2019/2020 Cedar County deer harvest summary

TORNADO – The El Dorado Springs Volunteer Fire Department, as part of their duties, watches for approaching storms. On Friday, Jan. 10, they spotted this small tornado which they think is the one that hit Montevallo and a barn near Virgil City.

STORM DAMAGE – The small tornado on Friday, Jan. 10, damage a barn on the Parrish farm southwest of Virgil City. Photo by El Dorado Springs Volunteer Fire Department

By Tyler Green-Cedar County Conservation Agent

As of thirty minutes after sunset on January 15, 2020, the 2019/2020 deer seasons were closed. What follows is a breakdown of the deer seasons and harvest totals for Cedar County.

First, Archery Deer Season opened on Sept. 15, 2019, closed on Nov. 15, 2019 and was then open again from Nov. 27, 2019, to Jan. 15, 2020. Telecheck data showed 226 antlered deer, 28 button bucks and 204 does. This gave a total archery harvest of 458 deer. During the 2018/2019 archery season, 425 deer were harvested in Cedar County. That means there were 33 more deer harvested this season than last season.

Next, five separate firearms deer seasons started with the Early Youth Portion running from Nov. 2, 2019, to November 3, 2019. Next, the Nov. Portion (AKA Rifle Season) opened on Nov. 16, 2019, and ran until Nov. 26, 2019. The Late Youth Portion was open Nov. 29, 2019, through Dec. 1, 2019. The Antlerless Portion ran from Dec. 6, 2019. to Dec. 8, 2019. Finally, the Alternative Methods Portion was open from Dec. 28, 2019, until Jan. 7, 2020.

Early Youth Portion had 148 deer harvested, the Nov. Portion had 1466, the Late Youth Portion had 11, the Antlerless Portion had 80 and the Alternative Methods Portions had 77. A breakdown of all five firearms portions in Cedar County combined showed 983 antlered deer, 140 button bucks and 659 does were harvested for a total of 1,782 deer. The 2018/2019 firearms portions combined totaled 1,973 deer.

The firearms seasons this year had 191 less deer harvested than last year. All 2019/2020 seasons combined had 158 less than the 2018/2019 seasons. These lower numbers are not a surprise. Most years when the November Firearms Portion falls later in the month of November this will be the result. Most of it has to do with how the peak of the rut falls. This year’s Archery Season showed better numbers than last year. The peak of the rut fell in line with the season that was currently open, which was Archery Season. This trend was seen in the majority of counties statewide.

Questions or concerns? Contact Cedar County Conservation Agent Tyler Green at 417/327-5378.