If you were drawn for the annual managed muzzleloader deer hunt at the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge last week, and you had success, you’re in elite company.
With wind and rain on Saturday and unseasonably warm temperatures on both days, the 80 hunters drawn for the hunt managed to take a whopping six deer, including two antlered bucks and four does.
That’s the lowest muzzleloader harvest he can remember, according to refuge manager Ben Mense.
“It wasn’t good,” added assistant refuge manager Corey Kudrna, who said deer movement was very slow.
Deer harvest numbers have trended downward at the refuge for some time, Mense said, and biologist Brad Pendley currently is in the middle of one of six annual deer surveys to help determine population trends.
The surveys, Mense said, cannot determine the specific number of deer on the refuge because of so many variables, but they can determine trends over time.
Missouri’s archery deer season has slowed to a painful crawl, and just like during the muzzleloader hunt at Mingo, the archery harvest is stagnant.
In our seven county reader area, 40 deer have been taken over the last week, and half of those can be attributed to Stoddard and Reynolds counties.
While the late archery season always sees a big decline in daily numbers, this year seems quite a bit worse than recent seasons.
Statewide, bowhunters have taken 53,168 deer.
Locally, the harvest in Butler County, as of Wednesday morning, was 335, and in Carter County, its was 531.
In Dunklin County, 77 deer have been arrowed, and in Reynolds County, the tally is 523.
Ripley County bowhunters have tagged 434 deer, and in Stoddard County, they’ve taken 525.
Wayne County bowhunters have killed 710 deer at this point, but only six since Nov. 29.
The season continues through Jan. 15.
Missouri’s second firearms elk season will kick off Saturday and run through Dec. 19.
MDC’s Aaron Hildreth told me two of the five hunters drawn for an elk permit killed bulls back in the mid-October archery season, leaving three permits holders remaining for this rifle season.
Missouri’s duck season is rolling along, albeit slowly, and the South Zone reopened Tuesday.
By all reports, hunting has been very slow, and data from the region’s managed public lands verifies that.
At the Otter Slough Conservation Area, which reportedly is holding almost 23,000 ducks, the bird-per-hunter average over the last five days has been 1.75.
The Duck Creek Conservation Area typically doesn’t hold as many ducks as Otter Slough, but it is now, with a reported 24,000 birds. Even so, the BPH average for the previous five days is only 1.49.
The data has not been updated for the Ten Mile Pond Conservation Area, likely because it’s only recently reopened.
For those eager to hunt the flooded timber in Pool 8 at Mingo, the time is almost here.
Refuge manager Ben Mense said Wednesday morning that Pool 8 is mostly full and the mallards have definitely found it.
“We have a good amount of ducks, the habitat looks good and we’ll open Pool 8 soon,” Mense said.
That opening could be as soon as this weekend, he noted.
Given the number of ducks on each public area and the low harvest, I’d surmise the birds we do have have gotten a bit stale and are moving mostly at night. That’s pattern that’s afflicted hunters quite a bit the last few years.
What’s needed is a strong cold front from the north to push some new birds into the region.
I thought the last front would bring some new ducks in, but apparently that didn’t happen. There’s another front coming in Friday, so we’ll see what happens.
If you hunt ducks in Arkansas, the second portion of that state’s duck season will open Saturday and will run through Dec. 23.
At the Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area in Clay, Greene and Randolph counties, most timber units are flooded 100%, though a couple still are coming up.
Crappie fishing at Wappapello has, by most accounts, been very spotty.
One day, an angler might catch several fish, and the next, nothing.
“That sounds like Wappapello,” said Charlie Brotherton, who’s fished the lake for a long time.
For whatever reason, there just haven’t been many people fishing the lake this winter, Brotherton and others have noticed.
As of Wednesday, Brotherton noted, the “lake is up a little bit, but it’s in good shape.”
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers staff at Wappapello Lake will begin the lake’s annual drawdown to winter conservation pool next week.
The management plan allows for the lake to be drawn down plus or minus 15 days from Dec. 15, depending on conditions, but it looks like this year it will begin on the target date.
The lake should fall the required 5 feet within two to four weeks, Park Ranger Rosie Lemons said, but weather will play a big role.
“It depends on rain and is so dependent on what the inflow is,” she said.
In some years, Lemons said, there’s enough rain to make it difficult for staff to maintain winter pool for any length of time.
Winter pool brings safety issues for those boating on the lake, and boaters are urged to watch for mud flats, tree stumps and the like.
Those with duck blinds placed on the lake also are cautioned to pay attention to water levels so their blinds don’t get stranded.
Winter pool is scheduled to last until the end of March, and starting April 1, the lake will be gradually raised back to summer recreation pool.
Finally, the Missouri Department of Conservation’s commission is scheduled to meet on Thursday and Friday this week.
There’s nothing special about the meeting, but one thing has my interest piqued: biologist Reina Tyl will make a presentation to the commission about proposed turkey hunting regulations for 2022.
Given the widespread outcry about low turkey numbers and poor hunting, I’d halfway expect to see something different regulation-wise for next year, but I’m not holding my breath.
At least the department is trying to figure out why turkey numbers are so low. I just hope the downward spiral can be stopped before it reaches a point of no return.
Paul Davis is the outdoors editor for the Daily American Republic and can be reached at pdavis.dar@gmail.com.