Pheasant | Missouri firearms deer season and the Kansas pheasant season to open Saturday

Look for a crowd in the Missouri woods and Kansas fields Saturday.

The occasion? Opening day of the Missouri firearms deer season and the Kansas pheasant season.

About 450,000 hunters will be out for Missouri deer and 125,000 for Kansas gamebirds.

The prospects are outstanding, as usual.

Though Missouri wildlife officials expect the firearms kills to be down slightly this year, they still expect hunters to take plenty of deer, especially in the northern part of the state. In Kansas, parts of the western region have their largest pheasant populations in 20 years, promising good hunting.

Missouri youth deer season

Young hunters made the most of their privileged status last weekend, shooting 13,263 deer in the first segment of the Missouri youth deer season.

That was the third-highest total in the season’s 10-year history. The record was set in 2004, when youth hunters shot 13,466 deer.

Last year, youngsters took 13,328 during the early hunt.

This year, Osage was the top county with 304 deer checked in. Callaway was second with 277 and Franklin third with 266.

No lead ban

Fishermen can relax.

All that talk about the possible ban on lead fishing sinkers? It was just that: talk.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday denied a petition by several environmental groups to ban lead in fishing tackle.

The move came two months after the EPA had rejected the groups’ attempt to have lead banned in hunting ammunition.

In their petition, the groups said that lead from spent ammunition and lost fishing sinkers is ingested and causes the death of 10 to 20 million birds and animals a year. But the EPA said the petitioners didn’t adequately make a case that is required under law to ban the lead in fishing gear.

Turkey season a bust

Missouri’s fall firearms turkey season was one to forget.

Hunters shot only 5,928 birds in the month-long season that ended last Sunday — the second-lowest total in the 33-year history of the fall season.

Resource scientists with the Department of Conservation said low interest among hunters was partly to blame. Only 13,736 permits were sold, marking a dramatic dropoff. As many as 50,000 permits have been sold in one fall turkey season.

A vote for hunting and fishing

Three states — Arkansas, South Carolina and Tennessee — overwhelming passed measures Tuesday to establish a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to hunt and fish.

Only in Arizona did such a measure go down to defeat. There, 763,744 residents voted no on the measure, while 593,310 voted yes.

Opening weekend of duck season

The Missouri duck season opened with a bang last weekend.

At several managed wetlands, hunters posted impressive averages with their harvests. At the Bob Brown Conservation Area in northwest Missouri, for example, 84 hunters shot 349 ducks in the two days — an average of 4.15 ducks per person.

Hunting was just as impressive at the Grand Pass Conservation Area in central Missouri. Hunters averaged more than three ducks per person over the weekend and 4.53 on Monday.

Missouri’s daily bag limit is six ducks.

Hunting accidents

A new study reveals that guns might not be the most dangerous part of hunting.

Falls from tree stands may pose even more of a threat.

A study by the Ohio State University Medical Center found that in a 10-year period, 50 percent of the 130 injuries doctors treated were from falls from tree stands. About 30 percent were from gunshot wounds — 58 percent of those self-inflicted.

Mark your calendar

•TODAY: Last day of the Kansas upland gamebird season.

•NOW OPEN: Duck season in Missouri North and Middle zones and all Kansas zones.

•SATURDAY: Opening day of Missouri firearms deer season.

•SATURDAY: Opening day of Kansas pheasant and quail seasons.

Catch of the week

The St. Louis area’s reputation as a world-class fishery for blue catfish got another boost recently.

Fishing on the Mississippi River near Alton, Ill., in late October, a fisherman caught a blue cat that weighed 105 pounds, one of the biggest ever taken in North America.

On July 20, the potential world record blue cat, a fish weighing 130 pounds, was caught on the Missouri River not far from the St. Louis area.

Jason Jackson caught the latest monster using a skipjack as bait. He posed for pictures, then let his catch go.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/11/06/2400806/outdoor-digest-missouri-firearms.html#ixzz14b6dTTMb