When buyers ask me what the hunting is really like across the eastern Ozarks, I’d rather show them numbers than give them a sales pitch. Every year the Missouri Department of Conservation publishes how many deer and turkey are checked in each county, and that record tells an honest story about the ground we work. We pulled the last five seasons for the five counties we cover — Franklin, Gasconade, Crawford, Phelps, and Dent — and laid them out below.
Deer harvest
Across all five counties, hunters check thousands of deer every season. Franklin County leads on sheer volume — it’s the largest county we serve and consistently posts the highest totals, clearing 6,000 deer in most recent seasons. Gasconade and Crawford run a strong middle, with Dent and Phelps rounding out the group. What stands out to me isn’t any single season; it’s how productive this whole region is, year after year.
| County | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 | 2025–26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | 5,291 | 6,471 | 7,397 | 6,199 | 6,751 |
| Gasconade | 3,128 | 3,685 | 4,102 | 3,168 | 4,073 |
| Crawford | 3,279 | 3,501 | 4,406 | 3,082 | 3,667 |
| Phelps | 2,394 | 2,538 | 2,994 | 2,384 | 2,723 |
| Dent | 3,619 | 3,351 | 3,865 | 2,584 | 2,659 |
Spring turkey
The turkey numbers are where the eastern Ozarks really stands out. Franklin County has ranked at or near the top of every county in Missouri for spring turkey harvest in recent years, and Phelps and Gasconade aren’t far behind. If you’re a turkey hunter shopping for ground, this is about as good a corner of the state as you’ll find.
| County | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | 773 | 798 | 973 | 940 | 956 |
| Gasconade | 618 | 606 | 756 | 688 | 790 |
| Crawford | 499 | 417 | 635 | 565 | 687 |
| Phelps | 659 | 560 | 770 | 694 | 809 |
| Dent | 582 | 451 | 608 | 557 | 692 |
What it means if you’re buying or selling
Sustained harvest numbers are one of the few objective signals of a healthy, well-balanced game population — and they’re exactly what a serious recreational buyer is looking for. They tell a seller something too: managed ground in these counties sits in a region that reliably produces deer and turkey. Totals will rise and fall from one season to the next, as they always have, but the five-year picture across all five counties is a deep, durable game population.
All figures come straight from the Missouri Department of Conservation’s annual harvest summaries. Deer totals combine every method — archery, firearms, and managed hunts; turkey figures are the regular spring season. The full county-by-county breakdown lives on our Deer & Turkey Harvest by County page, updated each year after the seasons close.
Thinking about buying or selling land in the eastern Ozarks? I’d be glad to talk.
Ryan Record · 573.259.6360 · ryan.record@whitetailproperties.com