Standing corn likely prevented firearm hunters from setting a new record for deer harvest during the 2009 season.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission reported that hunters killed 53,641 deer during the nine-day season, Nov. 14 through 22. The total fell about 3 percent below the 2008 harvest of 55,507 deer.

A lagging corn harvest due to a wet October provided plenty of cover for deer, especially in eastern Nebraska. Deer kill totals in Southeast Nebraska were down 12 percent compared with a year ago.

The commission reported the following district totals, including percentage of change from 2008:

Southeast, 12,350, down 12 percent; Panhandle, 5,904, no change; North-Central, 10,057, up 6 percent; Northeast, 10,451, down 8 percent; Southwest, 5,833, up 5 percent; and South-Central, 9,046, no change.

Deer were checked at stations across the state.

The following are totals for deer checked at commission district offices: Alliance, 634; Bassett, 532; Norfolk, 1,241; North Platte, 633 total; Lincoln, 450; and Kearney, 1,030.

Rifle deer season keeps officers busy: Conservation officers received many complaints over the final weekend of the rifle deer season.

The complaints included hunting without permission, shooting from the road, spotlighting, and shooting and dumping deer.

Officers also investigated a number of other incidents. In the northwest region, a bull elk was shot and left in a field northwest of Fort Robinson State Park.

Another hunter in the Pine Ridge reported tracking a deer he had shot until he found it being attacked by a mountain lion. The hunter dispatched the deer, scaring off the cat. The hunter left to retrieve field-dressing equipment and returned to find the deer had been partially consumed and covered by debris.

There was a report of a wounded bighorn sheep on Cedar Canyon Wildlife Management Area. The sheep was located alive, but officers could not get close enough to determine if the sheep was shot or injured fighting another sheep.

In the southwest region, an 18-year-old hunter turned himself in to an officer after shooting an elk he had mistaken for a deer. Also, one officer in the region received 38 reports of sick deer.

An officer in the south-central region made a case against five Alabama residents who were renting a home and had permits in their names using Nebraska addresses. The officer confiscated 11 resident permits for deer, turkey and small game. He also seized three deer, including one trophy, and the leg of an alleged doe.

Also, a 17-year-old boy reportedly was shot accidentally in the leg and hand by a hunting companion.