MDC as my fellow Missourians know stands for the Missouri Department of Conservation it's headquarters located in Jefferson City, Mo. which is also our state capitol.
I may have struck a nerve of another member who is from Missouri when I made a comment about the unlimited doe permits available for much of the state. Basically the entire northern portion north of the Missouri River with a small handful of counties south of that line is open quota for antlerless deer.
Let me first say this:
I am Proud to have been born in Missouri and I've lived and hunted here my whole life. I also agree that we have one of the best Conservation Departments around, but no system or organization is without it's flaws. Taking a lackadaisical passive approach or stance if you will, to such things of this nature (Literally) is entirely the wrong way to go about it.
Afterall, it's our deer, turkey, fish, fur bearers, and waterfowl that we are talking about. Aside from the waterfowl which is regulated by the Federal Govt. our own Conservation Department sets the rules, limits, methods of harvest, and general guidelines for our seasons.
One of the flaws that I pointed out in the other Missouri thread was the unlimited doe permits issued and I believe my comment was taken the wrong way by someone else?
Let me explain.
I've hunted from as far north as Montgomery, Audrain, Lincoln, Warren, Monroe, and Callaway Counties, to as far south as St. Francios, Dent, and Wayne counties and everywhere in between, as I'm sure many of you have.
To plainly state that there are too many does/deer and unlimited antlerless permits should be made available is a fairly simple concept...correct? Not so easy.
Harvest data and herd population densities must be obtained first...also correct. Do you know where most of that data comes from? Insurance companies.....from deer/car collisions. Also from MODOT which picks up carcasses off the highways.
You might think it comes from the Telecheck system wouldn't you? Not all of it, and exactly how reliable of a system is that?
It's convenient, I'll surely give it that much. I like the idea of calling from my hunting property when I check a deer and still have a buck tag in my pocket I want to fill. That way I can check my deer while eating a sandwich and go back to hunting immediately afterwards, but how many people do you think abuse that same system? I have personally witnessed it being abused quite often, and heard second hand of even more abuse of that system. I've even called that abuse into the local agent, with not so much as a follow up.
So to think that the Telecheck system is a reliable source of data for the biological diversity of our deer herd is just naive and ridiculous. They may sell that song to most of the state's sportsmen and women, but not me.
It's my belief that at this point in the game where the unlimited quota on does in most Missouri counties has been the norm for quite a number of years, it's time to switch gears a little bit and start basing it on area specific circumstances. I'm talking about County by County and areas within those Counties needs to be more closely looked at to determine if there does indeed exist a condition of over population before just handing out a gazillion anterless permits.
No system, or organization is without it's flaws...period.
I have personally seen entire herds in certain areas get so out of balance from taking out the largest most mature does and leaving the young to maintain the population, that there was only a sporadic evidence of a rut phase that it was almost non-existent. Taking out too many does can be just as much a bad thing as it can be a good thing, you just need to know when to stop....and which ones to take out, which ones to leave.
Also the 4pt. rule needs addressing while I'm at it, and I know this will get me flamed by some of you, but I'm just going to spit it out there and let you all chew on it.
While it sounds good in theory, and basically it's got some good points.....it's not all that simple. It is just not sound herd management to allow a cow horn spike with daggers 8" long and a sack of jewels on him like a pony, walk away protected to infect the rest of the herd with his inferior genetics.....then allow the taking of a 1 1/2 year old basket racked 8pt. just because he has 4 on one side. That is illogical thinking at it's worst. Then on the same hand allowing yearling spikes with tiny little horn tips 3" or less be legal to take, why is that? Because they know they will get shot anyway when they are mistaken for a doe? That's not a good enough excuse in my book. Poor herd management is all it boils down to.
Missouri does have an excellent Conservation Department, just let me reaffirm that. I'm not trashing the Department in any way, just pointing out a few flaws in the system that need addressed. At least we do have a checking system unlike some of our other states to the south of us.....such as Texas for example.
You don't check deer there, my younger brother lives there and he said it's somewhat of an honor system, but if you take it to a meat locker to have processed then they keep the information there with them.
Then on the other hand.....Texas knows how to manage it's deer herd with proper QDM principles (Oh no, I just had to bring up that acronym didn't I) it's true. Texas manages it's state herd for larger bucks based on spread, not just the number of points.
I think Missouri could take a lesson from Texas on that aspect of manging for larger more mature bucks.
Lastly, my own father was an agent for the MDC for quite a few years, so I know first hand a little bit about what I'm talking about. I also fished tournaments with Jeff Berringer who is a nuisance trapper/consultant for the animal control division with the MDC. Ken Drenon (The Ombudsman)..now retired...was also an acquaintance of mine. So please don't misunderstand me or misjudge me with my frank assessment of our Conservation System, because I have the utmost respect for it and everyone involved in it.
To question the flaws of a system is to improve upon it. Without improvement, we are no better than any of the rest.
Thanks for reading and all comments welcomed, please join in.
Topic: MDC (Read 493 times)
