Deer numbers may be slightly down, but stories are not

The deer biologists appear to have their preseason forecast of fewer deer taken during the firearm season coming true.

The first weekend totals were down by more than 26,000 from last fall. That doesn't mean there are fewer deer in the state, word from the Conservation Department officials is that with the big crop of acorns this year, the deer are staying in the woods and are harder for the hunters to find. That, plus the weather in some sections of the state, made hunting more difficult.

The statewide total of 106,562 deer taken over the first weekend of the season was 26,574 fewer than last year's opening weekend of the statewide firearm season.

The high counties in the Kansas City Region, which includes Vernon, were Benton with 2,190; St. Clair 1,866; and Henry 1,585. The K.C. Region had 12,246 deer taken over the weekend.

In the area where I was hunting I heard fewer shot as the season opened than in recent seasons, while other hunters reported it sounded like a war zone in their area.

At a local deer processing business many hunters gathered and shared stories, lies and the big bucks that got away.

Larry Thomas shared the fact he missed the check stations. "I always looked forward to going to the check station to hear the stories and see the deer brought in. It was a social thing. However, by stopping at the processing business, I got the same feeling," he said.

This season was the first time deer hunters in the state had to use the Telecheck System to check their deer by phone or online. Thomas said, "I guess it will make it more convenient for most hunters to check their deer and for the Conservation Department to get the information faster and easier, but I'll miss the check stations."

I had my own story to share. Early on the opening morning, I heard the unmistaken sound of a deer in the woods. I watch as an eight-point buck moved within gun range. When I fired, the buck flinched, but trotted towards a gravel road some 200 yards away. Following the trail, I expected to find the deer laying on the leaf covered floor of the woods. Instead, I heard two shots ring out across the road and later a guy drove out with an eight point buck in the back of his pickup. "Thank you for sending the buck my way," he said.

At least I got to see the deer instead of wondering if it was wounded and laying somewhere in the timber, and besides there are more deer waiting and a lot of time remaining in the season.

Two hunters, hunting less than a half-mile apart, had different results. One hunter saw three deer all morning from his stand while the other saw 47 deer, but only three bucks the same morning. "I was hunting near a grove of oak trees and the deer were feeding all morning," Tom Nelson, Springfield said.

Nelson said, "There are plenty of deer in the Ozarks where I hunt, but most of them are smaller than in the northern section of the state."

The trend of hunters on a slower pace this year also showed in the Youth Hunt last month when the young hunters took about 3,000 fewer deer than the season last year.

In the earlier urban season last month, hunters took 239 fewer deer than the previous year.

There is no doubt that Missouri is deer country and by the time the final shot is fired this season, hunters could very well set another record. Jim Low from the Missouri Conservation Department said, "In other years hunters have made up for a slower start by setting records by the end of the season and this could be another time, the deer are out there."