The University of Missouri and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service will postpone their annual series of management-intensive grazing schools in 2020 due to safety concerns about COVID-19. Organizers will look at the situation in late May to consider options, said MU Extension forage specialist Craig Roberts. NRCS and MU Extension specialists hold more than […]
Tag: Missouri Department of Conservation
Missouri Department of Conservation announces Missouri’s first elk-hunting season coming this fall
The Missouri Department of Conservation announces it will offer Missourians the state’s first elk-hunting season in modern history starting this fall. At its April 8 meeting, the Missouri Conservation Commission approved the issuance of five permits for hunting bull elk for the 2020 season. Four general permits will be for the public and one permit […]
Missouri Department of Conservation sets game bird and waterfowl hunting seasons
The Missouri Conservation Commission approved recommendations at its April 8 meeting from the Missouri Department of Conservation for the upcoming 2020 migratory-game-bird-hunting seasons and 2020-2021 waterfowl-hunting seasons. 2020 MIGRATORY GAME BIRD HUNTING Mourning Doves, Eurasian Collared Doves, and White-Winged Doves Season: Sept. 1 through Nov. 29 Limits: 15 daily and 45 in possession combined total […]
Young turkey hunters harvest 2,712 birds over the weekend
Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that young turkey hunters in Missouri harvested 2,712 birds over the past youth-hunting weekend, April 4 and 5. Top harvest counties were Miller with 74 birds checked, Franklin with 62, Callaway and Saint Genevieve with 60 each. The 2020 youth number is more than 160 higher […]
Missouri Department of Conservation offers free nature-focused online learning resources
With so many Missourians stuck at home, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is offering teachers, parents, students, and others its free Discover Nature Schools nature-based curriculum for pre-kindergarten through high school online. You can find Discover Nature Schools information and curriculum for pre-kindergarten through high school online. The Missouri Department of Conservation also offers other […]
Missouri Department of Conservation to temporarily waive fishing permits starting Friday
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the Missouri Conservation Commission announce they are temporarily waiving permit requirements for sport fishing and daily trout tags for Missouri residents and nonresidents whose fishing privileges are not otherwise suspended. The waiver of needing a permit or trout tag to fish will run from Friday, March 27, through […]
Audio: Missouri House set to vote on $30 billion state budget on Wednesday
The full Missouri House is set to vote tomorrow (Wednesday) on a proposed 30-billion dollar state operating budget, which includes about 13-million dollars in federal funding for coronavirus response. House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith voted for a bipartisan amendment in committee, to accept that federal funding. That money would be used for […]
Missouri Department of Conservation forecasts challenging spring turkey hunting
Missouri turkey hunters can expect a challenging spring season according to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). The spring turkey hunting season starts with a youth-only weekend April 4 and 5 followed by the regular spring season April 20 through May 10. MDC Turkey Biologist Reina Tyl expects spring turkey hunting to be challenging. “A […]
Audio: Missouri Department of Conservation to consider changing the definition of a handgun
The Missouri Department of Conservation is considering changing the definition of a handgun. After more and more hunters are using modified AR-style weapons to take down game during the “alternative methods” season when rifles and shotguns aren’t allowed. The new definition would limit barrel length to sixteen inches, and not allow any sort […]
Missouri Department of Conservation now requires landowner registration for free and discounted permits
The Missouri Department of Conservation reminds Missouri resident and nonresident landowners who qualify to receive free or discounted deer and turkey hunting permits to register their properties in MDC’s new Landowner Permit Registry either online or by completing a paper application. Starting this year, resident landowners with 20 or more contiguous acres and nonresident landowners […]
Missouri Department of Conservation reports final deer season totals
Missouri’s 2019-2020 deer hunting and fall archery turkey seasons ended Wednesday. The Missouri Department of Conservation reports a preliminary total deer harvest of 285,483. One hundred thirty-three thousand nine hundred fourteen were antlered bucks, 27,931 button bucks, and 123,638 does. Top harvest counties for the overall deer season were Franklin with 6,247 deer checked, Callaway […]
Several landowner meetings to be held in northern Missouri regarding Conservation Reserve Program
Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever, the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Farm Service Agency will host several landowner meetings in Missouri. Information will be presented showing the options of the Conservation Reserve Program and other conservation programs along with a highlight of updated rental rates at two meetings in the […]
Farm Bill seminars to be held in Kirksville
The 2018 Farm Bill contains several new provisions that enable farmers and landowners to make decisions regarding their involvement in federal farm programs. University of Missouri Extension and USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will host an educational meeting on Thursday, December 19th from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. at the Missouri Department of Conservation Regional Office, […]
Deer hunters harvest more that 266,000 deer to date
Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that deer hunters in Missouri harvested 10,543 deer during the antlerless portion of the fall firearms deer season Friday through Sunday. According to figures from the department, that’s four thousand more than the same period last year. Top harvest counties from the weekend were Callaway with […]
Operation Game Thief offering $20,000 reward for help with elk poaching cases
Missouri’s Operation Game Thief (OGT) is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the poacher/s that shot a female adult elk and left it for dead Nov. 18 on National Park Service property near the end of M Highway in Carter County. No meat or other parts of the animal were […]
November firearms deer season ends with total harvest of 178,936
Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows that deer hunters in Missouri harvested 178,936 deer during the November portion of fall firearms deer season, Nov. 16- 26. Of the 178,936 deer harvested, 91,420 were antlered bucks, 17,237 were button bucks, and 70,279 were does. Top harvest counties were Franklin with 4,008 deer […]
Call to Missouri Department of Conservation’s Operation Game Thief leads to arrest
The Missouri Department of Conservation credits public cooperation, investigative work, and an anonymous tip for a major poaching arrest near the Lake of the Ozarks. Throughout the month of October, conservation agents who work the area near the Lake of the Ozarks responded to multiple complaints of dead deer with only the heads, tenderloins, and […]
Missouri Department of Conservation seeking public assistance regarding elk found shot and left for dead
The Missouri Department of Conservation is asking the public for information regarding a female adult elk found shot and left for dead Monday morning, November 18, on National Park Service property near the end of M Highway in Carter County. No meat or other parts of the animal were taken. By the time the dead […]
Hunters take nearly 89,000 deer on opening weekend
Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that deer hunters in Missouri harvested 88,843 deer during the fall firearms deer season Saturday and Sunday. Of the total from this past weekend 51,086 were antlered bucks, 8,115 button bucks, and 29,642 does. Top harvest counties for opening weekend were Franklin with 2,078 deer checked, […]
Missouri Department of Conservation requiring mandatory CWD sampling as firearms deer season opens
With the November portion of Missouri’s fall firearms deer season opening Saturday, the Missouri Department of Conservation wants hunters, landowners, and others to know key information about chronic wasting disease, or CWD. MDC is continuing its efforts this fall and winter to limit the spread of CWD in Missouri deer by finding new cases and […]