Southern Missouri's guide to entertainment, travel, and community
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Southern Missouri's guide to entertainment, travel, and community |
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GAME
IS AFOOT by Bill Hendee The
end of summer means heading back to work, back to school, and for many
in Southern Missouri, back to the woods. Fall hunting season is almost
here, and the Missouri Ozarks offers hunters an unparalleled experience.
With a variety of game available and herds as healthy and populous as
they have ever been, 2004 could prove to be another record setting year
for Missouri’s hunters.
Deer Deer is by far Missouri’s most popular game. Hunters took a record 254,369 deer in 2003 and more than 207,000 during the regular November firearms season alone. Southern Missouri claimed some of the largest harvests in the state. |
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©2004
Boston Communications |
Texas, Howell, and Benton counties boasted the highest yields statewide. Hunters in Laclede, Cedar, and Dallas counties also saw substantial harvests. Deer season in Missouri is divided into seven distinct segments. Bowhunters have two opportunities for taking deer from September 15 through November 12 and again from November 24 through January 15, 2005. Firearms season is broken down into five periods. The urban portion of the season runs from October 8 through 11 in counties surrounding Kansas City and St. Louis, as well as in Christian, Greene, and Webster counties in the Springfield area. The two-day youth firearms season on November 6 and 7 follows the urban season. This year’s regular firearms season takes place from November 13 through 23, followed by muzzleloader season from November 26 to December 5 and antlerless-only season December 12 to 19. The Missouri Department of Conservation is pursuing a new deer management strategy this year. Hunters in certain counties will not be allowed to take bucks with antlers longer than 3 inches unless they have at least four points on one side. The goal is to protect the health of Missouri's deer herd by shifting harvest pressure from bucks to does. This shift will result in a more balanced ratio of bucks to does and will make it easier in the future to maintain desired population levels statewide. Hunters have expressed a desire for herd management that produces older bucks. In addition, surveys indicate that older hunters take fewer deer each season. Both of these factors make balancing the composition of the state’s deer population a top priority. Conservation officials say that antler-point restrictions enjoy the widest support among Missouri’s hunters as a strategy for managing the herd. Although the archery season begins fifteen days earlier this year, the new management strategy will impact bowhunters as well as firearms hunters. Maries, Miller, and Pulaski counties are among the areas where antler restrictions are in effect. Most of the 29 counties facing antler restrictions lie in Central and Northern Missouri. Contact your local Conservation Department office or visit their website for a full listing of this year’s regulatory changes. The deer herd is expected to be as healthy as ever this year. A second round of tests has found no sign of Chronic Wasting Disease among the state’s deer population. Conservation agents have mounted a three-year effort to check every county in Missouri for CWD. Officials plan to test samples from 54 remaining counties this year. CWD is part of a family of diseases that includes bovine spongiform encephalopathy or “mad cow disease.” There is no evidence that CWD can be spread to other livestock. There is also no link between CWD and similar human diseases like Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease.
Although the Fall turkey hunt provides unique challenges and yields fewer birds that the Spring hunt, many hunters find the allure of bagging Thanksgiving dinner irresistible. The Fall turkey harvest was down statewide in 2003, with hunters taking just under 11,000 birds. However, hunters took a record 56,882 turkey during the Spring 2004 season. Laclede, Wright, and Howell counties have provided some of the heftiest yields in Missouri. Archery turkey hunting season runs parallel to archery deer season from September 15 through November 12 and November 24 through January 15, 2005. Firearms season for turkey hunters takes place from October 11 through 24. During that period, turkey hunters may not be in possession of both a firearm and a bow. Turkeys may be hunted in all counties except Dunklin, McDonald, Mississippi, New Madrid, Newton, Pemiscot and Scott. In comparison to the Spring season, Fall turkey hunting requires both patience and fortitude from hunters. Although either sex may be hunted during the Fall season, wild turkeys behave differently, adding an extra challenge to the hunt. There is little or no gobbling activity in the Fall. Gobblers tend to form small flocks, while hens and their young gather in larger flocks. This behavior forces hunters to employ a different strategy than they would during the Spring. Flocks must be scattered and then individual birds called back. For many hunters, this waiting game is part of the allure.
The Conservation Department encourages hunters to be on the lookout for feral hogs. Feral hogs are defined as any free roaming hogs, including European and Russian wild boar, that are not conspicuously identified by ear tags or other forms of identification. Conservation officials warn that feral hogs can cause damage to livestock, streams, habitats, and other wildlife. Hogs are also known carriers of pseudorabies, which can affect wildlife and pets, and bacterial organisms that affect humans as undulant fever. Because of the potential threat, eradicating feral hogs from Missouri has become a top priority. Isolated populations of feral hogs are known to exist primarily in several Southern Missouri counties, including Barry, Howell, Iron, Texas, Phelps, Pulaski, Reynolds, Ozark, Taney, Dade, Wayne, Barton, and Laclede. While difficult to find due to their use of heavy natural cover, conservation officials urge hunters to watch for feral hogs while tracking other game. Feral hogs can be taken any time of the year on private property or on public land where hunting is allowed. Populations of domestic wild hogs have lived in several Missouri counties since the days of open range. However, these hogs have crossed with European boar in recent years, resulting in aggressive animals that reproduce prolifically. Although the Conservation Department estimates the animal’s population at only 1,000 to 3,000, constant effort is required to keep feral hogs from spreading out of control and wreaking untold havoc.
Small game and waterfowl also provide sport for Missouri hunters. Squirrel and rabbit are especially popular with novice hunters. Hunting seasons for ducks and geese begin as early as September in some parts of the state and offer hunters a challenging alternative to deer and wild turkey. Pheasant, quail, woodcock, grouse, teal, rails, dove, and snipe are among the many other species hunters flock to in the Fall.
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