Missouri's 112-day archery deer and turkey seasons wrapped up Monday, with hunters taking 51,722 deer. That's well above last year's harvest of 47,550 and ranks third in the state's history behind the 2014 season and the record-setter in 2012, when 53,997 deer were killed.
This was the second season crossbows were allowed by all hunters, and slightly higher than last year, the percentage of deer taken by crossbow hunters was around 38 percent.
Locally, some counties were up, while others were down compared to last year's numbers.
In the Ozarks region, Carter County hunters finished the season with 602 deer, short the 644 taken last year. In Ripley County, the season tally was 686, down from the 713 killed a year ago.
In the Southeast Region, hunters in Butler County took home 546 archery-killed deer, up from the 481 taken last year. In Stoddard County, 568 deer were killed compared to 528 last year.
Bowhunters in Dunklin County had an especially good season, taking 102 deer. That's well above last year's 82.
Wayne County led the area with 1,010 deer killed by bowhunters, up from 980 a year ago. This year's total also ranks Wayne County fourth in the state for its archery harvest behind Jefferson (1,188), St. Louis (1,028) and Franklin (1,023).
Considering there just weren't a whole lot of turkeys roaming around, bowhunters did pretty well hunting them this fall, taking 2,426 statewide. That's actually up a little from the 2016-17 season total of 2,304.
In Butler County, 17 turkeys were arrowed (18 last year), and in Wayne County, hunters took 26 (39).
In Stoddard County, the season harvest was 21 (23), and in Dunklin County, no birds were taken, just like last year.
Ripley County bowhunters tagged 12 turkeys (19), and those in Carter County took home six (22).
Sparse Hunting
You'd be hard-pressed to find many ducks around, but there are scattered groups holding in what open water they can find.
At the Ten Mile Pond Conservation Area outside East Prairie, Mo., there were 22,025 ducks counted during MDC's aerial survey last week, mostly mallards and teal. The area also was holding about 20,000 snow geese.
At the Little River CA outside Kennett, Mo., there were only 3,000 birds, about two-thirds of which were shovelers.
Biologists only counted 11 ducks total at the Coon Island CA in Butler County, though it appeared a good number of green-winged teal moved in before the weekend.
Since most fields with shallow water remain flooded, MDC biologist Kevin Brunke recommends hunters run the rivers to find birds until the ice thaws.
There's a big warm-up coming this weekend, and it looks to last a while. Rain also is predicted for Sunday, and with the warmer temperatures, it could be just what hunters need to push birds back into the region, which has been mostly frozen solid since New Year's Day.
Maybe that's just wishful thinking, but there's 10 days left in the season. so it's getting down to crunch time.
Frozen Solid
Any thaw from last week's brief warm-up at Wappapello Lake was short-lived, because the lake is locked up tight again, keeping anglers away.
"We're frozen solid right now," said Park Ranger Eric Lemons on Wednesday.
While Lemons said several people were seen catching fish off docks when some water opened up last week, there's been nobody on it the last few days.
Thankfully, this weekend's predicted warm weather, plus a few sunny days, should soften the ice quite a bit and allow anglers to get back on the water.
The lake finally has gotten down to winter pool, so if you do get out on it, be careful of the shallow spots.
Crappie Club
The Wappapello Crappie Club has a tournament scheduled for Saturday, with fishing from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. The big fly in the ointment, however, is all the ice on the lake.
If the tournament goes ahead as planned, you'll be allowed to launch from any ramp on the lake (assuming its not ice-covered), and the weigh-in will be at the Wappapello VFW off Highway T, north of the dam.
For more information or to check whether or not the event is still on, give Dave Maddux a call at 573-718-2756.
Fur Buyer
As a reminder, fur buyer Marc Romine will be in Poplar Bluff at the Sale Barn from 8-10 a.m. tomorrow.
Romine prefers whole, frozen animals this year, but he'll still take whatever you have skinned.
A conservation agent also will be on hand for those who have any bobcats or river otters which need tagged.
Shotgun Raffle
Finally, if you're headed to the Ag Expo at the Black River Coliseum this weekend, the Bluff City Mallards chapter of Ducks Unlimited will have a booth and will be raffling off a Winchester SXP pump shotgun.
The Ag Expo will run Friday from 12-8 p.m. and again on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.