I was with the Missouri Department of Conservation Director, Jason Sumners, on Friday night when the new regs were posted. While I don't personally like some of the changes (including the removal of the APR at our cabin property), I understand the need for the change.
Jason is an avid deer hunter and habitat manager--in short--he is one of us and cares deeply for deer, turkey and the other critters hunters manage under what we call the North American Model of Conservation--which is the best in the world for wildlife populations. Those will the financial means might like the models used in other countries, including many in South America--those models tend to limit hunting access to the very rich. The deer we hunt are a public trust that just happen to visit our private properties.
The new regulations took hunter feedback seriously. Opinions in our state range from those who want to replicate Iowa (primarily landowners in northern Missouri), to those who think Arkansas and Kentucky have it right (let's harvest those bucks in velvet). What Missouri is not doing is burying their heads in the sand and falsely hoping CWD will go away.
Public feedback is important--and frankly, far more hunters wrote in about early youth season overlapping Halloween than they did EHD/CWD or adjusting rifle season out of the rut.
The MDC targeted removals in CWD positive areas last year reported 70 cases found through the removal of 4,768.
For more information on numbers in your county, reach out to Jason Isabelle, MDC Cervid Program Supervisor, 573-815-7901, ext. 2902,
Jason.Isabelle@mdc.mo.gov