spectr17
11-23-2001, 12:06 AM
Deer hunting is rated good to excellent.
By Tim Renken Of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
11/08/2001
About a million deer live in Missouri. In the firearms hunting season that begins Saturday, hunters are expected to bag about 200,000 of them.
Before the year is out, some 12 million pounds of venison will be in home and commercial freezers around the state. Venison can't be sold in Missouri, but if it were and if the price was $2.80 a pound, the total value would be more than $30 million.
Most of the state's half-million or so deer hunters, though, hunt for fun. Thus the value of recreation dwarfs the value of the meat. The firearms deer hunt is Missouri's largest sporting event of the year.
Hunting is expected to be good statewide, excellent in many areas.
Lonnie Hansen, research biologist for the Department of Conservation, said deer numbers are stable or increasing slightly in the central, east-central and Ozark regions; stable in the north-central and northeast; and stable to slightly shrinking in the northwest and southwest.
Overall, he said, the size of the state's deer herd is stable.
Hunting conditions probably will be good. Most of the crops have been harvested. That means deer will be concentrated into the permanent cover.
The acorn crop, an important factor in the Ozarks, is modest. This means that deer will not be able to find food just anywhere, as is the case when the acorn crop is heavy.
The No. 1 factor in hunting quality is weather, which looks good in the forecast thus far. Fair weather encourages hunters to hunt harder and longer. Cool weather causes deer to move around more and increases their vulnerability.
Unusally warm weather is undesirable because it speeds spoilage of venison. Rain and bitter cold tend to reduce the deer kill.
Last year conditions were almost perfect for the firearms hunt.
"Everything fell together perfectly, and we had a record harvest of more than 200,000 deer during the November firearms season," Hansen said. "We could come near that figure again this year with favorable weather, but chances are we will see a slightly smaller harvest than last year."
By Tim Renken Of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
11/08/2001
About a million deer live in Missouri. In the firearms hunting season that begins Saturday, hunters are expected to bag about 200,000 of them.
Before the year is out, some 12 million pounds of venison will be in home and commercial freezers around the state. Venison can't be sold in Missouri, but if it were and if the price was $2.80 a pound, the total value would be more than $30 million.
Most of the state's half-million or so deer hunters, though, hunt for fun. Thus the value of recreation dwarfs the value of the meat. The firearms deer hunt is Missouri's largest sporting event of the year.
Hunting is expected to be good statewide, excellent in many areas.
Lonnie Hansen, research biologist for the Department of Conservation, said deer numbers are stable or increasing slightly in the central, east-central and Ozark regions; stable in the north-central and northeast; and stable to slightly shrinking in the northwest and southwest.
Overall, he said, the size of the state's deer herd is stable.
Hunting conditions probably will be good. Most of the crops have been harvested. That means deer will be concentrated into the permanent cover.
The acorn crop, an important factor in the Ozarks, is modest. This means that deer will not be able to find food just anywhere, as is the case when the acorn crop is heavy.
The No. 1 factor in hunting quality is weather, which looks good in the forecast thus far. Fair weather encourages hunters to hunt harder and longer. Cool weather causes deer to move around more and increases their vulnerability.
Unusally warm weather is undesirable because it speeds spoilage of venison. Rain and bitter cold tend to reduce the deer kill.
Last year conditions were almost perfect for the firearms hunt.
"Everything fell together perfectly, and we had a record harvest of more than 200,000 deer during the November firearms season," Hansen said. "We could come near that figure again this year with favorable weather, but chances are we will see a slightly smaller harvest than last year."