Jefferson County artists demonstrated their talents in the virtual youth art contest sponsored by Missouri State Parks in honor of Earth Day in April.
In the first and second grade category, artwork by Gabriel Sedrick of Jefferson R-7's Plattin Primary School was selected as the first-place winner, and Lena Massa of Crystal City earned third place honors. Faith Dedson of Hillsboro won third place in the third and fourth grade division. Other winners from the area included Emberly and Ellyn Drury of Bloomsdale, and Laila Underwood of Tiff.
Nearly 600 Missouri artists from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade entered the contest. Submissions came in a variety of media including finger paintings, pencil sketches, watercolors, 3-D models, and clay sculptures. A panel of judges selected the award winners in five categories. First-, second- and third-place winners received medals, and honorable mention recipients were sent certificates. The award-winning artwork can be viewed on the Missouri State Parks Facebook and Flickr pages, and will be displayed at the Missouri State Museum in the Capitol during September.
Young deer hunters exempt from antler-point restrictions
The fall deer and turkey archery hunting season opens today (Sept. 15) with only a few changes from last year’s regulations. The most significant adjustment has been a long-time coming but doesn’t currently apply to Jefferson County hunting.
Any hunter age 15 or younger on opening day no longer has to pass on bucks that don’t have at least four antler points on one side during the archery hunting season and in all portions of the fall firearms season. Young hunters had always been exempt from the rule during the youth-only seasons, but now can take any antlered deer throughout the four-month hunting period anywhere in the state.
The antler-point restriction rules were first introduced in Missouri in 2004 to allow young bucks to grow bigger. In 2009, most of Jefferson County was added to the areas where the rules applied. Over time the number of counties inside the protected area continued to climb and included more than half of the state, until chronic wasting disease was detected.
Because the deadly disease spreads from deer-to-deer contact, and young bucks are likely to travel outside their own homeland, antler-point restrictions have been removed for all hunters in CWD management zones, including Jefferson and surrounding counties.
I have never liked the antler-point restriction regulation. I understand and believe in it as a management strategy for individual hunters on their own property, but I don’t like the idea as a public policy. I especially thought it was unfair for those young hunters who may have had to pass on their first chance to shoot a deer because it didn’t meet someone else’s standards.
Other changes for 2022 include expanding the CWD management zones to include Barton, Greene, and Vernon counties in southwest Missouri, and Ripley County on the Arkansas border near the Bootheel. Ripley is also among 18 new counties where hunters may fill two firearms antlerless permits instead of just one. Jefferson County also allows hunters to purchase and fill two “bonus” antlerless-only permits.
During opening weekend of the November portion of firearms season (Nov. 12-13) hunters who harvest a deer in CWD management zone counties must take the animal or its head to a mandatory CWD sampling station on the day of harvest. The only exceptions are in Gasconade, Knox, St. Charles and Warren counties.
For more information, visit mdc.mo.gov or find the 2022 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet wherever permits are sold.
John Winkelman has been writing about outdoors news and issues in Jefferson County for more than 30 years and is the Associate Editor for Outdoor Guide Magazine. If you have story ideas for the Leader outdoor news page, e-mail ogmjohnw@aol.com, and you can find more outdoor news and updates at johnjwink.com.