Deer, Quail & Duck Seasons About to Open

White-tailed Deer Gun Season Opens

Mississippi’s white-tailed deer hunting season with guns opens November 20 and runs through December 1. Hunting with dogs is allowed during this season. Legal deer include either sex on private land and legal bucks on open public land. Boundary and legal buck definitions for the three Deer Management Zones within the state are as follows:

Deer Management Zone 1: Private and open public lands east of I-55 and north of I-20 plus areas south of I-20 and east of U.S. Highway 61, excluding areas south of U.S. Highway 84 and east of MS Highway 35. A legal buck is defined as having either a minimum inside spread of ten inches or a minimum main beam length of thirteen inches.

Deer Management Zone 2: Private and open public lands south of U.S. Hwy 84 and east of MS Highway 35. A legal buck is defined as having either a minimum inside spread of ten inches or a minimum main beam length of thirteen inches.

Deer Management Zone 3: Private and open public lands west of I-55 and north of I-20 plus areas south of I-20 and west of U.S. Highway 61. A legal buck is defined as having either a minimum inside spread of twelve inches or a minimum main beam length of fifteen inches.

The bag limit in all zones on antlered buck deer is one buck per day, not to exceed three per license year. Legal bucks must meet the antler criteria within the appropriate deer management zone. For youth fifteen years of age and younger, hunting on private lands and authorized state and federal lands, one of the three buck limit may be any antlered deer regardless of number of points, inside spread, or beam length. The bag limit on antlerless deer is one per day not to exceed five per license year. It is illegal to harm or kill a spotted fawn at any time.

Hunters are urged to practice good hunter ethics and follow all safety rules to avoid hunting and firearm related accidents. When hunting deer during any gun season on deer, a hunter must wear in full view at least five hundred square inches of solid unbroken fluorescent orange. This requirement does not apply to a hunter while the hunter is in a fully enclosed deer stand.

All persons born on or after January 1, 1972, are required to complete a hunter education course before purchasing a Mississippi hunting license. Each resident of Mississippi ages sixteen through sixty-four, must obtain a hunting license, except while hunting on lands titled in his/her name. Any resident sixty-five or older, or any resident otherwise exempt from obtaining a hunting license, must have documentation with him/her at all times while hunting. All non-resident hunters, except minors under the age of sixteen, are required to obtain a hunting license while hunting in the State of Mississippi. In addition to any required hunting license, purchase of a Wildlife Management Area User Permit is required prior to hunting on any Wildlife Management Area. Other public lands may require permits to hunt. Check the rules and regulations for these lands to ensure you are in compliance.

For complete information on license requirements and hunting regulations visit the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks web site at www.mdwfp.com or refer to the “Mississippi Outdoor Digest” available where you buy your hunting and fishing license

Quail Hunting Season Opens Thanksgiving Day

Jackson – Mississippi’s statewide bobwhite quail hunting season will open November 25. The season closes March 5, 2011. There is a daily bag limit of 8 quail. Several public lands around the state offer quail hunting opportunity, although hunters may have to cover a lot of ground to find birds. Hunters should be sure their hunting licenses are current and always read and understand applicable regulations before hunting. Visit the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) website at www.mdwfp.com for information on seasons, hunting licenses, and more, or call 601-432-2400.

“Based on reports from around the state, we believe the quail hatch has been fair to very good where local habitat conditions are favorable,” said Dave Godwin, MDWFP Turkey and Small Game Program Coordinator. “However, given that habitat conditions for bobwhites are relatively poor statewide, quail will still be hard to find in many areas.” The best places to find quail are larger tracts of agricultural or upland forest land with abundant grassy cover and moderate brush cover. Hunters that do find birds are encouraged to harvest conservatively, especially toward the later half of the season when birds tend to be more vulnerable to other losses.

Quail populations have declined throughout much of their range, and the primary cause of the decline has been habitat loss due to changes in land use and management. A number of other game and nongame wildlife species with similar habitat needs have also experienced population declines. Abundant quail populations were once a product of land use, but as agriculture, forestry, and other land uses became more intensive and efficient, quail habitat was lost as a result. The declining use of prescribed fire as a common, rural land management tool has also contributed to the loss of quail habitat.

“Quail habitat quality can be improved on agricultural and upland forest lands through appropriate management practices. We believe quail population levels similar to those experienced in the early 1980s are achievable in many areas through moderate habitat management at appropriate scales. However, this will often require multiple, local landowners working towards the same goals,” said Rick Hamrick, Small Game Biologist with the MDWFP.

The MDWFP provides technical assistance to private landowners interested in managing quail and other wildlife habitat at no cost. For more information on quail management and hunting, visit home.mdwfp.com/quail.

Duck Season Opens on November 26

Jackson – Mississippi’s duck season opens Friday, November 26, 2010, a day many Magnolia State waterfowl hunters await with optimism each year. “We are currently flying our first aerial surveys to get an estimate on waterfowl numbers in the Delta,” said Ed Penny, MDWFP Waterfowl Program Coordinator. “As we continue to complete surveys, waterfowl concentration maps will be posted on our website at home.mdwfp.com/waterfowl. Hunters may also track the progress of the mallard migration through our website, which is updated weekly by biologists throughout the Flyway. So far, reports have been good from areas that have water.”

The regular waterfowl season dates are November 26 - November 28, 2010; December 3 - December 6, 2010; and December 9, 2010 - January 30, 2011. The duck daily bag limit is a total of 6 ducks, which may include 4 mallards (no more than 2 of which may be females), 3 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 2 scaup, 1 canvasback, 1 mottled duck, 1 black duck, and 2 pintail. The merganser daily bag limit is 5 mergansers, only 2 of which may be hooded mergansers. Coots have a 15-bird daily bag limit. The possession limit is twice the daily bag limit for ducks, mergansers, and coots.

Mississippi offers numerous public waterfowl hunting opportunities ranging from rivers and reservoirs to intensively managed wetlands, fields, and flooded timber. MDWFP Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) have both open and limited access draw hunting areas with intensively managed habitat for Mississippi waterfowl hunters to enjoy. Houston Havens, MDWFP Waterfowl Program Biologist, said “Several WMAs are holding good numbers of ducks on managed moist-soil habitat. The drought experienced over the summer and fall has increased the importance of pumped early water even more this year.”

Hunters ages 16-64 must obtain a hunting license and be Harvest Information Program (HIP) registered. All hunters over the age of sixteen are required to have both a state and federal duck stamp. If hunting on a WMA, hunters will also need a WMA User Permit. Hunters should read the regulations for all public lands prior to hunting to ensure they are in compliance.

from press releases