White-Tailed Deer Hunting

White-tailed Deer Hunting

Deer Management Unit (DMU) lines are predominately based on soil regions using highways and interstates as dividing boundaries.

Deer Management Units

North Central: Private and open public lands in Alcorn, Benton, Desoto, Marshall, Tate, Tippah counties.

Hills: All areas except the Delta, North Central, and Southeast Deer Management Units. OPEN PUBLIC LANDS include National Forests, excluding the Holly Springs National Forest, Corps of Engineers lands, etc., that have statewide seasons without special regulations.

Southeast: Private and open public lands south of U.S. Highway 84 and east of MS Highway 35.

Delta: Private and open public lands west of I-55 and north of I-20 plus areas south of I-20 and west of U.S. Highway 61.

Bag Limits

Antlered Buck Deer

With the exception of the North Central DMU, the statewide bag limit on antlered bucks is one (1) buck per day and three (3) per annual season. One (1) of these three (3) may have antlers that do not meet the DMU legal antler criteria on private land and portions of Holly Springs National Forest that lie in Benton, Marshall, and Tippah counties.

Antlered buck bag limit in the North Central DMU is one (1) buck per day and four (4) per annual season. No antler restrictions apply to this DMU. For youth hunters fifteen (15) years of age and younger, hunting on private land and authorized state and federal lands, all three (3) of the three (3) buck bag limit may be any antlered deer.

Legal Bucks: Hills and Southeast Deer Management Units

A legal buck is defined as having either a minimum inside spread of 10 inches or one main beam at least 13 inches long.

Estimating a 10-inch spread is accomplished by observing a buck’s ears in the alert position. When in the alert position, the distance from ear-tip to ear-tip measures approximately 14 inches. If the OUTSIDE of each antler beam is 1 inch inside the ear-tip, the inside spread is approximately 10 inches.

To estimate a 13-inch main beam, the buck’s head must be observed from the side. If the tip of the main beam extends to the front of the eye, main beam length is approximately 13 inches.

Legal Bucks: Delta Deer Management Unit

A legal buck is defined as having either a minimum inside spread of 12 inches or one main beam at least 15 inches long.

Estimating a 12-inch spread is accomplished by observing a buck’s ears in the alert position. When in the alert position, the distance from ear-tip to ear-tip measures approximately 15 inches. If the OUTSIDE of each antler beam reaches the ear-tip, the inside spread is approximately 12 inches. Therefore, if the outside of both antler beams reach the ear tips, the buck is legal.

To estimate a 15-inch main beam, the buck’s head must be observed from the side. If the tip of the main beam extends between the front of the eye and the tip of the nose, main beam length is approximately 15 inches.

Antlerless Deer

Private Land: With the exception of the North Central and Southeast DMUs, the statewide annual bag limit on antlerless deer is five (5). The annual bag limit for private lands in the North Central DMU is ten (10) antlerless deer. Antlerless deer are male or female deer which do not have hardened antler above the natural hairline. Only three (3) antlerless deer may be harvested from the Southeast DMU. There is no daily bag limit on antlerless deer; except, only one (1) anterless deer per day may be harvested in the Southeast DMU.

U.S. Forest Service Lands: The bag limit is one (1) per day, not to exceed five (5) per annual season except in the Southeast DMU, which is three (3) per annual season.

Supplemental Feeding

Supplemental feeding of wildlife is regulated by MDWFP and may have specific regulations that dictate the methods and timing in which supplemental feeding can be utilized. All feed and feeders must be at least 100 yards from the nearest property line. Deer hunters may hunt in the proximity, with no minimum distance from a feeder. See www.mdwfp.com for details.

Special Deer Hunts

Special primitive weapons deer hunts are established pursuant to the authority granted the Commission in Sections 49-7-37(2), (3), & (4), Mississippi Code of 1972. All archery and primitive weapons hunters must wear hunter orange or pink while these special hunts are in effect.

Antlerless Primitive Weapons Hunt

This season is for Antlerless Deer Only on private lands. Legal weapons are primitive weapons. This hunt is not on MDWFP Wildlife Management Areas. Refer to Deer Hunting Seasons for the definition of a primitive weapon.

Hunter Orange or Pink

When hunting deer during any firearm season, every hunter, whether hunting with a firearm, bow and arrow, or any weapon, must wear in full view at least five-hundred (500) square inches of solid unbroken fluorescent orange or pink, except as otherwise provided in this section. Mesh-style or orange/pink-camouflage is not considered unbroken and does not count toward the five hundred (500) square inch minimum.

Hunters shall not be required to wear five hundred (500) square inches of solid unbroken fluorescent orange or pink when:

1. Hunting from a deer stand that is elevated twelve (12) feet or more above the ground; or
2. Hunting in a fully enclosed blind.

It is the intent of the Commission that “fully enclosed blinds” are tripod type stands, ladder stands, blinds and/or “shooting houses” or any other stand, whether located on the ground or elevated above ground, that can be covered so as to hide the hunter from view of game or other hunters.

Federal Lands–Youth Hunts and Antlerless Harvest

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers managed lands which designate the youth deer season in their regulations and open U.S. Forest Service National Forest lands are authorized to provide youth hunting opportunities.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Army managed lands are authorized to harvest antlerless deer on days designated by Federal Regulations. Contact local National Wildlife Refuge, Corps of Engineers, or U.S. Army for details.