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9/2/05

Bowhunters will find deer plentiful, regulations mostly unchanged from 2005 season

Electronic checking of deer and turkey will be the rule this year.

Archery deer hunters will have exclusive access to more conservation areas this year, and they are likely to find more antlered deer in the 29 counties where antler-based harvest regulations are entering their second year. In-person checking has been dropped in favor of checking by telephone or computer. Otherwise, archery deer and turkey hunting regulations remain substantially the same as last year. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) JEFFERSON CITY-Missourians who hunt deer with bows and arrows will have more days for their sport again this year, and in some areas they will find more mature bucks with well-developed antlers.

This is the second year that Missouri's archery deer season will open in mid-September. Previously, opening day was Oct. 1. The season is Sept. 15 through Nov. 11 and Nov. 23 through Jan. 15, nearly four months long.

Archers checked 4,738 deer last September. Whether the extra 15 days contributed to the record archery harvest of 35,988 is difficult to say. However, it is a safe bet that the September harvest will increase in the coming years as hunters learn to take advantage of the early hunting opportunity.

As last year, antlered deer must have at least four points measuring at least 1 inch on one side to be taken in 29 designated counties in central and northwestern Missouri. This experimental regulation is aimed at shifting harvest from young bucks to does. The ultimate goal is to provide better deer-population control and increase the proportion and size of antlered deer in the population. So far, it seems to be working.

Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen said archers will find excellent hunting opportunities in counties where antler-based harvest restrictions went into effect last year.

"We documented a 66 percent decrease in the harvest of 1 1/2 -year-old bucks in the counties where antler restrictions went into effect last year," said Hansen. "That means there will be more mature bucks with larger antlers in the pilot counties this year."

Details about the experimental antler restriction and other regulations are found in the 2005 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet. The booklet is available wherever hunting permits are sold. The same information is available online at http://www.mdc.mo.gov/hunt/deer/deertuk/.

Archers also will have exclusive hunting opportunities at 145 conservation areas where only bowhunting is permitted for deer. These areas, along with other special deer hunting regulations for conservation areas, are listed in the deer and turkey hunting information booklet.

Valid permits for hunting deer with a bow include: --Resident Archer's Hunting Permit ($19) --Nonresident Archer's Hunting Permit ($120) --Resident Landowner Archer's Permit (no cost) --Nonresident Landowner Archer's Permit ($75) --Resident Archery Antlerless Deer Hunting Permit ($7) --Nonresident Archery Antlerless Deer Hunting Permit ($7) --Resident Landowner Archery Antlerless Deer Hunting Permit (no cost)

Basic archery deer and turkey hunting permits allow hunters to take two deer and two turkeys of either sex. Only one antlered deer may be taken before Nov. 12.

Archers in 100 of the state's 114 counties may buy and fill any number of archery antlerless deer hunting permits. This abundance of hunting opportunity prompted hundreds of archers to donate venison to needy Missourians through the Share the Harvest program last year. In all, food banks and other charitable organizations received more than 135 tons of venison from deer hunters. Information about donating venison also is included in the deer hunting information booklet.

- Jim Low -

 

 

 

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