We gun hunt in Douglas and Howell counties and have for 20+ years. I miss the days of the check stations, willow springs fire department was the only check station in that part of the country, opening weekend students from Rolla checked age, health, measured racks and took some blood samples of the majority of deer checked in. Telecheck makes sure that that kind of information will not be collected again.
What better way to spend a Saturday night then to set on the tailgate of a truck and watch the parade of deer come in.
But since the open doe tags began there we have seen a steady decline, not only in quality of deer but quantity, winters are rough on the deer in that part of the country and the mortality rate of young does I believe has greatly decreased the herd.