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Public invited to share ideas at deer management meeting
Nov 2007
Ideas gathered at these meetings will help the Conservation Department
develop hunting regulations that have popular support.
JEFFERSON CITY-The Missouri Department of Conservation wants to know
what Missourians think about deer management. To find out, the agency
has scheduled 16 public forums in January and February.
The meetings are scheduled for:
--Springfield, Jan. 8 at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, White River
Room, 1935 S. Campbell Ave.
--Joplin, Jan. 9 at Wildcat Glades Audubon Conservation Nature Center,
201 W. Riviera Road
--St. Joseph, Jan. 10 at Missouri Western State University, Potter
Theater, 4525 Downs Drive
--Chillicothe, Jan. 11 at Chillicothe High School, Gary Dickinson
Performing Arts Center, 2801 Hornet Road
--Kirksville, Jan. 14 at Days Inn, Highway 63 & Route 6
--Hannibal, Jan. 15 at Quality Inn, 120 Lindsey Drive
--Union, Jan. 22 at East Central Community College, 1964 Prairie Dell
Road
--St. Louis, Jan. 23 at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center,
11715 Cragwold Road, Kirkwood
--Poplar Bluff, Jan. 17 at Three Rivers Community College, Tinnin Fine
Arts Center, 2080 Three Rivers Blvd.
--Perryville, Jan. 24 at Perry Park Center, 800 City Park Drive
--Waynesville, Jan. 28 at Waynesville Middle School, Parker Fine Arts
Building, 1001 Historic 66 West
--West Plains, Feb. 11 at the West Plains Civic Center, 110 St. Louis
St.
--Marshall, Feb. 4 at Marshall High School Little Theater, 805 S. Miami
Ave.
--Linn, Feb. 7 at St. Georges Church, 611 E. Main St.
--Kansas City, Feb. 5 at Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center,
1401 NW Park Road, Blue Springs
--Sedalia, Feb. 6 at State Fair Community College Public Meeting Room,
3201 W. 16th St.
More information about the meetings is available by calling the nearest
Conservation Department office or visiting www.mdc.mo.gov/16184.
Missouri’s deer herd is estimated at 1 to 1.5 million. It supports an
annual harvest of nearly 300,000. Conservation Department Resource
Scientist Lonnie Hansen said the agency has put hunting regulations in
place over the past few years to allow landowners to manage deer numbers
on their land. He said one goal of the state’s deer-management program
is to ensure that deer hunting opportunities meet hunters’
expectations for quality and quantity. Another important goal is to
prevent the number of deer-vehicle accidents and deer damage to crops
and other property from reaching unacceptable levels.
To ensure that it can meet these goals in the future, the Conservation
Department continually considers and tests hunting regulation changes
that enable it to regulate the number of does - female deer - taken by
hunters each year.
“Doe harvest is the key to controlling deer numbers,” said Hansen.
“It takes only a small number of bucks to mate with female deer and
keep a population growing. Taking does out of the population is the only
effective way to prevent a herd from growing or reduce its size when
necessary.”
Hansen and other state officials are concerned by demographic trends
among deer hunters. As a group, they are aging. As baby boomers drop out
of the deer hunting population, the number of deer harvested can be
expected to decrease. Deer harvest data also show that older hunters are
less likely than younger ones to shoot deer, leading Hansen to expect
further declines in deer harvest. To offset these trends, the
Conservation Department is looking for ways to change the deer herd’s
population dynamics. The most effective way to do that is to increase
the doe harvest.
For the past four years, the Conservation Department has been testing a
regulation designed to increase the percentage of does in the harvest
each year. The goal is to develop a method of shifting the sex ratio of
the deer herd
permanently toward an increased percentage of does. Then,
if the deer harvest declines in future years, they will still be able to
keep deer numbers in check.
The regulation currently being tested prohibits hunters in 29 counties
from shooting bucks that do not have at least four 1-inch points on one
side of their antlers. The idea is to force hunters in the test area to
pass up shots at some antlered deer and increase the odds that they will
see and shoot antlerless deer, most of which are female.
“The regulation has not shifted as much harvest pressure onto does as
we had hoped,” said Hansen. “It has increased the doe harvest a
little in some counties, and it is having the secondary effect of
producing more large-antlered deer in the pilot area. A lot of hunters
are very happy about that. In fact, a lot of hunters in other areas say
they would like to see the four-point rule in their areas. But we need
to keep fine-tuning our regulations to ensure that hunting remains an
effective deer-management tool.”
