From Mark Reed - The Missouri Department of Conservation

The MO Department of Conservation along with volunteer instructors will present a hunter education class on August 19 and August 20 at the Dexter Elks Lodge.  Course hours are 6:00 P.M. until 9:00 P.M. on August 19 and 8am until 5pm on August 20. Participants must attend both sessions and successfully complete a test on Saturday.

Online registration is required at www.mdc.mo.gov.  There are seats available in this class and we are still accepting registrations.  If you have difficulty completing online registration, please contact the Cape Girardeau Regional Office at 573-290-5730.

Participants must be at least eleven years of age.  Please bring proof of age and any hunting or fishing permits you have purchased in the past so we can complete class paperwork.

 On Saturday, frequent breaks will be given and the Elks will have snacks, sodas, and coffee available.  Lunch will also be available from the Elks for a nominal fee.  

In order to purchase any Missouri firearms hunting permit, folks born since January 1, 1967, must complete a hunter education course and present proof of the course to a permit vendor.

 If you are unable to complete the course in time but still would like to try hunting, you may purchase an Apprentice Hunter Authorization, then purchase the appropriate hunting permit for the season you wish to participate in.  The Apprentice Hunter Authorization allows a person to hunt without hunter education, but they must be in the immediate presence of a properly licensed adult who has completed hunter education or who is exempt.

Squirrel season is open and they have begun cutting hickory nuts.  We have had a few cool mornings lately and some hunters have been successfully pursuing bushytails.  As any squirrel hunter knows, once they start working on hickory nuts, locating squirrels in dense foilage can be a fun challenge.

 Dove season opens September 1 and is the annual kick-off to the fall hunting seasons.

 Teal, as well as archery deer and turkey, follow soon after, and hunters will have plenty to keep them busy.  Wildlife population estimates look good again this year and as long as the weather cooperates, we should see a successful fall hunting season.  

For more information on hunter education visit the Missouri Department of Conservation’s website, or contact me at mark.reed@mdc.mo.gov or at 573-421-3240.