Saturday is opening day of Missouri’s biggest hunting season of the year - the regular firearms deer season.
The season runs Nov. 16-26, and as in the past, you’ll need a firearms any-deer hunting permit, a firearms antlerless hunting permit (if allowed in your county), a nonresident permit or a landowner firearms any-deer or antlerless permit. Check the regulations booklet to be sure.
Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise until one-half hour after sunset each day.
Only one antlered deer can be taken during the season.
Remember, you have to wear hunter orange clothing during the firearms season. With that in mind, be sure to keep safety as you No. 1 priority.
If you’re successful, you must Telecheck any deer you kill by 10 p.m. on the day taken.
Last year, firearms season hunters managed to kill 199,427 deer, which was a pretty good jump from the year before. If this season’s weather holds out, another strong harvest should result.
With that said, the weather looks to be ideal for the weekend, with morning lows in the mid to upper 20s and afternoon highs in the mid to upper 40s. Light winds are predicted and will make it easier to hear crunching leaves as deer approach.
Meat Processors
If you plan on having your deer processed commercially, each of the businesses in the region has varying hours and procedures. These are the ones I know about, but there may be others.
Ozark Meats in Grandin will be open from 6 a.m. until midnight on Saturday, but will be closed Sunday.
They prefer to take whole, field-dressed deer, but will take quartered or boneless deer as well.
Ozark Meats can be reached at 573-593-4199.
Mars Meats, also in Grandin, will be open from 7 a.m. until around 10 p.m. Saturday, but hunters running late can call to make sure somebody can be there to meet them.
On Sunday, the business will be closed, but it will have a walk-in cooler and a self-check system in place so hunters can get their deer cooled down.
Mars Meats will take whole, quartered or boneless deer, and they can be reached at 573-660-1115.
Pennington Meat Packing in Fairdealing will be open from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, though if you’re running late, you’re asked to call ahead.
Pennington Meat Packing will take whole deer only, and they can be reached at 573-996-4169.
Larry at Piedmont Processing said his business will be open from 8 a.m. until “very late” Saturday through Monday, but if someone is going to arrive particularly late, they are asked to call ahead.
Piedmont Processing prefers to take whole deer only, though they will take quartered or boneless as well. Quartered meat in coolers, Larry said, should ideally be brought in frozen after Thanksgiving.
Piedmont Processing can be reached at 573-223-4950.
Elderland Meats’ two facilities, in Zalma and Bloomfield, will be open from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Staff will stay if you’re running late and call before you head that way.
They prefer whole deer but will take them any way.
Elderland Meats can be reached at 573-722-3622.
The Meat Shop, off Highway 25 south of Dexter, will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Again, if you’re going to be late, you’re asked to call.
The Meat Shop will take whole, quartered and boneless deer, and they can be reached at 573-891-2020.
Finally, The Deep Freeze in Poplar Bluff will take quartered deer in coolers only.
They will be open from 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday. On week days, they will be open from 8 a.m. until noon and from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m.
The Deep Freeze can be reached at 573-785-2327.
First Half Success
The first half of Missouri’s archery deer season comes to a close Friday, and it’s been an especially good one lately.
The archery harvest now is well ahead of last year’s (in 2018, it took until Dec. 10 to get where we are today), and if the weather holds out in the second half, we could see another record fall.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the statewide kill was up to 48,399 deer, with 43.4% being antlered bucks.
Locally, hunters in Butler County have tagged 474 deer, while those in Stoddard County have taken 581.
In Dunklin County, the harvest sits at 96, and in Wayne County, 842 deer have been arrowed.
In Carter County, the kill so far is 491 deer, and in Ripley County, it’s 517.
Once the firearms deer season closes on Nov. 26, the archery season will reopen and continue through Jan. 15.
Duck Opener
Saturday’s Middle Zone duck season opener saw nearly ideal weather conditions and plenty of birds in the region.
At the Otter Slough Conservation Area, 109 parties tried to draw for one of 28 open spots. As expected, the draw room was packed, and those paying attention may even have seen St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong, who was there with a friend on a reservation.
The opening day duck harvest at Otter Slough was 422 birds taken by 99 hunters, according to area manager Luke Wehmhoff. On Sunday, 94 hunters took 340 ducks.
By Monday, the harvest had dropped dramatically as the sudden influx of hunting pressure caused them to spread out some.
On opening day at Duck Creek, 63 parties tried to draw for one of the 17 open spots.
I couldn’t get opening weekend harvest information from Duck Creek, but on Tuesday, 44 hunters killed 82 ducks.
Both areas used MDC’s new draw system, where each hunter’s green card had a bar code which was scanned into a computer in an effort to streamline data entry and make the line move quicker.
“The new system seemed to work pretty well,” said Matt Bowyer, MDC’s Southeast Region Wildlife Division supervisor, who was on hand at Otter Slough Saturday to gauge how things were going. “We actually brought in a bunch of staff a couple days ago and tried to go through all the scenarios and things that happen, and I think that helped everyone out a lot.”
The checkout process may be “a little slower” early on, Bowyer said, until staff figure out what works best.
Even so, the line Saturday and Sunday at Otter Slough seemed to move much quicker than in the past.
The Middle Zone’s first segment closes Friday, so those hunters will have almost a full week to get some deer hunting in, if they choose, before the second segment of the duck season opens on Nov. 21. That second portion will run through Jan. 12.
Furbearer Seasons
Missouri’s furbearer hunting and trapping seasons will open tomorrow, Nov. 15 (actually coyote hunting is open year-round).
Besides coyotes, those with a hunting permit can take badgers, bobcats, gray and red fox, opossums, raccoons and striped skunks in any number through the end of January.
Using a trapping permit, the same species can be taken in any number through January. In addition, up to six rabbits can be taken daily.
River otters and muskrat also may be trapped through Feb. 20, and beavers and nutria can be trapped through March 31.