With leaves beginning to fall, temperatures dropping and the days getting shorter, the excitement of another deer season is growing. Along with that excitement, there seems to be a bit of confusion, and its source is the changes in youth deer hunting this season.

People are frequently asking about what happened to the youth deer season. Even people who have hunted for years and are very familiar with Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) regulations wonder about changes. But the answer to that is simply that nothing changed.

For the 2009-10 firearms deer season, young hunters will once again be happy to hear that MDC is offering both an early and a late season period specifically for hunters who are between the ages of 6 and 15 on the opening day of the season.

The early youth weekend will be held Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. Young hunters then will have a second weekend all to themselves on Jan. 2 and 3. This is only the second season MDC has offered both an early and late youth hunting season.

While the season hasn’t changed, the permit system has. The Youth Deer and Turkey Hunting Permit, which has been around since 1999, will no longer be sold.

The $17 permit entitled holders age 6 through 15 to take one turkey in the spring and one in the fall and one deer during any firearms deer hunting season segment.

The Youth Antlerless Deer Hunting Permit also was discontinued effective July 1. Instead, young hunters (including both residents and nonresidents) will be able to buy the same regular firearms deer hunting permits that their fathers, friends and others purchase but at half the price paid by adult Missouri residents.

The permit changes came about earlier this year as MDC began an effort to simplify the overall permit structure. Those browsing the list of permits now offered by MDC will notice the absence of special youth permits. Instead, MDC now offers regular permits to youth at half price.

For example, an archery permit this upcoming season will cost those age 16 and older $19. The same exact permit with the same privileges will be offered to those ages 6 to 15 for $9.50. A resident firearms any deer permit, which costs $17, will cost youth hunters only $8.50.

The simplification and price changes will affect the following permits: Spring Turkey, Fall Firearms Turkey, Archery, Firearms Deer, Antlerless Deer Tags for Archery and Firearms, Managed Hunt Permits, and also Trout Fishing Permits. Non-resident youth will be offered the same permits as residents at the same cost.

MDC assistant director Dave Erickson said the old permit system could often be confusing. For instance, youngsters hunting on a Youth Deer and Turkey Hunting Permits can only take one deer, while those hunting with some other permits could take two.

Also, a youth hunter who buys a Youth Deer and Turkey Hunting Permit in the fall does not get a full year’s benefit from the permit’s privileges, since another permit had to be purchased to hunt turkeys the following spring.

For those who purchased Youth Deer and Turkey Hunting Permits during the 2009 spring turkey season, this permit will remain valid for the fall firearms deer and turkey season. MDC commissioners also will continue to offer youth privileges that exempt hunters and anglers under age 16 from the requirement to buy permits to fish or hunt small game, including waterfowl.

The old permit system also had inconsistencies concerning the minimum age for certain kinds of hunting. As a result, children as young as 2 years old were receiving deer hunting permits. MDC officials hope that having everyone hunt under the same permits will eliminate unfairness and confusion about bag limits and other regulations.

Outdoors correspondent Jeff Leonard can be

reached at npsports@npgco.com