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"Nutty" hunters fare better in deer season
MDC
11/1/02
An abundance of deer and expanded hunting opportunities will make this year's deer season a good one. A spotty acorn crop won't hurt, either.
JEFFERSON CITY -- A healthy deer herd and increased opportunities to hunt whitetails should add up to a good firearms deer season for Missouri hunters. To improve their odds of success, smart hunters will be going nuts.
Bill Heatherly, Wildlife Programs Supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation, said that so far conditions are right for the 2002 firearms deer season to be comparable to last year's, when the deer kill topped 229,000. He said a spotty acorn crop could actually help hunters.
"It should be an excellent season," Heatherly said. "Deer populations are similar to last year, and this year any-deer permits are available on demand in all management units. Plus, we have included a larger area in the antlerless-only deer season."
Weather can be a big factor in determining the size and makeup of the deer harvest. Large harvests generally occur when crisp weather prevails during deer season. Such conditions keep deer on the move and encourage hunters to spend more time afield.
Weather that is crisp but not uncomfortably cold also tends to increase the proportion of bucks in the harvest. Hunters who plan to stay in the woods all day expect to have more than one chance to bag a deer. They are more likely to pass up shots at does or small deer. During cold or rainy weather, hunters are more likely to harvest deer at the first opportunity, regardless of sex or size.
The availability of acorns affects deer hunters' strategy and success, because it influences deer movement. A widespread, bountiful acorn crop allows deer to spread out, making them harder to find. A sparse, patchy crop tends to concentrate deer around limited food supplies.
Heatherly says this year's acorn crop is spotty throughout most of the state. This will work to the advantage of hunters who take time to discover where acorns are most abundant.
The firearms season consists of four segments that take place in November and December. Youths 15 and under get the first chance to go afield during the youth-only portion Nov. 2 and 3. The regular firearms deer season runs from Nov. 16 through Nov. 26. The muzzleloader segment runs from Dec. 7 through Dec. 15, and the antlerless-only portion of the season is Dec. 19 through 22.
The Conservation Department has made several regulations changes to enhance hunting opportunities. Two of them come in the antlerless-only portion of the season. In the past, it has taken place in early January. This year, the antlerless only hunt has been moved to Dec. 19 through Dec. 22. Furthermore, the antlerless-only segment will be open in 11 more management units than last year. This year's open units include 1 through 27, 33 through 37, 58 and 59. Newly opened units are 18, 19, 21, 25, 26, 27 and 33 through 37.
The late-December hunting period is designed to offer the same hunting opportunity that the January antlerless-only hunt has for the past six years while reducing the number of bucks taken by hunters in the late hunt.
"The key to managing deer is reducing the number of does in the population," said Heatherly. "We started the antlerless-only hunt during the 1996-1997 firearms season to encourage hunters to harvest more does. By January some bucks have lost their antlers and we were taking more bucks than we liked. Hunters who place a high value on bucks with big racks didn't like to see those animals taken after they had already shed their antlers. And landowners who didn't like it were choosing not to participate in the season."
Another significant change in this year's deer regulations is the creation of a statewide any-deer permit. This permit, good in any of the state's management units, replaces the old any-deer permit, which was good only in the unit for which it was issued. This allows hunters the opportunity to take deer outside their regular hunting areas.
Deer hunters aren't the only ones affected by deer season regulations. For the first time this year, all hunters must wear a hunter-orange cap or hat and a shirt, vest or coat during all firearms deer season segments. This includes small-game hunters, who have not been included in the hunter-orange requirement previously. Exceptions to the hunter-orange requirement are waterfowl hunters, hunters using archery methods while hunting within municipal boundaries where discharge of firearms is prohibited, hunters on federal or state public hunting areas where deer hunting is restricted to archery methods, and hunters in closed deer management units during the antlerless-only part of firearms deer season.
Details of deer hunting regulations are available in the 2002-2003 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulation Information booklet, which is available wherever hunting permits are sold. Regulation information also is available online at http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/regs/ .
