Conservation Commission Adds Late Portion to Youth Deer Season,
Expands Area Covered By Four-Point Rule
Changes in this year’s deer regulations include a present for young
hunters - a second youth hunt during the holidays.
JEFFERSON CITY-Changes in deer-hunting regulations approved by the
Missouri Conservation Commission at its April meeting include one that
enjoys popular support from hunters and one that is likely to be a hit
with hunters 15 and younger.
The Missouri Conservation Commission has more than doubled the number of
counties included in the so-called “four-point rule.” This regulation was
tested in 29 counties from 2004 through 2007. This year, with strong
support from hunters, it will apply in the same counties as before, plus
36 new counties.
The Conservation Commission also voted to add a second, late Youth Portion
of Firearms Deer Season. Hunters under age 16 will have their own times to
hunt Nov. 1 and 2, 2008, and Jan. 3 and 4, 2009.
Counties included under the four-point rule this year are Adair, Andrew,
Atchison, Audrain, Barton, Bates, Benton, Boone, Buchanan, Caldwell,
Callaway Camden, Carroll, Cedar, Chariton, Clark, Clinton, Cole, Cooper,
Daviess, DeKalb, Franklin, Gasconade, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Henry,
Hickory, Holt, Howard, Johnson, Knox, Lafayette, Lewis, Lincoln, Linn,
Livingston, Macon, Maries, Marion, Mercer, Miller, Moniteau, Monroe,
Montgomery, Morgan, Nodaway Osage, Pettis, Phelps, Pike, Pulaski, Putnam,
Ralls, Randolph, Ray, St. Clair, Saline, Schuyler, Scotland, Shelby,
Sullivan, Vernon, Warren and Worth.
The four-point rule allows hunters to take a buck only if its antlers are
less than 3 inches long or have at least four points 1 inch or longer on
at least one side.
The Conservation Department decided to try antler restrictions for two
reasons. One was to encourage hunters to shoot more does. This could help
the agency control deer numbers in areas where they rise above target
levels.
The four-point rule also was designed to allow more bucks to reach ages of
3 years or older. This would produce a deer population with a more normal
age and sex distribution.
The traditional hunter bias toward shooting bucks, rather than does,
creates a population with a disproportionate number of does and young
bucks. Requiring hunters to pass up deer with no more than three points on
a side allows more bucks to live to maturity. A population with more
mature bucks has more large-antlered deer. For many hunters, the
opportunity to take buck with big antlers is an important part of a
high-quality hunting experience.
Information gathered during the four-year test of the four-point rule
showed it increased doe harvests in central Missouri counties, but not in
pilot counties in northwestern Missouri. The four-point rule increased the
number of mature, large-antlered deer in both central and northwestern
counties.
A mail survey of firearms deer hunters statewide found a majority of
hunters in 74 of Missouri’s 114 counties favored the four-point rule. The
30 counties where half or more of hunters do not want the four-point rule
are in southern Missouri, generally southeast of a line from St. Louis to
the southwestern corner of the state. More than 70 percent of hunters
expressed support for the four-point rule in 22 counties that lie mostly
in northern Missouri.
Hunters and nonhunters who expressed opinions at public meetings and
through written comments were even more strongly in favor of the
four-point rule. Comments from 60 counties ran in favor of the four-point
rule by 70 percent or more. Only fourteen counties had comments with less
than a majority in favor of the four-point rule.
“We found that most hunters in most parts of the state like the four-point
rule,” said Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen, the Conservation
Department’s top deer biologist. “We also discovered people liked the rule
more the longer it was in effect in their counties. Approval of the
four-point rule increased in adjoining counties during the four-year
trial, too.”
Hansen said the rule’s popularity was a major factor in extending it.
“It didn’t work quite as well as we had hoped as a management tool. It did
a better job of shifting harvest from bucks to does in central Missouri
than in the northwest, where we really need more population management
tools. But hunters really like it, especially in the northern half of the
state.”
Hansen said the Conservation Commission decided not to implement the
four-point rule in counties around urban areas at this time because it
actually seemed to reduce deer harvest in some northern-Missouri counties.
“The four-point rule doesn’t seem to be the best way manage deer in urban
areas, because we encourage harvest of all sex and age categories,” he
said.
The late Youth Portion of Firearms Deer Season will give youngsters the
last shot at deer hunting at a time of year when many can take advantage
of it. Hansen said the additional days of youth deer hunting are part of
the Conservation Department’s continuing effort to make hunting more
accessible to young people.
“A lot of Missourians take vacation around the holidays,” said Hansen.
“Youngsters who get deer rifles for Christmas will be able to use them.
The youth-only season allows adults to focus their attention on teaching
kids to hunt. That enhances the hunt’s value as a time for family.”
The length and timing of other 2008 fall deer and turkey seasons remain
unchanged from last year. These include: --Archery deer and turkey - Sept.
15-Nov. 14 and Nov. 26-Jan. 15 --Urban Portion of Firearms Deer Season -
Oct. 3-6 --November Portion of Firearms Deer Season - Nov. 15-25
--Muzzleloader Portion of Firearms Deer Season - Nov. 28-Dec. 7
--Antlerless Portion of Firearms Deer Season - Dec. 13-21
Other changes in deer hunting regulations approved at the April
Commission meeting include: --Removing two counties in the Springfield
area - Christian and Webster - from the area open to hunting during the
Urban Portion of Firearms Deer Season. --Removing seven southwest-Missouri
counties - Barton, Christian, Dade, Jasper, Lawrence, Polk and Webster -
from the area open to hunting during the Antlerless Portion of Firearms
Deer Season. --Adding one central-Missouri county - Miller - to the area
open during the Antlerless Portion of Firearms Deer Season. --Adding 12
southwest-Missouri counties - Barry, Barton, Christian, Dade, Jasper,
Lawrence, McDonald, Newton, Polk, Stone, Webster and Wright - to the area
where hunters may only fill one antlerless-only deer tag.
Additional details of deer and turkey hunting regulations will be
published in the 2008 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and
Information booklet, which will be available from permit vendors statewide
in July.
-Jim Low-
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