NOVINGER, MO. -- It was a deer hunter's paradise in Northeast Missouri, as Saturday started the opening weekend for firearms deer hunters in Missouri. The hunters will have the next ten days to get out there and find a buck.
In the meantime, many local organizations are capitalizing on all of the deer hunters in town. KTVO stopped by the Novinger fire station, where the local 4-H club hosted a hunter's breakfast. The breakfast started at 4 a.m. and by 9 a.m., members said about 50 hunters showed up to eat.
One of the hunters KTVO spoke to said he traveled from Kansas City to the heartland to take a vacation away from the city and find a buck right here in the Heartland. He said his chances of getting one are pretty good.
"It's been very good as far as seeing lots of animals," said Mike Hill, of Blue Springs, Mo. "With the last three years being flooded out, I didn't see very many, but this morning has been a very nice day. There were lots of animals out there."
Hill said while hunting early Saturday morning just outside of Novinger, he saw "trophy-worthy" animals. He said he'll be vacationing here in the Heartland for the rest of the week, hunting religiously every day and night until he finds the buck he is looking for.
Mike Hill wasn't the only one to come to Northeast Missouri. to search for a buck. Mo. Governor Jay Nixon was also in the area, looking to take one home to the Governor's mansion.
We asked the Governor on Friday during the Milan Veteran's Day Assembly about his hunting trip here in the Heartland.
"I'll be one hundred or so miles from here but Northern Missouri is a great place," said Nixon, (D)-Missouri. "The deer sure are big up there. I'll be a little further east over in Clark county. Hopefully we get there in time for sunset."
The Governor said about half a million people every year participate in the Missouri firearms deer hunting season.
Click here to view the opening weekend deer harvest summary numbers
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