November Rocks for Racks (and Does) in Missouri
November Rocks for Racks (and Does) in Missouri |
| JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., — In 2008, more than 18,000 hunters crossed the state line to hunt whitetail deer in Missouri, joining thousands of Missourians with bows, rifles and muzzleloaders. There are lots of reasons to hunt whitetail in Missouri, too, including trophy racks, tasty tenderloins, millions of acres of public hunting lands, and a wet spring and summer that nurtured crops and acorns for big bucks and does.November in Missouri is a whitetail hunter’s paradise. Hunters can begin with a bow in late October-early November, when deer start to get active, and then switch to a rifle during the rut and opt for either a muzzleloader through late December or back to a bow until mid-January.Missouri kicks off its rifle season with the statewide Early Youth portion from Oct. 31 – Nov. 1 across the state. As with the regular season, hunting hours run from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour past sunset. The firearms portion runs from Nov. 14 to Nov. 24, followed by a special antlerless hunt in selected areas, including the upper half of the state, from Nov. 25 to Dec. 6. The muzzleloader portion runs from Dec. 19 to 29 and the late youth hunt runs Jan. 2 – 3 statewide. For regulations about deer hunting in Missouri, visit the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Web site: http://mdc.mo.gov/hunt/. Lonnie Hansen, resource scientist for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), said, “Bucks are starting to move now but the peak of the rut (median date when does are bred) is November 16, which coincides with our firearms season. Activity will not really get fired up until late October.” Hansen reports that last year’s harvest totaled 282,119, down 6 percent from 2007. He expects a modest increase in this year’s numbers. Hansen added that Missouri’s appeal to hunters lies in its diversity of hunting scenarios – from heavy and rolling forested Ozarks to agricultural areas in northern and western Missouri. “We provide considerable archery and firearms hunting opportunities and good deer numbers in most parts of the state,” Hansen said. “There also are decent opportunities to take an adult buck for those interested.” Jerry Martin, professional hunter and head of Bass Pro Shops’ RedHead staff in Springfield, and vice chairman of the board of Quality Deer Management Association, http://www.qdma.com/, lists three reasons to hunt Missouri for whitetails during firearms season in November: lots of good public land, over-the-counter tags, and gun season falls right in the middle of the rut. Although Martin admits the corn-fed deer of northwest Missouri often sport the best trophy racks, he also likes hunting a little closer to home at Harry S. Truman Dam and Reservoir on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 100,000 acres, http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/ht/. The MDC manages 54,000 acres, boasting timber interspersed with draws, food plots and various crops. This area includes Henry, Benton and St. Clair counties in west-central Missouri. “I’m excited about the MDC reversing the antlerless and muzzleloader seasons this year,” said Marti Davis, BassPro Shops RedHead Staff Member who lives in Willard. “I’m thinking that if I don’t get a chance to fill my buck tag during the November portion of firearms season, that the muzzleloader season will coincide with the second rut. Another plus for this year’s muzzleloader season is it will be during the new moon, so there shouldn’t be as much feeding/movement during the night.” Hunter’s Specialties’ Pro Alex Rutledge practices quality deer management on his farm in Birch Tree, which is in the Ozarks. He suggests hunters check out four sections of the Mark Twain National Forest: the Falling Spring Area near Willow Springs, http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/marktwain/recreation/sites/falling_spring/; the Blue Buck Tower near Bradleyville, http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/marktwain/recreation/sites/hercules_glades_wilderness/; and the Irish Wilderness Area near Van Buren, http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/marktwain/recreation/sites/irish_wilderness/. He recommends packing in and going deep in all these areas to find the bigger deer and less pressure. Rutledge said, “It’s important that we all hunt, especially in public areas, because it helps generate money for our schools and communities. And as the new season approaches, more hunters will be afield as women are fast joining the ranks of hunters. The National Wild Turkey Federation’s Women in the Outdoors program offers an opportunity for women hunters this year with its annual doe hunt in Denver, Mo. This hunt will be held from Nov. 27-29 at North West Missouri Outfitters, http://www.northwestmissourioutfitters.com/, near Albany and home to huge does. For more information, contact Karla Ledom at 816-858-2570. One of the best ways to find out about hunting any game in Missouri is to call a regional office of the MDC, http://mdc.mo.gov/about/srvcentr.htm, or check online, http://mdc.mo.gov/contact/agent/. The MDC Atlas contains information about lands the MDC owns, leases, or manages for public use, and can be found at http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/applications/moatlas/AreaList.aspx?txtUserID=guest&txtAreaNm=s For more information about related points of interest near Missouri hunting grounds, including hotels, motels, campgrounds and restaurants, visit www.VisitMO.com, or call (800) 519-4800 to get a copy of your 2009 Official Missouri Vacation Planner. ### |
Contact: Sarah Luebbert
Missouri Division of Tourism
573-522-5501
sarah.luebbert@ded.mo.gov
