ELLISVILLE, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation has deemed the deer population as too much, so they have an opportunity for hunters, both residents and non-residents, to draw managed deer hunts.

At Top Tier Outdoors in Ellisville, they’re aware of the state’s efforts to lower the deer population. The MDC issues tags that allow a hunter to harvest an animal.

“There’s several hundred issued in different areas of the county. Wildwood, Weldon Springs area, St. Charles area. They’ll issue quite a few tags,” Jamie Loporto, owner of Top Tier Outdoors, said.

Overpopulation is unhealthy for the herd and could be a reason for chronic waste disease, which is still being researched.

“As the sprawl moves a little bit west, if you will, the area that the deer used to roam is getting less and less, so the population is getting more condensed. So the quantity of deer in an area is becoming more and more so it is affecting the population,” Loporto said.

Participating in a managed hunt is not a simple process.

“You’re not going to get an inexperienced person that can just show up in a sporting goods store and purchase a license, purchase some equipment and end up doing this. They have to be licensed; they have to do some background. It’s a more than just a simple in and out process,” he said.

Safety is always a top priority every hunting season. Orange clothing is required for rifle season, but during archery season hunters can be in full camouflage.

“The orange is used because the rifles have the opportunity to shoot so far away that they want people to notice, hey, look off in the distance; there’s another hunter, so you can notice it much easier,” Loporto said.

Archery season runs from mid-September through mid-January, with a short break for rifle season.