Waterfowl reservations under two systems this year

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Hunters at Eagle Bluffs, Grand Pass and Otter Slough

Conservation Areas will test the new Quick Draw system starting Oct. 29.

JEFFERSON CITY—Duck hunters who plan to hunt at Grand Pass, Eagle Bluffs and Otter Slough conservation areas (CAs) are reminded that the drawing procedure for these areas has changed and will be handled with the experimental Quick Draw system this year.

Quick Draw is an online-only drawing system. Grand Pass CA will be the first area to test the new system, because it is in the North Zone, where duck season opens first. Applications to hunt during the first three days of the 2010 duck season will open at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 22 and close at 3 p.m. Oct. 25. Results will be available after 12:01 a.m. Oct. 26. Successful applicants can receive reservation notices by e-mail or text message if they provide contact information. They also can check the results online.

Eagle Bluffs and Otter Slough CAs are in the Middle Zone, so applications for drawings the first three days of the season at those areas will run from 12:01 a.m. Oct. 29 and close at 3 p.m. Nov. 1. Results will be available after 12:01 a.m. Nov. 2.

After the initial drawing in each zone, Monday drawings will award reservations for the following Friday through Monday. Applications will be open from Monday through Thursday to assign reservations for the following Tuesday through Thursday.

All three areas will assign handicap-accessible blinds through Quick Draw. The trial will not affect youth hunts, which will be handled as in the past.

This year’s limited trial of Quick Draw will enable the Conservation Department to evaluate whether the system achieves its goal of making hunting more convenient and accessible to more hunters. Depending on how well it works, the system could be modified and expanded to other state-managed wetland areas. More information about Quick Draw is available at http://bit.ly/a5wp1q.

If you applied to hunt on any of the Conservation Department’s other managed wetlands through the traditional reservation system, you can visithttp://bit.ly/bCjKgH to learn if you drew a reservation. You need your Conservation ID number, which is printed on hunting and fishing permits, to check your application.

-Jim Low-

Missouri Game Farms

Urban deer hunters reminded to Share the Harvest

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More than two dozen meat processors in the urban hunting zone are ready to accept donated deer to feed hungry Missourians.

JEFFERSON CITY—Missouri’s four-day firearms deer hunt in urban areas offers hunters a fistful of opportunities – get an early start on deer hunting, help reduce deer-vehicle accidents, cut down on deer-related property damage and feed hungry Missourians.

The urban portion of firearms deer season is Oct. 8 through 11 in all or parts of 12 counties around St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and the Columbia-Jefferson City area. The hunt is for antlerless deer only, with the goal of removing female deer from urban and suburban deer herds. This is the most effective way of controlling deer numbers.

The overabundance of deer around Missouri’s biggest population centers makes it easy for hunters in these areas to fill their freezers. However, there is a limit to how much venison one family can eat in a year. Hunters who can shoot more deer than they need can donate excess deer to needy Missourians at no cost through the Share the Harvest (STH) program.

 STH programs across the state are organized by local citizens who bring together hunters, charities and meat processors to put lean, high-protein meat on the table for those in need. Twenty-six participating processors are located in urban-zone counties, making deer donations convenient during the urban hunt.

To learn how and where to donate deer through STH, call 573-634-2322, e-mail mofed@socket.net, or visit mdc.mo.gov/hunt/deer/share/, Participating meat processors also are listed on pages 44 and 45 of the 2010 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, which is available wherever hunting permits are sold.

Hunters donated more than 250,000 pounds of venison to charities through STH last year. New funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), combined with donations from state and local sponsors, will enable hunters to feed more people than ever. STH organizers at the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Conservation Federation of Missouri say they hope to increase STH donations to more than 500,000 pounds this year.

Hunters have donated more than 2.1 million pounds of venison through STH since the program’s inception in 1992.

-Jim Low-

For more Missouri deer hunting info visit Family-Outdoors

Elk Restoration

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JEFFERSON CITY–The Missouri Department of Conservation today published a draft elk-restoration plan that addresses concerns about property damage, veterinary diseases and traffic safety.

The Conservation Department posted the 39-page draft plan and a video summarizing the document on its website www.missouriconservation.org. The plan calls for releasing up to 150 elk into a 346-square-mile area of Shannon, Carter and Reynolds counties early in 2011. All released elk will undergo stringent health testing and quarantines and will be fitted with radio collars to permit tracking their movements.

