Important notes for upcoming hunting season

JOB From Page 10 I work, my nearest backup is 45 minutes away, I’m in the middle of the woods, and a lot of the time and I have almost zero cell service. Sometimes my radio doesn’t even work because I’m far out there, in the woods and middle of nowhere,” he said. “Some of the more intense parts of the job come when you are, for the most part, by yourself and your nearest backup’s 45 minutes away a lot of the time.”

Still, he wouldn’t trade his career for another, he said. He enjoys the freedom too much.

“With my work schedule, I have days on duty and off duty. But if I want to work four hours on Monday, I can work 12 hours the next day. I have the freedom and flexibility in my schedule, as long as I get 40 hours in a work week,” he said. “If I want to work days, I can work days, if I want to work nights, I can work nights, so the best part of this job is the freedom and flexibility to work as I see fit.

“So the freedom is the best part of this job. And of course, I get to work outside, I get to talk to hunters and fishermen all day, I get to work with wildlife and, make sure there’s resources for everyone to enjoy for future generations. It’s a very rewarding career.”

And he gets to do it all against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful regions of in the state.

“I like this area so I’m not leaving,” he said, repeating, “I’m not leaving Southeast Missouri.”

WILDLIFE FACTS:

• Missouri deer hunting generates more than $1 billion.

• Wild animals don’t make good pets, and it is illegal to possess many wild animals without a valid state or federal permit. If you encounter young wildlife, leave it where you find it.

• Baby animals are rarely abandoned. The wildlife parent is afraid of people and will retreat when you approach. If the baby animal is left alone, the parent will usually return. In addition, parent animals cannot constantly attend their young. Often they spend many hours each day gathering food.

What do I do if I see a sick or dead animal?

Monitoring possible disease outbreaks is critical to protecting the health of wildlife in Missouri. Please report observations of the following: • Single deer that appear sick, especially deer that are skinny and acting oddly • Three or more sick or dead mammals • Five or more sick or dead birds • Groups of sick and dead amphibians or reptiles • Report any observations of sick or dead wildlife that meet these criteria to WildlifeHealth@mdc.mo.gov • Avoid handling sick or dead wildlife. • If you must handle a dead animal, always wear gloves and wash your hands after. • Any mammal can carry rabies — be cautious of any mammal that is acting strangely.

PARKLAND HUNTING GUIDE

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR UPCOMING HUNTING SEASON

Sarah Haas

shaas@dailyjournalonline.com

Missouri Department of Conservation’s agent for St. Francois County, Clayton Lewis, recently highlighted dates and points of information regarding the upcoming hunting seasons.

“Okay, so just a quick-reminder date. Oct. 9, 8:30 to 12:30 at the Farmington Elks Lodge, is hunter education, and the registration closes Oct. 7,” he said. “It’s an important part of hunting season. The youth hunting season is Oct. 30-31, by the way.”

For the hunter education class, register online at http://my.register-ed. com/ or by going to mdc. mo.gov or contact Lewis at 573-330-8038 for additional information.

Lewis said he’s looking to share the latest information on deer, duck and the first-ever bear season.

Deer Season

“It’ll be important to remember the CWD (chronic wasting disease) mandatory sampling for the opening weekend of firearms deer season, which is Nov. 13-14,” he said. “Last year it was optional due to COVID, but we’ve went back to mandatory and the two CWD sampling stations for that weekend in St. Francois County are DD Highway at Klug (Transport) and at Mineral Area College.”

As far as positives CWD cases in St. Francois County, none have been confirmed, same as Madison, Iron and Bollinger counties.

“But with that said, there are more cases popping up in Ste. Genevieve County and Jefferson County,” Lewis said. “Again, it seems like they’re creeping closer and closer to the county line.”

Lewis said if someone in a different part of the deer season – such as during archery, antlerless or alternative season – wants to voluntarily send in a deer head to be sampled, the USDA office in Farmington has a freezer where they can drop off the head or they can go to a taxidermist that’s participating in MDC sampling. The list of CWD testing sites and participants can be found at MDC.mo.gov/CWD.

“Region-wide, I know a lot

“It’s important for people to be aware, hey, there could be a bear around and they need to be bear aware.”

