With the early youth firearms and archery portions of deer season freshly completed and the November portion of firearms hunting kicking off today, the West Plains Daily Quill continues a competitive element to its long-held tradition of publishing photos of hunters free of charge. This year’s competition winner will be determined by a people's choice vote.
Each deer hunt photo submitted by Dec. 14 will be published online at www.westplainsdailyquill.net/deer in addition to the print editions. In this new online contest feature, readers can view the gallery and vote for their own favorites for a people’s choice winner, who will receive a prize package.
Voting will run from Nov. 23 through Dec. 14. The winner will be announced Dec. 18.
The contest is open to all youth and adult hunters, except Quill employees and immediate family members.
Each photo submission must include the hunter’s name and city of residence. If the hunter is a minor, entries must include the youth’s name and age, parents’ names, address and phone number, and name and city of residence of any other people in the photo.
Entries must also include whether the deer is a doe or buck, and, if a buck, the number of points on antlers; type of gun used; time, date and location of kill; and distance from the deer when the shot was fired.
Entry forms will be published in each edition of the Quill through the end of the contest, and photos may be brought with the completed forms between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays to the Quill, 205 Washington Ave. in West Plains, or mailed to P.O. Box 110, West Plains, MO 65775. They may also be emailed with the required information to news@wpdailyquill.net, subject line “Deer Contest.”
The early youth firearms portion of the season was Nov. 2 and 3, and the late season dates are Nov. 29 through Dec. 1.
The first portion of archery season concluded Friday; the second portion is from Nov. 27 to Jan. 15.
The November portion of the firearms season begins today and concludes Nov. 26, the antlerless portion is from Dec. 7 to 15 and the alternative methods portion will run from Dec. 28 to Jan. 7.
In select counties, including Douglas, Howell, Oregon, Ozark and Shannon, the Missouri Department of Conservation has announced a firearms portion for control of chronic wasting disease from Nov. 27 through Dec. 1. MDC has removed the antler-point restriction for counties in the CWD Management Zone, meaning young bucks are no longer protected from harvest as they are most likely to travel away from the area in which they were born, spreading CWD to new locations. For details on special regulations, including Telechecking and transportation requirements, visit mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/regulations/chronic-wasting-disease-regulations.
Photos from those all hunts before Dec. 14 are welcome.
