MDC Approves New Deer Hunting Dates and Regulations

Changes are on the horizon for Missouri deer hunters. Beginning in 2016, deer hunters won’t be able to kill as many antlered bucks, will be able to use crossbows during archery season, will have two fewer days of hunting during the November portion of the firearms season, will have a shorter antlerless season and Urban Zones will no longer exist. The Conservation Commission approved these and other changes based on professional recommendations and public input.

Missouri is a diverse state. Managing for the best-case scenario of any species is no easy task. Considering the popularity of white-tailed deer, pleasing everyone is impossible. Thankfully, our state deer biologist Jason Sumners (pictured right) and his team do an incredible job of balancing wildlife health with hunter desire.

Reducing the number of days in a certain season may not sit well with some, but may be just what others hoped for. Take shortening the November portion of the firearms season from 11 to 9 days, for example.

“The final two days of the November portion of the firearms deer season have traditionally been the two days with the lowest hunter harvest and number of hunting trips,” said Sumners. “Reducing the November portion by two days will not result in a dramatic decrease in harvest or hunting opportunities. This one regulatory component, when combined with other changes, will help to stabilize and increase deer populations in some areas.”

Crossbows have been controversial for years. Some hunters love them. Some hunters loathe them. Either way, beginning in 2016, they’ll be legal for use during the entire archery season, and you can rest assured, since new is always exciting, they’ll be flying off the shelves at Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s and other sporting retailers.

“Our challenge is to balance contrasting hunter opinions with the desire to provide maximum hunting opportunities while also responsibly managing Missouri’s deer population. We have received an increasing number of requests to expand the archery season to include crossbows. We expect that the inclusion of crossbows will increase the harvest during the archery season, but do not expect it to result in a significant increase in total deer harvest,” Sumners said.

According to the MDC, Urban Zones weren’t accomplishing their goal of removing deer from the most troublesome urban areas. Hunters were mainly hunting the more rural, outlying areas of the urban zones and weren’t making an impact where it was most needed. So the Department closed the loophole.

“The urban zones portion was implemented as one tool to address issues associated with overabundant urban deer populations,” Sumners said. “However, additional firearms hunting opportunities in urban zones do little to manage deer populations where the ability to use firearms is limited. The majority of harvest during the urban zones portion occurs in the most rural areas and does not ensure adequate deer harvest in the locations where urban deer conflicts occur.”

Controlling female deer harvest is what really drives deer populations. Provide liberal opportunities to kill more does and you’ll have fewer deer. Restrict doe harvest and you’ll have more deer. There’s a little more to it than that, but that’s the root of the issue.

To help bring deer numbers back up in certain areas, MDC is limiting opportunities to kill does. This includes reducing the length of the antlerless portion the firearms season from 12 days to 3.

“The reduction is a compromise that is acceptable to most firearms deer hunters and will reduce conflicts that occur between deer hunters and other outdoor users due to the length of the current deer hunting seasons,” Sumners said.

After 2015, Missouri is going to be a two-buck state. Moving forward, MDC is reducing the limit for antlered deer from three to two during the combined archery and firearms deer hunting season, with no more than one antlered deer taken during the firearms deer hunting season. So you can kill two bucks with archery equipment, or one with archery and one with a firearm.

“We considered limiting hunters to one buck during the combined archery and firearms hunting season,” Sumners said. “However, results from our archery and firearms hunter surveys showed little support for that. Reducing the limit to two is supported by many hunters.”

These are a lot of big changes taking place all at once. Above all, I think this shows the MDC to listens to their constituents. Deer hunters around Missouri have been grumbling for the last couple of years about needing some changes made. MDC sought public comment and made changes to reflect the desires of the majority. Well, here are those changes. Democracy sure is grand. Are you satisfied?

Missouri’s rule-making process includes a 30-day public comment period. Comments related to the proposed regulation changes can be submitted online to the Conservation Department from Oct. 2-31 at mdc.mo.gov/node/24141. Full verbiage of the proposed amendments will be posted on the webpage after Sept. 15.

See you down the trail…

Brandon Butler