Whether to continue or expand the four-point rule is one of several
questions the Conservation Department wants Missourians to answer in the
upcoming public meetings. The agency also is considering shifting some
of the five deer hunting segments - youth, urban, November firearms,
muzzleloader and antlerless - to other times in the fall. Again, the
goal would be to increase doe harvest and meet growing hunter interest
in managing for older bucks.
“We are considering moving the antlerless portion of the firearms
deer season into October,” said Hansen, “setting the opening of the
November portion on the weekend before Thanksgiving and moving the
muzzleloader portion to late December.”
He said these changes could increase the number of deer taken by
hunters before the rut, when many deer-vehicle accidents occur. It also
could allow more breeding to occur before large numbers of bucks are
harvested. That would allow big bucks to pass on their traits to the
next generation of deer before they were removed from the gene pool.
“These changes provide benefits for all deer hunting groups,” said
Hansen. “Firearms hunters would still get to hunt the rut and would
have the Thanksgiving holidays to hunt. Many could hunt deer in October,
when weather is milder. Archers would get an extra week of hunting in
mid-November, and muzzleloader hunters would have a better opportunity
because deer would have time to settle down after the November
portion.”
Hansen said presenting season timing options during public meetings
will help the Conservation Department gauge public support or
opposition. If implemented, the changes would not go into effect until
2009 to give hunters enough advance notice to set vacations.
“The final decision about changes to deer hunting regulations will be
made by the Conservation Commission based on citizen preferences and
scientific data,” said Hansen. “We consider these meetings an
extremely important part of the process. No hunting regulation can
succeed unless it has widespread popular support, so we need to find out
what people will support and what they won’t.”
Deer management background information to be presented at the meetings
will be available at www.missouriconservation.org in early December.
Missourians can express their thoughts about deer management in writing
by sending mail to Missouri Department of Conservation, “Deer
Management,” Resource Science Division, 1110 S. College Ave.,
Columbia, MO 65201.
The Conservation Department last held public meetings on deer
management in 2003.
-Jim Low-
Nov 2007
Ideas gathered at these meetings will help the Conservation Department
develop hunting regulations that have popular support.
JEFFERSON CITY-The Missouri Department of Conservation wants to know
what Missourians think about deer management. To find out, the agency
has scheduled 16 public forums in January and February.
The meetings are scheduled for:
--Springfield, Jan. 8 at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, White River
Room, 1935 S. Campbell Ave.
--Joplin, Jan. 9 at Wildcat Glades Audubon Conservation Nature Center,
201 W. Riviera Road
--St. Joseph, Jan. 10 at Missouri Western State University, Potter
Theater, 4525 Downs Drive
--Chillicothe, Jan. 11 at Chillicothe High School, Gary Dickinson
Performing Arts Center, 2801 Hornet Road
--Kirksville, Jan. 14 at Days Inn, Highway 63 & Route 6
--Hannibal, Jan. 15 at Quality Inn, 120 Lindsey Drive
--Union, Jan. 22 at East Central Community College, 1964 Prairie Dell
Road
--St. Louis, Jan. 23 at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center,
11715 Cragwold Road, Kirkwood
--Poplar Bluff, Jan. 17 at Three Rivers Community College, Tinnin Fine
Arts Center, 2080 Three Rivers Blvd.
--Perryville, Jan. 24 at Perry Park Center, 800 City Park Drive
--Waynesville, Jan. 28 at Waynesville Middle School, Parker Fine Arts
Building, 1001 Historic 66 West
--West Plains, Feb. 11 at the West Plains Civic Center, 110 St. Louis
St.
--Marshall, Feb. 4 at Marshall High School Little Theater, 805 S. Miami
Ave.
--Linn, Feb. 7 at St. Georges Church, 611 E. Main St.
--Kansas City, Feb. 5 at Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center,
1401 NW Park Road, Blue Springs
--Sedalia, Feb. 6 at State Fair Community College Public Meeting Room,
3201 W. 16th St.
More information about the meetings is available by calling the nearest
Conservation Department office or visiting www.mdc.mo.gov/16184.
