Missouri Life October 2023

Missouri Firearms Deer Hunting Seasons Early Antlerless Portion: October 6–8 (in open counties) Early Youth Portion: October 28–29 November Portion: November 11–21 Firearms CWD* Portion: November 22–26 (in open counties) Late Youth Portion: November 24–26 Late Antlerless Portion: December 2–10 (in open counties)

gawking at bad TV from the 1980s and the night watching worse movies, all while feasting, including venison from a deer shot by Aaron’s son. And we laughed often, with and at each other. One morning, Nate (the handsome and/or good-looking one) offered to walk me out to a stand they call “Old Faithful.” Old Faithful earned that moniker when many hunters found success atop it. The Property is a labyrinth of hik ing and ATV trails, and I did not know how to get to Old Faithful. Nate volunteered to show me where to go. As we walked along the trail, he mumbled something about looking for tracks in the snow. As we reached a cor ner, he pointed to a pile of scat. “That looks fresh,” he said. He bent over and picked up a couple pieces. As he held the deer poop, I had the strange thought of wondering if his hands were clean. I almost asked him, and I’m glad I didn’t because even if they were clean before, they weren’t anymore. He rubbed the pieces between his fingers, as if inspecting them. Was he look ing for acorns or some other nut buried in the gooiness? And if he found whatever he was looking for, what would that tell him? These seemed like good questions. Again, I was tempted to ask, but again, I didn’t. Then he popped the scat in his mouth and ate it. I fell for it for roughly half a second. Because it wasn’t scat. It was Raisinettes, and he had planted them there an hour earlier in anticipation of pranking me. ●●● Aaron (the handsome and/or good-looking one and defi nitely not the one who pretends to eat deer poop) sat with me for hours in a blind on my first day. We’ve fished in Montauk State Park and Crane Creek, camped with our kids, goose hunted, rode ATVs in Alaska, and now this. The shadows from the trees to our right elongated across the field. The dying light turned the dead grass a muted brown—the same color as deer. “You could miss them if you’re not looking right at them,” Aaron said. “Think how many there are around here. You don’t see that many. They’re so well camouflaged.”

Firearms Alternative Methods Portion: December 23–January 2, 2024 *Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a fatal neurological disorder that affects deer, elk, and moose. The Missouri Department of Conservation added hunting opportunities in 2023 to better control the deer population and thus reduce the incidence of the disease. Consult the MDC.mo.gov website to determine if these new seasons are applicable in your county.

The field in front of us was an ocean of knee-high grass with lanes cut into it. Wind whispered through the trees that lined the right, left, and distance. My pen scratched across my notebook. “The ‘nothing happens’ is the best part,” I wrote, and I meant it. I was so wrong. I’m almost embarrassed to admit it. I only thought that because, at that peaceful moment in the outdoors, I hadn’t seen a deer yet. Then, I saw mul titudes, including a pack of them one afternoon. They hovered on the far edge of my shooting range. I shot and missed. Next came the doe that appeared from nowhere and turned broadside. But she scampered away before I lined up the shot. My fitness watch showed my heart rate jumped from 59 beats per minute to 100 during that encounter. I had heard about the symptoms and realized I had a full-blown case of what hunters call “buck fever.” Early on the last afternoon, I had one more chance. I arrived at a tree stand at the exact same time as a deer. If I had arrived three minutes earlier, I would have been in the tree stand and had an easy 10-yard shot. Instead, I watched her run away. Again, I was unprepared to take the shot. And that’s okay. There’s always next year.

37 / OCTOBER 2023