Youth hunters experience challenge

The 2009-2010 Missouri deer firearms season begins with the annual two-day hunt. The rest of firearms season begins Nov. 14 and runs through Nov. 24.
Phil Surratt | Branson Tri-Lakes News

By Phil Surratt
Staff Writer
Originally published Oct. 28, 2009

Young hunters will get the chance to try out their deer hunting skills this weekend when the 2009 Missouri youth firearms season opens.

The youth season always precedes the regular season, which opens this year Nov. 14.

For young deer hunters, an additional weekend has been set aside at the end of firearms season. That two-day hunt is set for Jan. 2-3, 2010.

Youth hunting days give young hunters an opportunity to hunt earlier, with less competition.

Quenten Fronterhouse, fish and game agent with the Missouri Department of Conservation in Taney County, said the youth season is gaining in popularity.

“It’s grown every year since we first started the program,” Fronterhouse said. “This year we eliminated the youth permit and just have the regular resident and non-resident tags. The regular resident tag is half price for the youth hunter.”

Fronterhouse said youth hunters are not just limited to two weekends; they can hunt deer the entire season.

“There was some confusion in the past about youth tags being good for the regular season. That’s why we eliminated them,” he said.

The 2008 firearms deer hunting season was the first to offer two youth-hunting segments of two days each. The first youth firearms season was in 2001 and resulted in 6,277 deer checked.

The youth harvest came on strong in 2004, when young hunters checked 13,466 deer.

Last year, youth hunters tagged 12,172 deer bringing Missouri’s 2008 firearms deer harvest total to 238,819. Just over 21,000 fewer deer were taken than what was reported in 2007.

Fronterhouse attributes part of the decrease to several factors.

“We just don’t have the big numbers of deer in this part of the state,” Fronterhouse said. “Another thing is some property owners are not allowing hunters onto their land like they used to. Habitat is also decreasing, especially with the amount of development in our area going on.”

Four-point regulations are in effect for certain counties in the state. Fronterhouse said that’s a long shot for our area.

“I would really like to see that happen, but I don’t know if it ever will,” he said. “One thing for sure, I have seen more bigger bucks in this area than I ever have before.”

For youth hunters to participate in the early season they must be at least 6 years old and not yet 16 years old on the youth opening day.

Youth who have not been through the hunter education program and are not certified must hunt with a properly-licensed adult who is hunter-education certified or exempt by age.

Youth who are hunter-education certified may hunt without an adult mentor.

The conservation department is also stressing safety. Last year they recorded one non-fatal firearms-related hunting accident during the first youth portion of firearms deer season and four non-fatal accidents during the November portion of firearms deer season.

That brought the number of accidents during 2008 firearms deer season to five, one more than what was recorded the past two years.

“One careless moment can be devastating,” Fronterhouse said. “You can’t bring a bullet back once it is fired. The good thing is with so many of our youth hunters passing hunter safety programs, it is at the top of their mind when they go out there.”

The traditional order of the muzzleloader and antlerless portions will be reversed this year, with the antlerless portion running from Nov. 25-Dec. 6 (three days longer than last year only in designated open counties) and the muzzleloader portion running from Dec. 19-29 (one day longer than last year).