If you didn't fill your tags during the November rifle portion of Missouri's firearms deer season, don't despair. There are still plenty of opportunities left for hanging your firearms tag on a bruiser buck and lining the shelves of your freezer with protein-rich venison.
With Thanksgiving behind us, and the excitement of the rut fading to memory, deer hunters still have plenty of opportunity, but we must switch our tool of choice and adjust our game plan. Firearms hunters still have the Antlerless, Alternative Methods and Late Youth Seasons to fill their firearms tags. Late Archery Season gives bowhunters a significant amount of time to use their archery tags.
As we transition into cold-weather conditions and the use of shorter-range weapons, deer hunters need to focus on food sources. Once you figure out where the deer are feeding, then chances are you will have found a number of them, because during these late seasons, deer tend to gather in herds.
If you hunt on the edge of an agricultural field, you are likely to catch does, yearlings and young bucks trickling into the field during daylight hours. More mature bucks often hang back in the timber or cover until darkness. Try figuring out the travel routes used by mature bucks. These are usually not the same beat-down trails does will travel in groups. To intercept a buck working its way to food, set up on a sparsely used trail back off the food source at least a couple of hundred yards.
Late Archery Season is now open until Jan. 15, 2015. That's plenty of time to locate and kill a deer or two with your bow. There are a lot less deer out there today than there were in October, so make your opportunities count.
The Antlerless Portion is now open and runs until Dec. 7. Not all counties participate in this portion of the season. Those that do limit the number of antlerless deer permits you may fill. Check the Missouri Department of Conservation website to see what the regulations are in your county. During this portion of the season you may fill antlerless tags with centerfire pistols, revolvers, or rifles, shotguns with slugs only, .40 caliber or larger air-guns, muzzleloaders, bows, crossbows and atlatls.
The Alternative Methods Portion runs Dec. 20-30. During this season you can kill your one firearms buck or antlerless deer. You cannot use rifles or shotguns. You can use centerfire pistols and revolvers, .40 caliber or larger air-guns, muzzleloaders, bows, crossbows and atlatls.
The Late Youth Portion runs Jan. 3-4, 2015. Youth hunters may use centerfire pistols, revolvers, or rifles, shotguns with slugs only, .40 caliber or larger air-guns, muzzleloaders, bows, crossbows and atlatls.
For more information on Missouri deer seasons and regulations, be sure to read the Deer and Turkey Regulations Booklet, and clarify any questions with the Missouri Department of Conservation.
See you down the trail ...
Brandon Butler, executive director of Conservation Federation Missouri, is an outdoors columnist for the News Tribune. Contact him at [email protected].