Webster County Missouri

[Adam S. Daugherty]

Got a good friend that has bought some property in Webster County Missouri.  Anybody on here familiar with the area.  The farm he bought looks to have some potential from the aerial view, and surrounding areas look real promising.  He doesn't hunt, and I will have open range on his farm but was wondering if this was one of those free for all areas of the country when it came to deer hunting, or if it would be worth the time and effort to spend some time out there this march and make some relationships with the community and possibly open up some new Midwest territory.  DNR stats show lots of deer killed in the area, but that could mean a lot of things.  Is this one of the areas where everything is leased up, etc, etc.
Thanks in advance.

[9 Shocks]

High deer density area.  Most of Missouri is pretty pressured.  I've hunted all over the state and I cannot say definitively that one area is more prone to hunting than another.  If some one owns a farm, they most likely are hunting or have some one hunting it.  I'd say give it a shot!

[Michael Arnette]

I've hunted the neighboring counties to the south and west. Lots of deer but not that great for trophy quality. If it is huntable someone is hunting it...likely bc they are family or friend but leases aren't big there yet...

[Michael Arnette]

...what I mean by poor trophy quality is more like poor age structure bc of a meat hunting mindset and Missouri's poor management. A historic 3 buck limit and rifle season smack in the middle of the rut don't help things either.
There is a lot of potential in that area

[JakeD]

Missouri has had poor management, but I think we are headed in the right direction now.  Down to 2 buck limit, and I'm hoping just a 1 buck limit in the near future.  It sure would help produce a quality deer hunt and make for better quality hunts statewide.

[TIM B]

Heck I thought missouri was doing a great job managing deer!  When I was a kid ya only got 1 rifle tag and ya had to apply in a drawing to see if you could get a 'any' deer tag.  We often hunted a week before seeing a deer.

Now deer are all over.  I can shoot as many does as I wanna by tags for.  I see deer almost every hunt.  

Of course this is from a meat hunters perspective....
Tim

[rainman]

The 4 point to 1 side for a legal buck has made a tremendous difference, I have hunted here for 40 years and in the last 4 have seen more quality deer than the previous 36 combined.

[rainman]

Most of the really large deer are north of the Missouri.

[9 Shocks]

Originally posted by rainman:
Most of the really large deer are north of the Missouri.

Southern mo is coming around. Qdma has really improved southern mo. My cousin has property in Greene and christian county and it's got some dandies. Northern mo got drilled with ehd and cwd so bad that the conservation dept had to change vag limits and had certain counties where you could literally shoot any deer. AR's were eliminated and that really affected the deer herd.

[kennym]

The antler restrictions up here in the northern part of MO helped a LOT on buck size. Everybody had time to look em over and realize it wasn't the monster they thought it was.

I think it still hangs on tho now that folks have seen what the potential of letting the little ones walk can be. We still have some fine bucks, and since the ARs have been placed in S MO , I've seen some pics of some great deer from there too.

[MO Bow]

Missouri's poor management???  I about fell out of my chair from laughing so hard.

I'm assuming you don't live there...much less work with the Conservation Department on whatever piece of land you hunt on...if at all in MO.

Not a personal attack...just gave me a good chuckle...

[TRAP]

Deer management in Missouri could be a lot better. We could stop killing deer during the peak of the rut with high-powered rifles.

If we did that, we wouldn't have to rely on antler point restrictions to improve age structure of our deer herd.

Sadly, the discovery of CWD and it's potential to spread may change deer management drastically.  Managing for trophy deer and older age classes may contribute to an increased transmission of the disease.

[MO Bow]

Sure...Ohio and Kansas can be better too.

Every year, there are record harvests...and no impact (other than CWD...no thanks to deer farmers) to the season.  We still have antler restrictions, but that hasn't hampered numbers.  We still have unlimited doe tags.  As a landowner, I get a string of tags a mile long.  We've even added crossbows and I can still kill more deer than I can eat if I wanted to.  

MO has been creeping up on the big trophy states in a big way over the last 10 years.

We work directly with the Conservation Dept for forest preservation, land management, prairie rehab and removal of invasive species.  Since we started working with those folks, our wildlife has increased more than I've seen for nearly 40 years.  

In the last 15 years, we've seen a steady increase of overall deer population (as well as turkey, dove, quail, bobcat, fox, rabbits, etc) just on our small 200 acre farm.  

Folks forget that deer management doesn't end with the Conservation Dept.  Private landowners have a responsibility as well.  And don't tell me that if given the opportunity, and had the need for more meat, you wouldn't take a 3rd buck if that's all you had come by your stand.

The last 4 seasons, I've had more different bucks cross my stand than does...not just a couple more.  On average I've seen 8-12 different bucks (more than half 8 or more points) to 1-2 does.  3 years ago, I saw 10 different bucks, 8 of which were 8+ and I didn't see a single doe.  My hunts are 5-7 days when I can make it home during the first week of Nov or last week of Oct.  We could care less about how many antlers we bring home...they don't taste good.  Hell, I'd rather have an old nanny come by the stand, then I wouldn't have to count headgear.

Unfortunately, I live in a bordering CWD county, and there are no restrictions and it's open season again...which was not influenced by previous management.

You can't tell me MO has poor deer management.  If you think so, you haven't invited an agent to your property and put the time into land management.

If management was poor, I'd be limited to 1, maybe 2 deer a year by the state and I'd rarely see a deer.

[Gooserbat]

I used to live in Seymour in the north eastern part of Webster Co.  Not bashing but the Amish are hard on the deer in that area.  If it's not Amish country then it might be pretty good.

[TRAP]

Just did a quick internet check and in no way did I read the entire deer regs for either state but,

Kansas Firearms season starts November 30 and Ohio starts November 29. Both states gun hunt post-rut when bucks are less vulnerable. Our MO firearms season starts November 12th.

I have nothing against the Missouri Drpartment of Conservation. I work for the MDC as a Wildlife Damage Builogist.

There's a long history of firearms hunting during the rut here in Missouri and even if the MDC tried to change that I'm not sure they could ever pull it off.

Antler Point Restrictions have made the opportunity to harvest a mature buck in MO much better but if they are lifted to help combat the spread of CWD I fear you will see those record book entry numbers creep back the other way.