ELLISVILLE, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation has deemed the deer population as too much, so they have an opportunity for hunters, both residents and non-residents, to draw managed deer hunts.
At Top Tier Outdoors in Ellisville, they’re aware of the state’s efforts to lower the deer population. The MDC issues tags that allow a hunter to harvest an animal.
“There’s several hundred issued in different areas of the county. Wildwood, Weldon Springs area, St. Charles area. They’ll issue quite a few tags,” Jamie Loporto, owner of Top Tier Outdoors, said.
Overpopulation is unhealthy for the herd and could be a reason for chronic waste disease, which is still being researched.
“As the sprawl moves a little bit west, if you will, the area that the deer used to roam is getting less and less, so the population is getting more condensed. So the quantity of deer in an area is becoming more and more so it is affecting the population,” Loporto said.
Participating in a managed hunt is not a simple process.