Young deer hunters break harvest record

Missouri's youngest deer hunters shattered a teens season harvest record set just two years ago, killing 16,380 deer during the Nov. 5 and 6 early segment of the season.

The two-day total for this year's early teens season is 1,346 more than the previous full season record of 15,034, which was set during the second year of an extended, four day teens hunt. The previous record for the first two days of the teens season was 13,328, set in 2009.

"The youngsters had a good season," said Missouri Department of Conservation resource scientist Jason Sumners, who heads the state's deer program.

Most of the state saw a bumper acorn crop this fall, Sumners said, which tends to keep deer in the woods and their visibility low, so there was a question the harvest may have been lower than last year.

"We always kill less deer when the acorns are thick," added Butler County conservation agent Frank Campa. "The deer are spread out and not concentrated."

What helped spur on the higher harvest, Sumners believes, is the timing of the rut, the availability of more deer and favorable weather.

"Buck movement was up some" from last year, when the season was one week earlier, Sumners said. "The number of does and button bucks killed was about the same as last year, but we saw an increase of about 2,000 antlered bucks taken, so the bucks were moving."

In addition, a good, but spotty, acorn crop last year, Sumners said, kept the deer harvest down a little, which meant more deer should have been in the woods this year for hunters to pursue.

"In 2011, we just have a few more deer out there," he said, "and the numbers keep slowly creeping up in the southern counties."

The weather, Sumners believes, also played a key role in success. Saturday, especially, was ideal for hunting.

"We had pretty darn good weather, and the temperature was pretty comfortable for the children to stay out," Sumners said.

In the Southeast Region, Butler County hunters killed 136 deer, just shy of last year's 142 for the first season segment.

"The pressure in southern Butler County was very light," Campa said, "but the pressure up north was very heavy."

Campa also said most of the county's deer were taken Saturday morning. Sunday, he said, was windy with less deer movement.

In Wayne County, young hunters bagged 239 deer to lead the region. Last year, the first segment of the teens season there netted 232 deer.

"We had a tremendous acorn crop, so I really expected the harvest to be down a little, but hunters seem to be adjusting their tactics," Wayne County conservation agent Mic Plunkett said.

Stoddard County hunters took home 139 deer, a small increase from last year's 115.

The harvest in Dunklin County also was up, from 30 last year to 40 this season.

In the Ozarks Region, Carter County hunters killed 110 deer, short of last year's 130, while Ripley County hunters tagged 185 animals, a drop of 16 from a year ago.

One accident involving two adults occurred in New Madrid County and still is under investigation.

With Missouri's regular firearms deer season opening Saturday, Sumners feels good about a strong harvest.

"The initial weather reports look good," he said. "Southern Missouri really has a chance to harvest more deer than last year."

Southeast Missouri teens, with unfilled deer tags, can hunt during the regular firearms season, the statewide muzzleloader season, which runs Dec. 17-27, or the second portion of the teens season, which is scheduled for Jan. 7-8.

That leaves plenty of opportunity for youngsters to get out and hunt, something Plunkett encourages.

"We love seeing children out there in the outdoors," he said.