Hunting season is officially upon us, and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) is calling on hunters to kill as many deer legally as they can this year.
Due to a record deer population across the state and drought conditions reducing food and water sources for wild animals, MDWFP deer program coordinator William McKinley encouraged sportsmen and women during a recent episode of SuperTalk Outdoors with Ricky Mathews to prioritize meeting bag limits this winter.
“Those hunters who are not reaching their bag limit, we want them to add another deer. We want them to shoot one more deer if they’re not meeting their bag limit,” McKinley said. “That leaves more resources for the deer that are left. Let’s face it. This drought has caused a shortage of resources right now, so we need fewer deer dependent on it.”
McKinley added that this is not the year to wait for the “perfect buck” as 100 percent of the state is in drought conditions, according to the National Weather Service, which means a large number of the animals could suffer or die without an influx of rain.
Mississippi is currently home to more than 1.5 million deer, the most the state has ever seen. Of the population that remains after the drought finally comes to an end, McKinley said there will be a noticeable difference in stature.
“Antlers look good this year. Body conditions – not so much,” McKinley said. “We caution folks. This drought is going to have an impact on deer next year. As they go into the winter in poor body condition, they may have big antlers, but a lot of deer will actually have smaller antlers next season than they do this year because of their body health.”
What to know about deer season
Archery Season:
- Delta, North Central, and Hills Management units — September 30 through November 17. Either sex on private land, open public land, and Holly Springs National Forest.
- Southeast unit — September 15 through September 17. Legal bucks only. Special permits, mandatory reporting, and CWD sampling are required. Private Land Only.
- October 14 through November 17. Either sex on private and open public land.
Gun Season (with dogs):
- Delta, North Central, and Hills Management units — November 18 through December 1. Either sex on private land and Holly Springs National Forest. Legal bucks only on open public land.
- December 24 through January 17. Either sex on private land and Holly Spring National Forest. Legal bucks only on open public land.
- Southeast unit — November 18 through December 1. Either sex on private land. Legal bucks only on open public land.
- December 24 through January 17. Either sex on private land. Legal bucks only on open public land.
Gun season (without dogs):
- Delta, North Central, and Hills Management units — December 16 through December 23. Either sex on private land and Holly Springs National Forest. Legal bucks only on open public land
- Southeast unit — December 16 through December 23. Either sex on private land. Legal bucks only on open public land.
Primitive Weapon:
- Delta, North Central, and Hills Management units — November 6 through November 17. Antlerless Deer Only on private lands.
- January 18 through January 31. Either sex on private land and Holly Springs National Forest. Legal Bucks only on open public land. Weapons of choice may be used on private land with appropriate licenses.
- Southeast unit — December 2 through December 15. Either sex on private and open public land. Weapons of choice may be used on private land with appropriate licenses.
- February 1 through February 15. Legal bucks only on private and open public land. Weapons of choice may be used on private land with appropriate licenses.
Youth season:
- Delta, North Central, and Hills Management units — November 4 through November 17, Either sex on private lands and authorized state and federal lands.
- November 18 through January 31. Either sex on private lands. On open public lands, youth must follow legal deer criteria.
- Southeast unit — November 4 through November 17. Either sex on private lands and authorized state and federal lands.
- November 18 through February 15. Either sex on private lands. On open public lands, youth must follow legal deer criteria.
Bag Limits:
- Antlered Buck Deer — The statewide bag limit on antlered buck deer is one buck per day and three per annual season. One of these three may have hardened antlers that do not meet the unit legal antler requirements on private land and Holly Springs National Forest.
- For youth hunters 15 years of age and younger — Hunting on private land and authorized state and federal lands, all three of the three buck bag limits may be any antlered deer.
- Antlered buck bag limit in the North Central Deer Management Unit is one buck per day and four per annual season. No antler restrictions apply to this DMU. All four bucks may have any sized hardened antlers.
- Antlerless Deer — The statewide annual bag limit on antlerless deer is five.
- The antlerless bag limit for private lands in the North Central DMU is 10 antlerless deer per season.
- Only two antlerless deer may be harvested from the Southeast Unit.
- There is no daily bag limit on antlerless deer in the North Central, Hills, and Delta units.
- Only one antlerless deer per day may be harvested in the Southeast DMU.
- The bag limit in U.S. Forest Service National Forests is one per day, not to exceed five per annual season except in the Southeast Unit, which is two per annual season.
Legal weapons:
- Youth gun — Youth may carry and use any firearm with which they can safely hunt and in compliance with other applicable laws, rules, and regulations.
- Youth archery — Longbows, recurves, compound bows, and crossbows. There is no minimum or maximum draw weight. There is no minimum arrow length. Fixed or mechanical broadheads may be used.
- Primitive Weapons — All archery equipment and primitive firearms, single or double-barreled muzzleloading rifles of at least .38 caliber; or single shot, breech-loading, metallic cartridge rifles and replicas, reproductions, or reintroductions of those type rifles with an exposed hammer; or single or double-barreled muzzleloading shotguns, with single ball or slug.
- All muzzleloading primitive firearms must use black powder or a black powder substitute with percussion caps, #209 shotgun primers, or flintlock ignition.
- Telescopic sights are allowed while hunting with any primitive firearm during the primitive weapon seasons.
- Gun — There are no caliber or magazine capacity restrictions on firearms. Primitive weapons (as defined above) and archery equipment may be used during gun seasons.
* During any open season on deer with primitive weapons after November 30, a person may use any legal weapon of choice, including pre-charged pneumatic weapons, on private lands only if the person is the title owner of the land, the lessee of the hunting rights on the land, a member of a hunting club leasing the hunting rights on the land, or a guest of a person specified above.
License requirements:
All deer hunters are required to purchase either an All Game Hunting or Sportsman’s license. Hunters can shop prices and even purchase a license here.