Part of the cost of restoring elk to Missouri will be borne by partners, including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Arkansas and other eastern states that have restored elk report significant economic benefits from elk hunting and related tourism.

While pursuing the Conservation Commission’s directive to develop an elk-restoration proposal, the Conservation Department sought comments from a wide range of stakeholders. These included the Missouri Farm Bureau, the Conservation Federation of Missouri, the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, the Ozarks Property Rights Congress, the Missouri Forest Products Association, soil and water conservation districts and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The agency also held three public open-house forums in towns bordering the proposed restoration area to gather local comments on elk restoration and sought comments through Missouri Conservationist magazine, commercial news media, the Conservation Department website and Facebook page and personal contacts with landowners. The Conservation Department also provided comment cards to visitors at the Missouri State Fair.

More than 300 people attended the public forums, and 137 filled out comment cards. Eighty-three percent of those comments favored elk restoration. Of the 2,309 comments received between July 16 and Sept. 30 by mail, phone, e-mail, Internet and personal contacts, 80 percent favored elk restoration. Seventy-five percent of comments received from people in the proposed elk-restoration zone were in favor of the idea.

Elk are native to the Show-Me State but were extirpated in the 19^th century by a combination of unregulated hunting and habitat destruction. At its meeting July 16, the Conservation Commission directed to Conservation Department staff to develop a proposal for reintroducing elk to Missouri. It requested the plan for consideration at its meeting Oct. 15.

The Conservation Department developed such a plan in 2001. However, the Conservation Commission tabled the matter because of concerns about adequate habitat and chronic wasting disease (CWD). Habitat management by the Conservation Department and other large Ozarks landholders have resulted in improved elk habitat in the past 15 years. During the same time, advances in knowledge about CWD and development of a live-animal test for CWD in elk have alleviated veterinary health concerns.

Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen said the Conservation Department was very mindful of potential elk problems when developing the draft plan.

“We know that elk restoration is a popular idea statewide and in the proposed restoration zone,” said Hansen. “Lots of Missourians are eager for the wildlife watching and hunting opportunities that other eastern states are enjoying as a result of restoring elk. However, we understand that farmers, livestock producers and others have concerns about elk restoration. We think this plan does an excellent job of addressing those concerns.”

The Conservation Department worked with the Missouri Department of Agriculture to develop veterinary health protocols for free-ranging elk that are more stringent than any that apply to livestock or farmed elk brought into Missouri. This protocol begins with accepting elk only from herds with histories of health surveillance and no evidence of health issues.

 Elk brought from other states will undergo rigorous testing for CWD, brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis, anaplasmosis, bovine viral diarrhea, blue tongue, epizootic hemorrhagic disease, Johne’s disease and vesicular stomatitis. They will be quarantined in their state of origin and again in Missouri before being released into the proposed restoration zone.

All released elk will carry radio-tracking collars that transmit a “mortality” signal if they stop moving for an extended time. This will permit the Conservation Department to recover all elk that die and examine them to determine the cause of death.

To minimize the potential for elk conflicts, the Conservation Department selected a restoration zone with large public landholdings and public access. Forty-nine percent of land in the zone is owned by the Conservation Department, the USDA Forest Service or the National Park Service. Another 30 percent is owned by the L-A-D Foundation (Pioneer Forest) and The Nature Conservancy. All these landowners support elk restoration and permit hunting on their land.

Other factors that contributed to selecting the 346-square-mile elk restoration zone are:

·        Low road density – The proposed restoration zone has 1.2 miles per road per square mile, compared to 2.1 miles per square mile in Arkansas’ elk-restoration zone. Arkansas records one or two elk-vehicle accidents per year.

·        Suitable habitat – Savanna and glade habitat already exists in the restoration zone, and work to restore open, grassy areas continues.

·        Strong landowner support – The Conservation Department will work with willing landowners to improve the attractiveness of their property to elk.

·        Defined geography – The elk-restoration zone is bounded by roads, posted property lines and other identifiable landscape features, making it easy to know when elk are outside the restoration zone and remove them from areas where they are not wanted.

·        Minimal agricultural activity – Ninety-three percent of the proposed elk-restoration zone is forested. Cropland makes up .1 percent (222 acres) of the zone. Cattle grazing is very limited.

“Missouri has lots of places where elk would do very well, but the potential for conflicts is just too great outside the area we have chosen,” said Hansen. “We will remove elk where they are not wanted, and we will use hunting to keep the population at a size that is sustainable in the restoration area.”