Conservation Agent Clayton Lewis

of people from St. Francois County go on hunts in Reynolds County and Stoddard County. I just wanted to let them know that a there’s been one firearms antlerless permit added to Reynolds and Stoddard County,” he said. “Another important thing to note is St. Francois County is a part of that antlerless season. And that season’s been extended from a three-day season to nine days and that season’s Dec. 4 through Dec. 12.”

Lewis said some of the most common problems they run into while checking deer hunters or hunters in general, are those who forget to purchase permits before hunting.

“It’s a good idea to look into the automatic renewal for hunting permits. Use our hunting app which allows you to purchase permits and has the legal shooting hours, regulations and allows you to notch and telecheck your permit if you happen to harvest a deer, and remember that notching permits has to be done immediately,” Lewis said. “If you harvest a deer then telecheck that deer prior to 10 p.m. That’s where most of my violations are found, regarding the telechecking of deer.”

Duck Hunting

Lewis is an avid duck hunter, and said he knows a lot of people in St. Francois County like to duck hunt at the aptly-named Duck Creek, Otter Slew, or 10Mile Pond.

“Right now our waterfowl draw system is expected to be normal,” he said. “Last year it was online pretty much because of COVID. But this year, our waterfowl draw system will be normal.

“As a side note, one common violation I come across with duck hunters is, remember that the electronic stamps expire 45 days after purchase. And after that 45 days, they need to carry a signed physical copy of their Duck Stamp.”

Inaugural bear season

There are three bear zones in the southern half of the state, and Lewis said St. Francois County is located in the sizable Zone 2. He said he knows some people in St. Francois County were drawn for Missouri’s first-ever black bear hunt.

“If they were drawn, they would have applied in May and would have heard about it in July, and they should already be aware the bear season’s Oct. 18-27. Then they can harvest a bear in St. Francois County – if they happen to find one,” he said, “because we are in Zone 2, and there are 150 permits in this zone, but a quota of 15 bears, and Zone 2 is a big zone, kind of like the southeastern part of the state.”

Hunters must call in before they hunt to see whether the 15-bear quota has already been made. If the quota has been met, the hunt in Zone 2 is over.

“A lot of people have concerns about bears, but, in this season, we’re not allowing baiting the bears, we are not allowing people to use dogs to take bears – which are common methods you see out West – so it means it will

NOTES From Page 13

be a very challenging hunt to find a bear and be able to harvest it,” Lewis said. “We have a lot of regulations in place, the bear on the scene has to be solitary, it cannot have cubs, you can’t force them out dens.”

Lewis said Missouri has about 500 bears, a population that’s expected to grow quite a bit in the next couple of years.

“According to the PowerPoints, things I’ve seen like that, our bear population is going to be growing, we’re at that tipping point where it’s about ready to take off. So another thing to mention, we are watching for bears, I’ve had reports of bears in St. Francois County, and when I was in Madison County, I’ve confirmed several bear sightings before,” he said. “It’s important for people to be aware, hey, there could be a bear around and they need to be bear aware, so putting up their trash, making sure they’re not leaving cat food out and understand, hey, it is very likely even if you’re out deer hunting, now you can see a bear, so not to panic and things like that.”

Lewis also wanted to remind everyone that that baiting or feeding wildlife is, for the most part, illegal, except within 100 yards of a residence or occupied building and only for viewing – never hunting –purposes.

“You’re not even supposed to throw out food near a game camera, and especially not under a tree stand,” he said.

Calling in violations of MDC laws and regulations is crucial to the department’s mission to promote responsible hunting and wildlife management, Lewis said.

“I’m sure you guys saw that closed-season deer case last month in St. Francois County that was made by someone who called Operation Game Thief at 1-800-392-1111,” Lewis said.

Finally, Lewis is encouraging people who have a smartphone to download MDC’s deer hunting pamphlets or waterfowl pamphlets.

“You can get those downloaded to your iBooks or the Android equivalent, and they have all the regulations, they’re on your phone,” he said. “That’s big. So that’s how I check them a lot of the time anymore. And you can still get paper copies at our permanent vendors such as Walmart or Rural King. But you can get the regulations electronically on your phone, which is pretty handy.”

Last month, Agent Clayton Lewis received an Operation Game Thief tip of deer poaching near Bonne Terre. Lewis, along with help from the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Office, responded and located suspects with a freshly harvested deer. Charges were then filed for taking deer in a closed season and taking deer from a public roadway. If you have information regarding wildlife violations, contact your local agent or call the OGT Hotline at 1-800-392-1111.