MISSOURI (KFVS) – The Missouri Department of Conservation released some helpful information for deer hunters this season.
Upcoming seasons:
Deer hunting opens September 15 with archery season, which runs through November 11 and then again from Nov. 23-January 15, 2023.
The two firearms youth portions run October 29 and 30 and November 25-27.
The firearms November portion runs Nov. 12-22.
The antlerless portion runs Dec. 3-11 and the alternative-methods portion runs Dec. 24 through Jan. 3, 2023.
New this year:
According to the MDC, hunters who are 15 years or younger on Sept. 15 are now exempt from the antler-point restriction during the archery season and all portions of the firearms deer season.
Hunters may fill out additional firearms antlerless permits online.
Share the Harvest:
MDC encourages deer hunters to share their harvests by donating surplus venison to the program to help feed hungry Missourians.
The program is administered by the Conservation Federation of Missouri and MDC.
They say sharing is easy, just take your harvested deer to an approved meat processor and let the processor know how much venison to donate.
You can find more information at mdc.mo.gov/share
Chronic Wasting Disease regulations, sampling and testing:
According to MDC, chronic wasting disease is a deadly, infectious disease in deer and other members of the deer family (cervids) that eventually kills all animals it infects. There is no vaccine or cure.
MDC’s CWD Management Zone consists of counties where or near where CWD has been found: Adair, Barry, Barton, Camden, Cedar, Chariton, Christian, Clark, Crawford, Franklin, Gasconade, Greene, Hickory, Howell, Jefferson, Knox, Laclede, Linn, Macon, McDonald, Mercer, Oregon, Ozark, Perry, Polk, Pulaski, Putnam, Ripley, St. Charles, St. Clair, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Stone, Sullivan, Taney, Vernon, Warren and Washington.
MDC notes that Barton, Greene, Ripley and Vernon counties are new to the CWD Management Zone this year.
Special regulations apply in CWD Management Zone counties, including:
- During Nov. 12-13, hunters who harvest deer in CWD Management Zone counties (except Gasconade, Knox, St. Charles, and Warren) must take the deer or deer head on the day of harvest to an MDC mandatory CWD sampling station
- The use of grain, salt products, minerals, and other consumable products used to attract deer is prohibited year-round in CWD Management Zone counties
- Deer harvested from CWD Management Zone counties must be reported through Telecheck before they can be removed from the county of harvest
- Hunters must follow carcass-movement restrictions for deer harvested in a CWD Management Zone county
MDC said it is again offering free voluntary CWD sampling and testing of harvested deer during the entire deer season at some locations throughout the state, including some MDC offices and participating taxidermists and meat processors.
MDC also offers self-service freezer drop-off locations within the CWD Management Zone for hunters to deposit harvested deer heads to have tested for CWD. Instructions, packing supplies, and information tags are available at the sites.
Hunters can get their CWD test results for free online at mdc.mo.gov/cwdResults.
Results are usually available within four weeks or less from the time of sampling.
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