-Jim Low-

New rules for bringing hunter-killed deer, elk into Missouri

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Kansas City Mo - Missouri residents who hunt in other states should be aware of a new regulation regarding chronic wasting disease, which sets rules for transporting harvested antlered game into the state.

Archery deer season began Wednesday (Sept. 15) in Missouri and similar archery or blackpowder rifle seasons are underway or will soon start in neighboring states. Regular firearms seasons will follow later in autumn and winter.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) now requires that any hunter who brings a deer, elk or moose into the state with the head or spinal column attached to report the carcasses’ entry by calling 1-877-853-5665 within 24 hours of entering the state. If the head or spinal cord is intact on the animal, the hunter cannot process the meat or the trophy mount. Instead, they must take the carcass to a licensed meat processor or taxidermist within 72 hours of entry. Meat processors and taxidermists are required to dispose of the spinal cord and other parts in a properly permitted landfill.

Hunters do not need to report if they simply bring back meat, hides, antlers, teeth, skulls or skull plates with no brain tissue attached.

Chronic wasting disease is fatal neurological disease that affects cervids -- deer, elk and moose. There is no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans or livestock. What causes CWD and how it is transmitted is inconclusive. But the disease affects brain and spinal tissue, and there is concern that it could be passed into Missouri’s deer herd by bringing infected tissues into the state.

Missouri’s first confirmed case of CWD was a single whitetail deer identified in February in Linn County. That animal was in a fenced enclosure for deer and elk on a hunting ranch in Linn County in north central Missouri. Biologists tested other cervids within the enclosure and free-ranging deer killed in adjacent areas, and they found no additional CWD cases.

But that portion of the state will be under special surveillance for CWD this autumn. Anyone who encounters a deer in poor condition that has no obvious injuries, anywhere in the state, should contact local Missouri Department of Conservation staff.

Kansas and Nebraska have confirmed CWD cases in deer in recent years in western counties, while states farther west such as Colorado and Wyoming have for several years monitored cases in both deer and elk. The disease has also been found in other states including in the Midwest and the East, but authorities want to keep it out of Missouri.

Available at MDC offices and places where permits are sold, the MDC’s “2010 Fall Deer & Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information” booklet has more information, or visitwww.missouriconservation.org.

-          By Bill Graham, MDC

Family-Outdoors Hunting, Fishing, and Camping Information

Fall into Missouri’s Hunting and Fishing Opportunities

Image via WikipediaJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. --- The heat of summer has given way to fresh breezes and the relaxing, cool air of the approaching autumn. Now is a great time to experience Missouri’s hunting and fishing opportunities first-hand.

Today marks the beginning of the first of two bow seasons for hunters seeking deer and turkey in Missouri. Deer season for bow hunters runs through Jan. 15, 2011, though there is an 11-day break for the firearms portion of deer season, which runs Nov. 13-23.

Bow hunting proved to be a popular and productive method for harvesting Missouri deer during the 2009-10 archery season. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, a record 51,972 deer were taken, marking the first time more than 50,000 deer were harvested during archery season.

Those looking for public lands on which to hunt will find the Missouri Department of Conservation has thousands of acres of public hunting areas around the state, which means it’s not difficult to find area where deer hunting is allowed during archery season.

A few places to consider deer hunting include Bluffwoods Conservation Area, a 2,300-acre tract near St. Joseph, where the conservation department reports a good deer population; or the 348 acres of Montgomery Woods Conservation Area near Kirksville, where another good population of deer resides.

Don’t forget Little Dixie Lake Conservation near Millersburg, a 733-acre area in Callaway County where there’s a designated area for archery; Holly Ridge Conservation Area, near Bloomfield, with its good population of deer and an on-site archery range; and the 4,790-acre Bushwhacker Lake Conservation Area near Bronaugh, featuring the 157-acre Bushwhacker Lake.

Missouri’s population of deer leads to great opportunities for hunters, and the same can be said for the Show-Me State’s gobbler hunters. With 3,298 wild turkeys harvested the 2009-10 archery season proved to be a record-setter, too.  The upcoming season runs Sept. 15-Nov. 12 and Nov. 24-Jan. 15, 2011.

Popular public lands for turkey hunting include the Huzzah Conservation Area, near Steelville, where a good population of turkey, combined with 6,000 acres of forest and portions of the Meramec River and Huzzah and Courtois creeks, creates a bountiful and scenic hunting venue. Also, hunters find a first-rate turkey population at the Apple Creek Conservation Area, a 2,000-acre site about 20 minutes northeast of Cape Girardeau.