- Arleasha Mays -
MDC
11/1/02
An abundance of deer and expanded hunting opportunities will make this year's deer season a good one. A spotty acorn crop won't hurt, either.
JEFFERSON CITY -- A healthy deer herd and increased opportunities to hunt whitetails should add up to a good firearms deer season for Missouri hunters. To improve their odds of success, smart hunters will be going nuts.
Bill Heatherly, Wildlife Programs Supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation, said that so far conditions are right for the 2002 firearms deer season to be comparable to last year's, when the deer kill topped 229,000. He said a spotty acorn crop could actually help hunters.
"It should be an excellent season," Heatherly said. "Deer populations are similar to last year, and this year any-deer permits are available on demand in all management units. Plus, we have included a larger area in the antlerless-only deer season."
Weather can be a big factor in determining the size and makeup of the deer harvest. Large harvests generally occur when crisp weather prevails during deer season. Such conditions keep deer on the move and encourage hunters to spend more time afield.
Weather that is crisp but not uncomfortably cold also tends to increase the proportion of bucks in the harvest. Hunters who plan to stay in the woods all day expect to have more than one chance to bag a deer. They are more likely to pass up shots at does or small deer. During cold or rainy weather, hunters are more likely to harvest deer at the first opportunity, regardless of sex or size.
The availability of acorns affects deer hunters' strategy and success, because it influences deer movement. A widespread, bountiful acorn crop allows deer to spread out, making them harder to find. A sparse, patchy crop tends to concentrate deer around limited food supplies.
Heatherly says this year's acorn crop is spotty throughout most of the state. This will work to the advantage of hunters who take time to discover where acorns are most abundant.
The firearms season consists of four segments that take place in November and December. Youths 15 and under get the first chance to go afield during the youth-only portion Nov. 2 and 3. The regular firearms deer season runs from Nov. 16 through Nov. 26. The muzzleloader segment runs from Dec. 7 through Dec. 15, and the antlerless-only portion of the season is Dec. 19 through 22.
The Conservation Department has made several regulations changes to enhance hunting opportunities. Two of them come in the antlerless-only portion of the season. In the past, it has taken place in early January. This year, the antlerless only hunt has been moved to Dec. 19 through Dec. 22. Furthermore, the antlerless-only segment will be open in 11 more management units than last year. This year's open units include 1 through 27, 33 through 37, 58 and 59. Newly opened units are 18, 19, 21, 25, 26, 27 and 33 through 37.
The late-December hunting period is designed to offer the same hunting opportunity that the January antlerless-only hunt has for the past six years while reducing the number of bucks taken by hunters in the late hunt.
"The key to managing deer is reducing the number of does in the population," said Heatherly. "We started the antlerless-only hunt during the 1996-1997 firearms season to encourage hunters to harvest more does. By January some bucks have lost their antlers and we were taking more bucks than we liked. Hunters who place a high value on bucks with big racks didn't like to see those animals taken after they had already shed their antlers. And landowners who didn't like it were choosing not to participate in the season."
Another significant change in this year's deer regulations is the creation of a statewide any-deer permit. This permit, good in any of the state's management units, replaces the old any-deer permit, which was good only in the unit for which it was issued. This allows hunters the opportunity to take deer outside their regular hunting areas.
Deer hunters aren't the only ones affected by deer season regulations. For the first time this year, all hunters must wear a hunter-orange cap or hat and a shirt, vest or coat during all firearms deer season segments. This includes small-game hunters, who have not been included in the hunter-orange requirement previously. Exceptions to the hunter-orange requirement are waterfowl hunters, hunters using archery methods while hunting within municipal boundaries where discharge of firearms is prohibited, hunters on federal or state public hunting areas where deer hunting is restricted to archery methods, and hunters in closed deer management units during the antlerless-only part of firearms deer season.
Details of deer hunting regulations are available in the 2002-2003 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulation Information booklet, which is available wherever hunting permits are sold. Regulation information also is available online at http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/regs/ .
- Arleasha Mays -
