Commission to consider changes to deer season May 24

Among deer-season changes being discussed at a May 24 Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks meeting would be the expansion of youth deer hunting in two zones and the opening of National Forest Service land to youth hunting.

Tighter regulations on dog hunting sought

When the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks meets on May 24, they will decide whether to adopt four amendments to the regulations concerning the 2011-12 deer seasons and bag limits. Three of the amendments are expected to pass without much debate. However, the fourth change, which would implement new restrictions on dog hunters, has garnered some controversy.

The first change is a no-brainer. This amendment is directed solely toward the youth deer hunts, and helps clear up some confusion that exists about the season dates for these hunts.

The meeting is set for 1:30 p.m. at Black Prairie WMA near Brooksville. The headquarters is located on Fire Tower Road off of Highway 45.

In Zones 1 and 3, the season dates for the youth deer hunts will run from Nov. 5 until Jan. 31. In Zone 2, the dates will be from Nov. 5 until Feb.15.

While these dates continue to apply for private lands and authorized state and federal lands, youth will have the opportunity to hunt more federal lands this season.

Thanks to an agreement between the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries & Parks and the National Forest Service, the youth deer hunts will now be allowed on all open National Forest Service land.

The next change addresses the issue of Sunday hunting on certain Wildlife Management Areas. In the past, hunting on Sunday was not permitted on a limited number of WMAs. If the proposed amendment passes, Sunday hunting will be allowed on all of the state’s WMAs.

The third amendment will eliminate the early primitive weapon season in Zone 2. The early primitive weapon season in Zones 1 and 3 will remain in place.

Also, the regular primitive weapon season in all three Deer Management Zones will be unaffected by this change.

“Our data shows that the majority of properties in Zone 2 have a sufficient antlerless harvest and there simply isn’t a need for an early antlerless season at this time,” said Chad Dacus, MDWFP statewide deer program coordinator.

The fourth and most controversial amendment addresses the issue of hunting with dogs on the Homochitto National Forest in Southwest Mississippi.

Conflicts between private landowners and dog hunters have existed for at least four decades. This amendment is intended to reduce and, hopefully, eliminate these conflicts.

If passed, the measure will require hunters to obtain a free permit to run dogs on Homochitto National Forest. All hunters with a dog-hunting group must have the permit on his or her person during the hunt, and the permits must list each person participating in the hunt.

Permit numbers must be displayed on the back windows of all vehicles used in the hunt.

In addition, all dogs must wear functional tracking collars and be tagged with the permit number and owner’s contact information.

Be sure to let us know what you think of the proposed regs in our deer hunting forum.

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