Missouri’s deer herd is estimated at 1 to 1.5 million. It supports an
annual harvest of nearly 300,000. Conservation Department Resource
Scientist Lonnie Hansen said the agency has put hunting regulations in
place over the past few years to allow landowners to manage deer numbers
on their land. He said one goal of the state’s deer-management program
is to ensure that deer hunting opportunities meet hunters’
expectations for quality and quantity. Another important goal is to
prevent the number of deer-vehicle accidents and deer damage to crops
and other property from reaching unacceptable levels.
To ensure that it can meet these goals in the future, the Conservation
Department continually considers and tests hunting regulation changes
that enable it to regulate the number of does - female deer - taken by
hunters each year.
“Doe harvest is the key to controlling deer numbers,” said Hansen.
“It takes only a small number of bucks to mate with female deer and
keep a population growing. Taking does out of the population is the only
effective way to prevent a herd from growing or reduce its size when
necessary.”
Hansen and other state officials are concerned by demographic trends
among deer hunters. As a group, they are aging. As baby boomers drop out
of the deer hunting population, the number of deer harvested can be
expected to decrease. Deer harvest data also show that older hunters are
less likely than younger ones to shoot deer, leading Hansen to expect
further declines in deer harvest. To offset these trends, the
Conservation Department is looking for ways to change the deer herd’s
population dynamics. The most effective way to do that is to increase
the doe harvest.
For the past four years, the Conservation Department has been testing a
regulation designed to increase the percentage of does in the harvest
each year. The goal is to develop a method of shifting the sex ratio of
the deer herd
permanently toward an increased percentage of does. Then,
if the deer harvest declines in future years, they will still be able to
keep deer numbers in check.
The regulation currently being tested prohibits hunters in 29 counties
from shooting bucks that do not have at least four 1-inch points on one
side of their antlers. The idea is to force hunters in the test area to
pass up shots at some antlered deer and increase the odds that they will
see and shoot antlerless deer, most of which are female.
“The regulation has not shifted as much harvest pressure onto does as
we had hoped,” said Hansen. “It has increased the doe harvest a
little in some counties, and it is having the secondary effect of
producing more large-antlered deer in the pilot area. A lot of hunters
are very happy about that. In fact, a lot of hunters in other areas say
they would like to see the four-point rule in their areas. But we need
to keep fine-tuning our regulations to ensure that hunting remains an
effective deer-management tool.”
Whether to continue or expand the four-point rule is one of several
questions the Conservation Department wants Missourians to answer in the
upcoming public meetings. The agency also is considering shifting some
of the five deer hunting segments - youth, urban, November firearms,
muzzleloader and antlerless - to other times in the fall. Again, the
goal would be to increase doe harvest and meet growing hunter interest
in managing for older bucks.
“We are considering moving the antlerless portion of the firearms
deer season into October,” said Hansen, “setting the opening of the
November portion on the weekend before Thanksgiving and moving the
muzzleloader portion to late December.”
He said these changes could increase the number of deer taken by
hunters before the rut, when many deer-vehicle accidents occur. It also
could allow more breeding to occur before large numbers of bucks are
harvested. That would allow big bucks to pass on their traits to the
next generation of deer before they were removed from the gene pool.
“These changes provide benefits for all deer hunting groups,” said
Hansen. “Firearms hunters would still get to hunt the rut and would
have the Thanksgiving holidays to hunt. Many could hunt deer in October,
when weather is milder. Archers would get an extra week of hunting in
mid-November, and muzzleloader hunters would have a better opportunity
because deer would have time to settle down after the November
portion.”
Hansen said presenting season timing options during public meetings
will help the Conservation Department gauge public support or
opposition. If implemented, the changes would not go into effect until
2009 to give hunters enough advance notice to set vacations.
“The final decision about changes to deer hunting regulations will be
made by the Conservation Commission based on citizen preferences and
scientific data,” said Hansen. “We consider these meetings an
extremely important part of the process. No hunting regulation can
succeed unless it has widespread popular support, so we need to find out
what people will support and what they won’t.”
Deer management background information to be presented at the meetings
will be available at www.missouriconservation.org in early December.
Missourians can express their thoughts about deer management in writing
by sending mail to Missouri Department of Conservation, “Deer
Management,” Resource Science Division, 1110 S. College Ave.,
Columbia, MO 65201.
The Conservation Department last held public meetings on deer
management in 2003.
-Jim Low-
