According to information from the Missouri Department of Conservation, the state’s opening weekend firearms deer season harvest was a bit higher this year than last, with 89,861 taken Saturday and Sunday compared to 80,744 a year ago.
That seems a bit surprising to me because the number of shots I heard, at least while I was out Saturday morning, seemed much lower than normal, and that was in Wayne County.
Regardless, the season seems to be off to a pretty good start, and given how many leaves were still on the trees, limiting visibility, and the acorn crop, I’d say hunters have done well.
As of Wednesday morning, 115,549 deer have been taken statewide, which is just a few hundred less than the same period a year ago.
While the statewide harvest looks similar to last year’s, locally, things aren’t going so well in most places. Reynolds County is up quite a bit and Stoddard County is seeing a small gain in its harvest, but every other local county is far below last year’s numbers, one as much as 42%.
So far, 486 have been taken in Butler County, 666 in Carter County, 146 in Dunklin County, 1,330 in Reynolds County, 1,277 in Ripley County, 738 in Stoddard County and 1,314 in Wayne County.
New Butler County Conservation Agent Clarissa Lee said she’s talked to quite a few hunters this week who have not seen any deer at all, and she reported hearing every few shots.
Overall, she said, the hunting has seemed slow.
Unfortunately, Lee said, she’s had to issue a number of citations for violations.
It certainly was on the cold side Saturday morning, but in reality, those are perfect conditions. What wasn’t perfect was the wind that kicked up about an hour after daylight, severely limiting the ability to hear anything approaching.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear no shots before legal shooting time, probably a first for me in ages. It seems every year, I hear two or three people firing off shots a good 10 to 15 minutes or more before legal light. I’m not sure how anyone can even see a deer when it’s that dark unless they’re spotlighting them, but desperate people do desperate things …
After not seeing anything but a couple squirrels the first hour, I figured I was in for a long sit (I always go prepared to stay out all day). Once that wind picked up, I just started hitting a grunt tube every 10 minutes or so, hoping something would hear it and come my way.
And boy, did it happen fast …
At 8:25 a.m., I grunted up the hillside behind me, like I’d done several times already, and wasn’t expecting anything.
I turned around, put my grunt call back inside my jacket, and within seconds heard a deer trotting behind me. It was obvious the buck came to the grunting.
I stopped him at 30 yards, and with the bark of the 7mm, he fell where he stood. The whole thing was over, literally, in seconds.
The funny thing is, I went out that morning with the mindset of a meat hunter, since I don’t really get hung up on antlers and such, and now, the taxidermist is going to get into my wallet.
The firearms season continues through Nov. 23, after which the archery deer season will kick back in and run through Jan. 15.
Remaining firearms deer seasons include the second youth portion Nov. 26-28, the antlerless portion Dec. 4-12 (only Ripley County in our area) and the alternative methods portion Dec. 25-Jan. 4.
The second portion of the Middle Zone duck season in Missouri will open Saturday after several days of being closed.
There appears to be a good number of birds around, especially green-winged teal, with some pintails, gadwalls, shovelers and a few mallards thrown into the mix.
The Middle Zone will remain open through Jan. 9.
This weekend also is the youth duck season in the South Zone, which includes the Ten Mile Pond, Little River and Coon Island conservation areas.
Youth hunters must be age 15 or younger and must be accompanied by an adult age 18 or older.
The daily limit remains six in the youth season, with the same species limits as other duck seasons.
For those who hunt in the South Zone, the regular season there will open Thanksgiving Day. That first segment will run just four days, through Nov. 28, followed by a brief closure.
The second segment of the South Zone duck season will open Dec. 7 and run through Jan. 31.
Those who prefer to hunt ducks in Arkansas will get their chance this weekend. The state’s first duck season segment opens Saturday and will run through Nov. 29 statewide.
Unlike Missouri, which has three zones with varying season dates, Arkansas uses a statewide season system with three segments.
The other two segments in Arkansas will run Dec. 11-23 and Dec. 26-Jan. 31.
MDC Fisheries Management Biologist Paul Cieslewicz told me recently he had put some paddlefish nets below the dam at Clearwater Lake in an effort to determine the size range of the fish there.
He caught 38 paddlefish, he said, with 22 of them (58%) longer than 32 inches.
You may recall MDC is considering changing the minimum length limit of paddlefish.
The biggest fish Cieslewicz caught, he said, was 36 inches and weighed 28 pounds.
That fish was originally reared in an MDC hatchery, he noted, and has been captured four times since.
Unfortunately, Cieslewicz also captured an invasive female silver carp, full of eggs. That fish was 35 inches long and weighed more than 26 pounds.
Anglers who come across Asian/silver carp in the Black River are asked to report them to Cieslewicz at the Cape Girardeau Regional Office, 573-290-5730.
Paul Davis is the outdoor editor for the Daily American Republic and can be reached at pdavis.dar@gmail.com.