The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) wants deer and turkey hunters to know that its Telecheck system for reporting harvests will ask some new questions this fall and winter when hunters check their game.

Telecheck will ask deer hunters who harvest does if the distance from the edge of the eyeball to the edge of the nostril is greater than 4.5 inches. For deer hunters who harvest antlered bucks, Telecheck will ask if the circumference of an antler one inch above the base is greater than 2.5 inches (the approximate circumference of a nickel). The measurement request will not apply to hunters who harvest button bucks.

MDC advises hunters to take a tape measure or other measuring device with them while deer hunting. For hunters using paper permits, MDC has included a handy ruler on all printed deer permits.

The measurements will help Department staff better determine age classes of harvested deer as part of MDC’s deer management efforts.

To help assess the impacts from crossbows on the archery-methods deer harvest, Telecheck will ask archery hunters if they used a crossbow to harvest their deer. The upcoming deer-hunting season is the first to allow crossbows under archery methods.

Telecheck will also ask whether a deer or turkey was harvested on public or private land.

The Conservation Department thanks Missouri’s deer and turkey hunters for their help.

Get details on the new Telecheck requirements for deer and turkey harvests, along with other fall deer and turkey hunting information, from MDC’s “2016 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information” booklet, available where hunting permits are sold and online at mdc.mo.gov.

Buy permits online at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits.