In a proposal called “Double Earn a Buck” proposes that a hunter would have to turn in two filled antlerless deer tags in a season before being eligible for an antlered deer tag. This is being proposed by Senator John Jones, of relatively rural Mt. Vernon.

Everyone is pretty unanimous that jumping, exotic bighead and silver carp are a scourge to Midwestern streams. In Illinois, they are already legal bow and crossbow targets. HB 5317, sponsored by Rep. Dave Winters would like a shotgun season on said carp:

“Amends the Fish and Aquatic Life Code. Provides that the Department of Natural Resources shall establish an Asian carp pilot program to permit licensed individuals to shoot Asian carp with a shotgun off of a motorboat in the Illinois River beginning with the 2013 licensing year. Provides that the individuals must have the appropriate license and use a specific type of ammunition. Provides that the Department may adopt administrative rules to establish and administer the pilot program.”

Like shooting fish in a barrel?

Illinois, like most states, combines hunting, fishing, geological regulation, parks, endangered species, water use and regulation, energy, forestry, Great Lakes management, human history and historical preservation, outdoors education, licenses and permits, wildlife and plant management, running the advertised worlds largest recreational shooting complex, and even events like a “Paranormal Investigation at Pere Marquette Lodge” into one department, controlled by the legislature. The state is also handicapped in that the northern one-third is big city urban, while parts of Southern Illinois are indistinguishable from the Ozarks. Even St. Louis and Kansas City have more in common with Winona or West Plains than Chicago and Chester or Carbondale, Illinois.

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the neighbors. Never know what they’ll propose next.
What do you think of these?

(Thanks to Gretchen Steele and Barb Baird for providing these highlights from Springfield, Illinois.)

This year’s antlerless harvest is 789 fewer than last year. Top harvest counties for the 12-day antlerless season were Benton with 394 deer checked, Pike with 390 and Macon with 378. So far this year, firearms deer hunters have killed 221,490 deer. That is up 4,209 from the same time last year.

Jo Schaper photo

Two portions of Missouri’s firearms deer season remain. The muzzleloader portion runs from Dec. 17 through 27, and the late youth portion is Jan. 7 and 8.

Besides increasing hunting opportunities, the antlerless season gives landowners a way of regulating local deer numbers by allowing hunters to remove female deer from the population.

Missouri’s estimated population of 1.4 million whitetails enables hunters to shoot more than 250,000 deer each year. That yields approximately 10 million pounds of venison. Hunters consume most of this meat. However, hunters donate more than 250,000 pounds of venison annually to local food banks and other charities through the Share the Harvest program.

Wild venison has less fat than organic, free range beef, which sells for anywhere from $7 a pound for ground meat, to $30 for steaks. That puts the food value of Missouri’s white-tailed deer resource in the neighborhood of $200 million per year. Missouri’s deer resource also supports 11,000-plus jobs and generates more than $1 billion in business activity annually.

Economic value aside, deer hunting is a cherished tradition that draws thousands of Missouri natives back home to share healthful outdoor pursuits.
(MDC news release.)

Jim Donley with an 8-point buck killed in Warren County

In the first, Gary Hart got a spike buck Nov. 15. Gary, who is also a trapper, hunts for meat. He told his story on Nov. 16 at the cave club meeting– while in his deer stand, he noticed a crow behaving oddly. After he located his kill, he walked to where the crow kept flying down, and found a 10-point buck killed a day or so earlier, with no blood trail. One thing he found odd about the older dead deer was that the antlers were covered with ticks, but they weren’t noticeable on the body.

In the second, Jim Donley, also a caver, got a nice 8-point buck– his first in several years of hunting. Donley claims not to like deer meat so after checking it, he gave it to some people he knows in the area who he knows eat wild game year round.

Congrats to both men.

Nov. 28: When Jo posted the above story, she got a response from Don Allen, one of our Facebook friends. His nephew, Ethan Tinsley of Fredericktown, shot this 16-pt buck on his older brother’s property near Ellington. Nice deer!

Ethan Tinsley of Fredericktown, with his 16-pt buck.

Yep, my kid brother had managed to kill an eleven-point buck Friday afternoon and he kindly volunteered me to help him process the deer. Fortunate for me most of the immediate work was done, but we were going to have to do the “tough” work.

I have always known there was work behind processing meat, but I had never had firsthand experience. Lucky me I can now say I have! I sat at the kitchen table and my brother proudly carried in the back ham of his deer, sat it in front of me, and told me start cutting. I have cut up pork chops, made meatloaf, and baked roast, but I have NEVER cut the meat from the animal’s carcass. This was quite the experience, and honestly I think I will leave this job to butcher shop!

Hunters, hunters’ wives, butchers, and anyone else that has had firsthand experience at butchering a deer I give you high-five for your hard work…..I will stick to enjoying the cooked meat.

I hope all you “real” hunters had a good deer season; I will leave you with a quote that a fellow hunter shared with me at the local gas station on Saturday.
“Deer season is like Christmas for boys, you can do everything you Momma told you not to. You get to climb trees, shoot things, and your Momma won’t say anything about it.”

Happy Hunting my Friends!

Yesterday, Gibson the Guide and I met around 10 am for a mid-morning hunt, I know early morning is best, but my kid’s school just does not think that missing school for hunting is appropriate and they refuse to let me drop them off at 5 am.

I truly thought I was had dressed appropriate, my thought was bright colors, so no deer hunter would mistake me for a deer…I was WRONG. Carrying my hot pink backpack (for my camera & snacks), I was dressed very conservative jeans, hiking boots, and a white thermal (apparently another big no no). Gibson, I am sure never thought he would have to redress me, but he had thought a head and brought a camouflage coat just for me…sheewww….he is a smart man. He repacked my bag, and forced me to leave my hot pink backpack at the truck and off we went!

Now I promise I did not wear any sort of perfume, and I carefully washed with only my bar soap prior to leaving for the hunt. Unfortunately, I still smelled like a GIRL, so I received my first ever dousing with Scent Away….I personally believe that stuff is a combination of leaves and dirt in liquid form.

After redressing me, repacking my backpack, dousing me with Scent Away, and telling me hush a million times, Gibson and I did not have much luck on our deer hunt. I am pretty positive his “tagalong” (me) is to blame; as Gibson did have luck on Saturday morning when his “tagalong” was not along.

Once again I owe Gibson the Guide a HUGE thank you for teaching me everything I am learning….yes I am learning, I am just a slow learner.

Few Things I have learned from Gibson the Guide:
- Full Moon affects hunting, apparently when the moon is full deer like to eat at night.
- Downwind, yes I have heard that term before, but you have to becareful where you stand, because a deer may be downwind from you….and you might smell like a GIRL.
- Unwrap you snacks and put them in a ziploc bag, so the deer do not hear you rip the wrapper….another big no no I did.

Good Luck to you hunters and please keep Gibson the Guide in your thoughts as he tries to correct this sad situation I am!

Hunters checked 89,728 deer during the opening weekend of Missouri’s November firearms deer hunt, a decrease of 8.3 percent from 2010, according to the Missouri Dept. of Conservation.

River Hills Traveler file photo

Top harvest counties during the opening weekend were Howell with 1,702 deer checked, Macon with 1,617 and Texas with 1,588.

MDC Resource Scientist Jason Sumners, said weather played a role in this year’s decrease, but attributed a longer declining trend to shrinking deer numbers in some parts of the state.

“There’s no question that the opening-weekend harvest was affected by warm temperatures and high winds,” said Sumners. “However, this isn’t just a one-year decrease. The opening-weekend harvest averaged 118,000 from 2001 through 2005. From 2006 through 2010, the average was 95,401. Those figures reflect a change in regional deer populations.”

Sumners said areas where deer numbers are down include parts of the Kansas City, Northwest, Southwest and Central regions. The opening-weekend harvest in those areas was down between 11 and 18 percent.

The opening-weekend harvest in southeastern Missouri and in the Ozark region was similar to last year’s. Sumners said deer numbers are increasing slowly in those areas.

Sumners said the declining trends in deer population and harvest numbers are not cause for concern.
“We have been trying for the better part of a decade to stabilize deer numbers in some areas,” said Sumners. “In others we have been working to bring down deer populations to reduce crop damage and deer-vehicle accidents. Now our challenge is finding ways to fine-tune harvest at the local level to balance hunting opportunity with nuisance problems.”

Sumners said this could mean future reductions in the availability of antlerless permits in some areas.
According to Sumners, a decrease of 8,000 in the opening-weekend harvest is not likely to have a significant effect on the overall deer harvest but may reflect a general trend of lower deer numbers in many parts of rural Missouri. With 12 days of the November hunting season ahead, followed by a nine-day antlerless deer season, 11 days of muzzleloader hunting and a two-day late youth season, hunters have plenty of time to catch up. Archers have through Jan. 15 to hunt. Sumners said he expects the 2011-2012 deer harvest to be in the neighborhood of 250,000 to 275,000.

MDC recorded one non-fatal, firearms-related hunting incident during the opening weekend.

I spent a few hours in the woods with another hunter (not my guide) walking my beloved fathers farm in rural Bollinger County. I will give him the benefit that he has never stepped foot on my father’s farm prior to today, and I apparently have not discovered my “inner compass.” Yep boys, we got LOST, but we managed to find our way out….what can I say it adds to the story. Thank you Hunter Trent for not leaving me in the woods…I know I am quite a pain!

Had we not gotten lost we would not have walked right up on a very pretty doe, not sure, if he thought she was pretty or more just a good target. As we walked up she darted through the woods and we watched her white tail fade off over the hill. Gentlemen I now know why hunting is so exciting…I think my heart landed in my throat as she hoped up. Unfortunately I also now know that I may never be quick enough to shoot a deer….I FROZE stiff and couldn’t even shoot a picture!

I do hope my reflects become quicker and I do not let you, my dedicated readers down, and am able to shoot a deer or at least shoot at one.

Have a SAFE first weekend of rifle season; I will see you in the woods soon!