Top harvest counties for opening weekend were Franklin, Howell, and Texas.
Missouri - Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows that deer hunters in Missouri harvested 96,131 deer during the opening weekend of the November portion of the fall firearms deer season Nov. 12 and 13. Of the 96,131 deer harvested, 55,753 were antlered bucks, 8,873 were button bucks, and 31,505 were does.
Top harvest counties for opening weekend were Franklin with 2,041 deer checked, Howell with 1,950 and Texas with 1,939.
Last year hunters checked 97,002 deer during the opening weekend of the 2015 November portion of firearms deer season.
The November portion of fall firearms deer seasons continues through Nov. 22. Archery deer season opens again Nov. 23 through Jan. 15, 2016. The late youth portion of firearms deer season runs Nov. 25-27. The antlerless portion of firearms deer season runs Dec. 2-4. Lastly the alternative methods portion will run Dec. 24- Jan. 3, 2017.
Missouri offers some of the best deer hunting in the country and deer hunting is an important part of many Missourians’ lives and family traditions. Deer hunting is also an important economic driver in Missouri and gives a $1 billion annual boost to the state and local economies.
Article by the Missouri Conservation Department. Provided photo of Dace Wisdom and his first deer!
Essex, Missouri - The Jr. High SCAA 8th grade boys basketball tournament begins on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at Richland School.
Seated #1 Dexter Bearcats, #2 Bell City Cubs, #3 Bernie Mules, #4 Advance Hornets, #5 Bloomfield Wildcats, #6 Puxico Indians, #7 Woodland Cardinals, and #8 Richland Rebels.
On Saturday Dexter will play Richland at 10:00 a.m., Bell City will play Woodland at 12:30 a.m., Advance will play Bloomfield at 3:00 p.m. and Bernie will play Puxico at 4:15 p.m.
Semifinal action will continue on Monday, November 14th at 5:15 p.m. with the winner of the Dexter/Richland game vs the Advance/Bloomfield winner.
On Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. will be the championship game. Third place game will be at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday.
Essex, Missouri - The Jr. High SCAA Boys Basketball Tournament is slated to begin Saturday, November 12th at Richland.
This will be a six team single elimination tournament.
Seated #1 Bernie Mules, #2 Bloomfield Wildcats, #3 Dexter Bearcats, #4 Advance Hornets, #5 Woodland Cardinals, #6 Puxico Indians.
Advance will play Woodland at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday and Dexter will play Puxico at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday.
Bernie will play the winner of the Advance/Woodland game on Monday, November 14th at 4:00 p.m.
Bloomfield will play the winner of the Dexter/Puxico game on Monday, November 14th at 6:30 p.m.
Dexter, Missouri - Coach Goltra, head football coach at Dexter High School also teaches weightlifting. His students are collecting winter coats for charity.
Coats can be slightly used or new and all sizes are needed. Donations can be made to a student in the weightlifting class or drop off with Coach Goltra at the high school.
These students want to do something for their community and with cold weather slowly approaching, it's time to go through your closet and donate to those who may not be able to afford new coats or have children that just grow too fast.
Congratulations to Mark McArtor on breaking the state record by catching a 9-pound, 1-ounce hybrid striped bass with a jug line on the Lake of the Ozarks.
Camdenton, Missouri - The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reports that Mark McArtor of Camdenton became the most recent record-breaking angler in Missouri when he caught a hybrid striped bass on the Lake of the Ozarks.
The new “alternative method” record hybrid striped bass caught by McArtor on Oct. 31 weighed 9-pounds, 1-ounce with a length of 27 inches. McArtor caught the fish with a jug line in front of his house on the lake.
“My wife and I are thrilled to have caught a state record fish,” McArtor said. “I still can’t believe it!”
McArtor said he was using shad for bait trying to catch blue catfish when he caught the large hybrid striped bass.
“This wasn’t the first hybrid striped bass we caught,” he said. “We actually caught a pretty decent sized one last year, but it didn’t meet the qualifications for the Department’s master angler program.”
MDC staff verified the record-weight fish using a certified scale in Camdenton. This is the 15th state record fish caught this year by an angler.
“A state record fish can be caught any time of the year, but we normally do not receive many state record fish applications once summer is over, “said MDC Fisheries Programs Specialist Andrew Branson. “But since the weather has been warmer this year a lot people are still fishing, which means a better chance of someone catching a state record fish.”
McArtor noted he hopes to catch more state record fish like this one with his wife.
“Catching another state record would be great, but really I am just happy with what the lake provides,” McArtor said.
Missouri state-record fish are recognized in two categories: pole-and-line and alternative methods. Alternative methods include: throwlines, trotlines, limb lines, bank lines, jug lines, spearfishing, snagging, snaring, gigging, grabbing, archery, and atlatl.
Photo and article submitted by the Missouri Conservation Department.
