JACKSON — There is legislation currently sitting in the state senate that, if passed, will have some impact on Mississippi hunters next season.

Senate Bill 2943, written and sponsored by Sen. Tommy Gollott (R-Biloxi), has already passed the Senate and is waiting for a vote in the House.

The bill, co-authored by Sen. Bob Dearing (D-Natchez), was mainly introduced to give the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks the ability to set up a commission to develop harvest data for deer and turkeys.

Wildlife Bureau Director Larry Castle said currently no system is in place to analyze deer harvests at the county or regional level.

“This simply clarifies the commission’s authority,” Castle said. “It enables us to move into the century that we’re in. It allows us to capture some harvest data from deer and turkeys relative to the county that they’re harvested in.”

Hunters would be assigned a number when they purchase a license, and they would be required to tag every deer and turkey they take.

They would then report those deer over the phone or online to an automated system that will track the number of deer harvested in each area.

“It’s just good, sound wildlife management,” Castle said. “This will help us answer regional and county based questions and suppot hunting and intelligent management of the resource.”

The other major change in the bill has to do with the bag limit on deer.

Currently, the limit is three deer per year, or five if two are harvested with archery equipment.

The bill changes the limit to five for everyone.

“If you want to take them all with a bow and arrow, fine. If you want to take them all with a gun, we don’t care,” Castle said. “It doesn’t take anything away from anybody. It just gives all other hunters the ability to have the same bag limit as archery hunters.”

The final change issued by the bill would apply for hunters under 16.

Previously allowed a three-bag limit, hunters 15 and younger will be able to take an antlered buck with any point value.

“The intent of that piece of legislation as it exists now is to say, ‘Hey, if you’re a youth and you’re shooting your first deer, let’s let you shoot any antlered buck,’” Castle said. “It’s just positive for hunter recruitment and for letting youth have a little wider scope.”

While Castle said legislation is really already in place, Dearing said the bill will solidify the rule, leaving no questions to be asked.

“This allows them to take a spike as one of their three-bag limit,” Dearing said. “We’re having a problem out there with spikes and so forth.”

The bill was originally written with a change in hunting season dates proposed but was amended to keep the dates the same as last season.

Dearing said the House has until March 3 to vote on the legislation.