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 994 | 663 | 143 | 1,800 |
| 2024 | 930 | 575 | 83 | 1,588 |
| 2023 | 1,031 | 585 | 130 | 1,746 |
| 2022 | 973 | 605 | 121 | 1,699 |
| 2021 | 894 | 575 | 98 | 1,567 |
| 2020 | 923 | 525 | 113 | 1,561 |
| 2019 | 621 | 456 | 77 | 1,154 |
| 2018 | 779 | 564 | 135 | 1,478 |
| 2017 | 766 | 528 | 126 | 1,420 |
| 2016 | 688 | 530 | 122 | 1,340 |
| 2015 | 545 | 619 | 171 | 1,335 |
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 Ray County composition charts →
Herd & land detail
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Latest season (2025) | 1,800 deer |
| Harvest per sq mi | 3.16 |
| Buck : doe ratio | 1.50 |
| County land (sq mi) | 569 |
| Public-land acres | 2,174 |
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 Ray County on the map
Parcels with owner & acreage, public hunting land, leaf-off imagery, and this research — together on one hunting map.
Nearby counties
Frequently asked questions
Is Ray County, Missouri good for deer hunting?
Ray County scores 51.8 of 100 on the provisional FDR Deer Herd Index (C - Above Average), ranked #48 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 Ray County last season?
MDC records show 1,800 deer harvested in Ray County, Missouri in 2025, the most recent reported season.