Missouri’s archery deer season is off to a strong start.
After just more than 24 hours, hunters across the state had taken 767 deer. That’s pretty good considering the mid-week opener.
Just more than a third of that number comprised antlered bucks taken, with the rest being does and a small percentage of button bucks.
Locally, the number of antlered bucks taken so far is closer to half of the total.
In Butler County, bowhunters so far have taken four deer, and in Carter County, the tally is six.
Dunklin County hunters are on the board with one deer, and those in Reynolds County have arrowed seven.
In Ripley County, the harvest after one day was five deer, and in Stoddard County, it was six.
Wayne County, to nobody’s surprise, leads the region with 14 deer taken to this point.
A big cool-down this weekend, combined with a lack of acorns in many areas and more people able to hunt after the work week, should boost those numbers considerably.
As far as the archery turkey season, two birds have been taken locally, an adult hen in Stoddard County and another in Wayne County.
Missouri’s early teal season kicked off last weekend, and by all reports, it’s been a good one so far.
“Saturday was a slaughter … it was crazy,” said Stoddard County Conservation Agent Michael Collins of the opener.
Collins said of all the hunters he checked on opening day, he did not see a single one without a limit.
“There were parties limiting out within 20 minutes,” he said.
“Our teal season is going great. The guys are really wearing them out,” said Luke Wehmhoff, biologist and area manager at the Otter Slough Conservation Area.
There is no morning draw this teal season at Otter Slough, which means whoever is in the front of the first-come, first-served line gets the best pick of hunting locations.
That procedure, Collins said, caused a few guys to camp out in lawn chairs starting early Friday morning, almost 24 hours before the opener.
“They’re passionate about it, I guess,” he chuckled.
Actual party numbers, Collins said, appear to be lower than typical years, likely because of the first-come, first-served nature of the hunting spot allocations.
The good news is there is a significant cool-down coming over the next couple days, and it is expected to bring large numbers of teal into the area from points farther to the north.
“I’m actually looking at some migration data tonight, and there’s supposed to be a huge push of fall migrants, so I would imagine we’re going to pick birds up,” said Wehmhoff.
The teal season continues through Sept. 27, with a daily limit of six birds.
The fish gigging opener Tuesday evening went well, at least on the lower Current River.
“In Ripley County, I’d say there were probably 12 to 15 boats,” said Conservation Agent Tyler Harding. “For opening night on a weekday, that was probably average to maybe a little high.
“I checked several boats, and they were pretty successful for the water being this warm still.”
Conditions, Harding said, were very good considering the time of the year.
“We haven’t had a rain now for probably two weeks, so they can see well,” said Harding.
The problem with early-season gigging, he said, is the amount of bugs you have to deal with.
“Now when you’re gigging, you have to deal with gnats and mosquitoes,” he said.
Participation is expected to remain strong throughout the gigging season, Harding said, as more people prefer to wait until cooler weather to get on the water.
“The cooler the water gets, the slower the fish get and the easier they are to gig,” he said.
However, Harding said, while the later months tend to be better for gigging, anglers might want to try it now while the water is low and clear.
“The last couple years, our water has been high and muddy a lot, and it made gigging difficult,” he said.
Fifty teams fished last weekend’s Big O Bassmasters tournament, based out of Rich’s Chaonia Landing on Wappapello Lake.
For the second consecutive year, the team of Isabell and Scott earned the win, boating 22.79 pounds. In fact, no other team was even close to that.
Taking the second spot was the team of Carnahan and Hampton with 15.06 pounds. They also had the day’s big bass, which weighed 5.22 pounds.
Third place went to Jones and Jones with 13.21 pounds, while fourth was earned by Jennings and Jennings with 11.90 pounds.
The top five was rounded out by Dennis and Dennis with 11.40 pounds.
Proceeds raised from the event will go to the Shriners Hospital for Children in St. Louis.
The Wappapello Bass Circuit will host a tournament Saturday to make up for one, which was canceled in early summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic and special use permit restrictions at the lake.
The event will be based out of the Redman Creek ramp, with fishing from 6:30 a.m. until 3 p.m.
As always, a pre-event meeting to assign boat numbers will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the Wappapello VFW, off Highway D.
If you need to get registered, give Justun Buchanan a call at 573-429-6312.
This will be the final regular-season tournament for the Wappapello Bass Circuit this year. Its next event will be the annual two-day Classic Oct. 10-11.
If you’re interested in getting in on the managed raccoon hunting program at the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge this fall, staff there will be talking applications through Sept. 30.
Parties randomly will be drawn to hunt specific areas over the course of four hunting periods during the season.
The application is available at the refuge kiosks, online at www.fws.gov/refuge/mingo/visitor_activities/hunting.html or by calling the office at 573-222-3589 to have one mailed to you.