CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: THE SEASON FOR VIRTUAL DEER HUNTING HAS ALSO ARRIVED

Cybertip: Missouri deer firearms season started Saturday and closes Nov. 26.

For those who can't get out into the woods or those who prefer to stay dry and warm, the Internet offers virtual hunting experiences.

Deer hunters will find lots of information at

http://www.WhitetailDeer.com

Peggy: The page is put together by an avid deer hunter and hunting enthusiast. He lets hunters share success stories and photographs. For those of us who are hunting-impaired, the site includes Whitetail Deer 101, an introduction to the animal and its habits. The site also informs experienced hunters of practical tips for tracking, habitat, scoring and safety.

Joni: Braggarts will like the sections on hunting quotes and hunting stories. The page also contains a hunters' tips forum. The tip of the month is secrets of the licking branch. According to deer experts, it's a gathering place for the highly social deer. The site is searchable by key word. They also have lots of other hunting links including some rather exotic places and others closer to home.

Peggy: We linked to Missouri's Department of Conservation page. It's a really great page. It includes information about hunting and fishing, and a whole lot more. You can find it at:

http://www.state.mo.us/conservation/

Joni: The site is pretty exhaustive. Categories include fishing, hunting, forestry, nature, places to go, landowner tips, kid's page, and education. The Missouri Conservationist, an award-winning magazine, is also online.

Peggy: For hunters, the page lists the whole hunting code, all the seasons, how to get permits and the history of the whitetail deer in Missouri. The state also compiles deer kills in all Missouri's 114 counties and the top three deer harvest counties in each of nine regions.

Joni: We found this interesting: According to the conservation department experts, the number of deer taken per square mile provides a more accurate record of the harvest. Some counties with big numbers are just big counties.

More Missourians hunt deer than any other game animal. In 1993, about 400,000 people hunted deer in the state and harvested over 170,000 animals. Revenue from permit sales alone exceeded $6.6 million, and estimates of dollars spent by deer hunters in Missouri exceed $110 million.

Peggy: This explains where all my money is going. The Missouri Conservationist Magazine site takes a while to load because it includes covers of the magazine. Unfortunately, the most recent edition currently online is August. But back issues are available. Subscriptions to the printed magazine are free, but you can't subscribe online. Maybe the folks at the Conservation Department will fix that.

Let's hunt for some more places on the web. The November issue of Yahoo! Magazine rates Hunters.com as best of the web for hunting sites.

http://www.hunters.com

Joni: It was created by two avid hunters from California. They have a quarterly newsletter with updated information especially about the western United States.

They let you submit photos of successful hunts. You can view the photo gallery individually or in all its glory. Caution: It will take a while to load. The page has links to weather information and maps that hunters need for a successful outing.

Peggy: Ted Nugent, rocker and bowhunter (not necessarily in that order), sports his own web page. The Outdoors Network, bringing the outdoors indoors, has both hunting and fishing.

http://www.tednugent.com

Joni: Now we know where old rock 'n' roll singers go. They don't fade away. They become hunters. Photos on the page show Ted Nugent out hunting, but he looks the same as everyone else in his orange vest and hat. The site includes an online hunting magazine and clips from an outdoors radio show. You need RealAudio to listen to the clips. You can also hear Ted sing "Fred Bear."

Peggy: You can also see photos of Ted on stage and in the field. He began bowhunting in 1953 and guitar in 1956. Ted says he rock 'n' rolls six months a year and hunts six months a year.

Joni: Yahoo! Magazine also lists the L.L. Bean site as a mandatory stop for hunters. Find them at

http://www.llbean.com

Peggy: Of course the site has information about L.L. Bean merchandise, what and how to order. But it also has a park search feature. You can search 766 state parks, 171 national parks 590 national wildlife refuges, 156 national forests and 99 Bureau of Land Management areas. You can search by park name, activity or state.

For example, the page has information about the Shawnee National Forest in Harrisburg, Ill. It lists an address and phone number, and activities available at the site.

Joni: Another stop for hunters is Deer Tales Page on the web. It's fairly new: August of 1996.

www.erinet.com/kgraham/thumbnail.html

Joni: This is a place to share your hunt results, stories and photos with fellow hunters.

Peggy: We thought fishermen were bad about telling stories. Apparently they have nothing on hunters.

E-mail us with your favorite outdoor sites at movn@ldd.net.

See you in Cyberspace.

~Joni Adams is managing editor and Peggy Scott is a graphics editor/staff writer at the Southeast Missourian.