Another venue for turkey hunting is the Parma Woods Conservation Area near Parkville. This area, situated on 200 acres near the Missouri River, features an on-site range for honing your bow-hunting skills. Outdoors enthusiasts may use the archery range and enjoy good turkey hunting at the Compton Hollow Conservation Area, located nine miles west of Marshfield. This area includes special use hunting area for those with medical exemptions.

Other areas for turkey hunters to consider include: Rudolf Bennitt Conservation Area, located near Higbee, at the point where Boone, Randolph and Howard counties meet; Deer Ridge Conservation Area near Lewistown; and the Caney Mountain Conservation Area near Gainesville.

For those who’d rather spend late summer/early fall fishing, Missouri offers the chance to catch everything from catfish and bass to trout, walleye and muskie. Whether you’re launching a boat, wading or walking the banks of one of the state’s rivers, lakes or streams, it’s safe to say the fish are always biting somewhere in Missouri.

Even though Missourians aren’t prone to “fish stories,” here are a couple of tales to consider when planning your next fishing getaway.

In July, a pair of anglers fishing the Missouri River, near the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area north of St. Louis, hauled in a state-record and world-record blue catfish. The 130-pound blue catfish measured 57 inches, outweighing the previous state-record by 27 pounds. A couple of days later, a father-son tandem hauled in a 99-pound flathead on the Missouri River near Mokane.

Then there’s the state-record, 58-pound, 10.4-ounce striped bass taken earlier this year from Bull Shoals Lake in Taney County. This prize catch was slightly more than 48 inches from nose to tail. Table Rock Lake, which is part of this region’s Tri-Lakes area, is home to great bass fishing, striped and other types.

Not far from Bull Shoals is Lake Taneycomo, which offers the chance to catch some of the state’s largest rainbow and brown trout. The water temperature stays about 58 degrees year-round and the lake usually is stocked with about 750,000 trout. And if you enjoy trout fishing, be sure to visit Bennett Spring State Park near Lebanon. This park is home to the state’s third-largest spring and, from April-October, is a major trout-fishing destination.

Other great fishing spots include Lake of the Ozarks, which is stocked with bass, catfish, paddlefish, walleye and hybrid stripers; Pomme de Terre Lake in Pomme de Terre State Park, which offers the chance to catch several varieties of fish, including walleye and muskie; and Stockton Lake, which is one of the best walleye fishing lakes in the Midwest (and a great lake for sailboat use).

Don’t overlook Truman Lake in Harry S Truman State Park, where crappie and black bass are abundant; Mark Twain Lake, known for excellent crappie and bass fishing; and Lake Wappapello, in Lake Wappapello State Park, which is known for white bass, crappie and blue gill fishing.

In addition to hunting turkey and deer, fall in Missouri brings the season for game such as quail, geese, ducks, teal, crow, dove, and pheasant, plus furbearers such as bobcat, beaver and otters.

Regardless of which outdoor activity you choose, make sure to study Missouri’s regulations and the specific rules for state-maintained hunting and fishing areas; and remember to have the proper permits for the activities in which you’ll be participating. For more info on Missouri permits, seasons and regulations, visit www.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping or www.mdc.mo.gov/fishing.

For more information on Missouri’s hunting and fishing opportunities, as well as other vacation ideas from around the Show-Me State, please log on to www.VisitMO.com; call 800-519-4800 to order your free copy of the Official 2010 Missouri Travel Guide

 

Missouri Conservation Area Guide

 

Conservation Department still seeking comments on elk restoration

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The Conservation Department says it wants to address all concerns.

JEFFERSON CITY–If you are excited, concerned or just interested in the possibility of returning elk to the Show-Me State, now is the time to express your feelings about the issue.

In July, the Conservation Commission directed the Conservation Department to develop a proposed plan for releasing between 80 and 150 elk into a 365-square-mile restoration zone around the Peck Ranch Conservation Area in Shannon, Carter and Reynolds counties. The initial release could take place as soon as early 2011. The chosen area has suitable habitat, few roads and limited agricultural activity. The area also has a large proportion of land owned by the Conservation Department, the USDA Forest Service and the National Park Service.

In August, the Conservation Department hosted open houses in Van Buren, Eminence and Ellington, towns in or near the proposed elk-restoration zone, to learn citizens’ views on the idea of elk restoration. The approximately 300 people who attended the meetings got to ask questions of Conservation Department staff and were encouraged to make written or verbal comments on the proposed plan. The majority of written comments received at the public meetings were in favor of elk restoration.

