Mississippi Regs Change

[Ben Sobieck]

Source: Clarion-Ledger
Mississippi deer hunters will have similar dates to past seasons next fall and winter, but many will have new definitions of legal bucks under a plan announced by the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

Instead of two zones as in the past, the new plan has three:

Zone 1: Areas east of I-55 and north of I-20, plus areas south of I-20 that are east of U.S. Highway 61, excluding those areas described in Zone 2.

Zone 2: Areas south of U.S. Highway 84 and east of Mississippi Highway 35.

Zone 3: Areas west of I-55 and north of I-20, plus areas south of I-20 and west of U.S. Highway 61.

The legal buck definition for Zones 1 and 2 are identical: Antlered buck deer with either a minimum inside spread of 10 inches or a minimum main beam length of 13 inches.

In Zone 3, the buck must have either a minimum inside spread of 12 inches or a minimum beam length of 15 inches.

Hunters ages 15 and under are allowed to take one buck of any antler size in their annual bag limit of three. The annual bag limit on bucks for all hunters is three. The daily limit is one.

The daily bag limit on antlerless deer remains one, but the season limit is now five.


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[MSHunter]

The addition of the Zone 3 is a big change as compared to the way things were the last few years. The biggest change is in the definition of a legal buck. The past couple of years, a legal buck OUTSIDE of the WMAs was defined as a buck of 4 points or greater. The WMAs were always more restrictive on the definition of a legal buck. The MDWFP has applied the the WMA criteria to the entire state, with the newer Deer Zone 3 being more restrictive. IMO, it appears the regulation was updated to allow younger deer more of an opportunity to mature.