From hunted-out woods to a deer refuge: How a Missouri couple transformed their 300-acre property

Every time Mike and Dana Blevins take their side-by-side around their 300-acre property in Perryville, Missouri, they see something they once had to work hard to bring back: white-tailed deer. “We take the side-by-side out with our grandkids, and we will always see deer,” the couple told the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) in its September 2026 Missouri Conservationist feature. “Watching them year-round is a way we monitor the herd.” That routine is more than a family outing. It is also a quiet measure of how dramatically the property has changed since the Blevins bought it in 1992.A property where deer habitat had sufferedWhen the couple acquired the land, it was not being managed with a healthy deer population in mind. According to MDC, the previous owner allowed high hunting pressure and cattle to run in the woods, while the property lacked management aimed at supporting a healthy deer herd. The Blevins began changing that after purchasing the property.With recommendations from an MDC biologist, they introduced habitat-management practices designed to increase deer numbers. Over the following decades, the land became an example of how private landowners can work alongs...