The Missouri Department of Conservation has modified the 2020-21 waterfowl managed hunt process in an effort to assure the safety of hunters and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To allow for flexibility to respond to the state of the pandemic, there will be no pre-season reservations for the 2020-21 waterfowl season, according to an MDC news release. There will also be no teal season or youth season morning drawings.
Procedures for individual conservation areas will be posted on the MDC website closer to the season.
All reservations, including ADA blinds, will be allocated through the weekly in-season reservation draw. The first application period will open Oct. 20, and results will be announced Oct. 27. The weekly application period opens at 8 a.m. Tuesdays and closes at 3 p.m. the following Monday.
Throughout the season, hunters will be asked to follow precautionary guidelines to assure the safety of everyone at the site during the morning draw. There will be a sliding scale of procedural levels (see below) that could range from no staff-hunter contact at all to close to business as usual.
At the start of the season, every conservation area will be assigned to a certain procedural level due to the status of COVID-19 in the county. The decisions will be made in consultation with the appropriate county health department. Throughout the season, an area could move to a more restrictive procedural level depending on the county health department or other COVID-19-related factors.
Some details of the procedural levels are as follows.
Red Level (very high COVID-19 risk)
No staff-hunter contact.
No facility use.
100 percent allocation for Missouri residents only through in-season reservation draw.
Hunt positions will be pre-assigned.
No poor line or vacancy filling.
Orange Level (high COVID-19 risk)
Limited facility use and social distancing employed.
100 percent allocation for Missouri residents only through in-season reservation draw.
Hunt parties will be able to select hunt location.
No poor line or vacancy filling.
Yellow Level (moderate COVID-19 risk)
Limited facility use and social distancing employed.
100 percent allocation for Missouri residents only through in-season reservation draw.
Hunt parties will be able to select hunt location.
Poor line only for reservation no-shows.
Green Level (low COVID-19 risk)
Facility use as guidance allows and social distancing employed.
50 percent allocation through in-season reservation draw.
Hunt parties will be able to select hunt location.
Poor line for no-shows and 50 percent of hunt positions.
Throughout the season, procedures could change with limited time to notify hunters. To receive updates as quickly as possible, subscribe to the "Waterfowl" email update list at public.govdelivery.com/accounts/MODC/subscribers/new.