At the same time, the Conservation Department began seeking comments statewide. Results of public comments received through Oct. 1 will be included in the report to be considered by the Conservation Commission at its meeting Oct. 15. The Conservation Department will continue gathering public comments after Oct. 1.

Comments can be sent to Missouri Department of Conservation, Director’s Office, PO Box 180, Jefferson City MO 65102-0180 or filed at the Conservation Department’s website, www.mdc.mo.gov/contact-us under “Elk Restoration Comments.” Information about the MDC’s proposed elk restoration efforts is available at www.missouriconservation.org by searching “elk restoration.”

Under the proposed plan, elk would be quarantined before and after arriving in Missouri and would be tested for diseases that could affect wildlife or domestic livestock. These measures are being developed in consultation with the state veterinarian and the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

All imported elk would be fitted with microchips and radio collars to permit tracking their movements and health monitoring. The proposed elk-restoration plan will include measures to keep elk off private land where they are not welcome and within the targeted restoration zone. Hunting would be used in the future to maintain the elk herd at a manageable size.

Elk-vehicle accidents have been infrequent in other states with elk-restoration programs. This is partly because bull elk assemble groups of cows and guard them, rather than pursuing individual females, as white-tailed deer do.

Arkansas has a larger elk herd than is contemplated in Missouri. The road density is nearly twice as great in Arkansas’ elk-restoration zone as in Missouri’s proposed restoration zone. Records maintained by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission show one or two elk-vehicle accidents annually since elk restoration began 25 years ago. The Game and Fish Commission receives approximately two complaints of pasture damage and one or two complaints of fence damage annually.

According to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, statistics from eastern states with elk-restoration programs show no human fatalities from collisions with elk, and automobile insurance rates are no higher in states with wild free-ranging elk.

The Conservation Department is considering elk restoration for several reasons, including citizen requests, ecological benefits from restoring a native species and economic benefits to Missouri through tourism and hunting.

-Jim Low-

Outdoors-Missouri

SEVEN RIPLEY COUNTY MEN PLEAD GUILTY TO CHARGES OF CONSPIRACY TO VIOLATE THE FEDERAL LACEY ACT BY USING DOGS & ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES TO HUNT DEER

Image via WikipediaSEVEN RIPLEY COUNTY MEN PLEAD GUILTY TO CHARGES OF CONSPIRACY TO VIOLATE THE FEDERAL LACEY ACT BY USING DOGS & ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES TO HUNT DEER
 
ST. LOUIS Mo -- The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that seven men from Doniphan and the surrounding area have entered guilty pleas, and were each ordered to pay fines from $500 to $1500 involving a conspiracy to illegally hunt deer in the Mark Twain National Forest with the aid of dogs and all-terrain vehicles.
According to court documents, it was part of the conspiracy that the defendants illegally hunted deer in the Mark Twain National Forest by utilizing dogs and all-terrain vehicles to assist with the hunt. They released some dogs wearing radio-location transmitters on their dog collars to scare the deer and cause them to run from the dogs. The dogs chased the deer to keep them running, which assisted the hunters in locating them. They were able to track the location of the dogs (and thus the location of the deer) by using radio telemetry, which picked up radio transmissions attached to the dog collars. They also used marine-band radios to evade law-enforcement officers by transmitting the locations of Missouri Conservation Agents during a hunt with dogs and the location of co-defendants, dogs, and deer.
Pleading Friday, Sept. 3, in Cape Girardeau:
Mitchell G. Pearson, 23, Fairdealing, MO;
Neil Turner, 27, Naylor, MO;
Kevin Turner, 31, Doniphan, MO;
Jackie Elliott, 56, Doniphan, MO;
Nathan Foulks, 45, Doniphan, MO; and
Nicholas S. Keck, 29, Doniphan, MO.
Frank S. Moman, 30, Doniphan, MO, entered his plea today in Cape Girardeau.
Each defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally hunt deer in the Mark Twain National Forest by utilizing dogs to assist with the hunt between Nov. 14, 2008, and Nov. 25, 2008, all in violation of 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1) and 3373(d)(2).
Henry L. Hudson, 57, Doniphan, MO, faces the same charges and is awaiting trial.
This charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and/or fines up to $100,000.
This case was investigated by the Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The charges set forth in an information are merely accusations, and defendant Hudson is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.