Well Ive been thinking about this for a while, Missouri is doing away with wildlife check stations. For yearswhen you take a deer or turkey you had to take it to an official check station to be checked, recorded and banded with a numbered band for records of it being tagged. Now Missouri has done away with check stations, and I think it is just going to make it easier on poachers. What I mean is before, when you tagged an animal, you had to take it to town, have it looked at, by a check station attendant, or maybe even a game warden, for it to be legal. That would have been hard to get by with shooting with a rifle and bowtagging it, even if it was a little inconvenient. I know there are states that dont have to check animals, and am wondering if there is a bigger poaching problem in areas where you simple kill it and take it home. I think it will open the door to people not tagging game and shooting it with whatever they want and tagging it with another kind of tag, such as shootin deer with a rifle in bow season. There is already a serious poaching problem in our area without this, and Im afraid it will get even worse. What does everyone think it will do?? Has anyone ever experienced a change like this? Sorry to be so long winded but this has been a concern to me every since I read about it. Thanks for your replies.

But.......Missouri is the "SHOW ME STATE"....right?? (Sorry....had to do that)

I smell a rat (rats) in the state legislature there....same as New Mexico going to all draw on public land. These elected officials in the state legislatures are usually a cross section of public ignorance and we get what we vote for. I'd contact your local state senator and congressman and give them the business....

I dont think it'll matter. Laws dont usually matter to poachers.
Here in CT you only have to check deer during firearms season, even if its a bow kill, or if you want a replacement antlerless tag you need to bring the deer down, otherwise its just tag & drag. You get caught with a deer without a tag its just like getting caught with one that hasn't been banded at a check point. The only plus I see to check stations is it helps the DEP keep track of kills & thereby herd population. They give you a report card with every tag but I know alot of guys that toss them.
I hunt NY too & they just want the tag on it till its cut up for consumption.

Last I heard Illinois was dropping its checkstations too. Everything is going phone in just like they do with Turkeys. don't know if they are doing it for shotgun too but I'm pretty sure the Archery stations are gone.

Rumor has it that Maryland is doing the same thing this year. For the most part, I agree with Leverdude that poachers will do what they're gonna do, however, I think this opens the door to allow people who may not be 100% law abiding to kill illegal game.
Under this policy, all you have to do is kill a deer and fill out a form, you don't have to go through the same checks and balances to confirm that it was a legal kill.

NC has been do it here for many years. It's the best. All you need to do is call 1-800-I Got One and check it in.

MD. is going to it next year. Thank God. It was a royal PIA to find a check in station. They all were being sqeezed out do to urban sprawl.

Va I'm not sure. I haven't hunted it for years. Back when I did, I quit taking there deer to the check in station. They never wanted to see the deer so why hassle with loading the deer up and going. I would just show up by myself and check it in.

Seriously, this is a plus not a minus for us hunters. It makes it so easy and reduces your wrap up time therefore it will increase your hunting time. It won't increase poaching. Poarchers are caught in the field. They are either caught in the act or someone tips off the game warden that someone has an illegal deer.

Poachers don't check in their kill. I agree with Fieldmouse, they are caught in the field, not the check station.

I agree w/ Angus...I am also from MO and I kinda like the check stations but I do think doing away with them entices one who may not be 100% legal to further break game laws...For instance I know of a hunter in my home town who got his sons tags who does not hunt and filled them this past turkey season for him...I've know this guy for a long time and have never known him to do something like this...I confronted him about this and asked him why he would do something like this and he replied that with this new phone in thing its easy because he would have never tried it if his son had to accompany him to the check station and lie about the whole thing...I have been very upset about the whole thing because I feel I haven't done my part as a sportsman by not turning him in...I am from a very very small town and have known this guy for years and he is a good friend of my dad's who he does farming buisness with...I figure if he continues though he will have to pay the consequences because you never get away with something totally...I say keep the check stations and keep the so called honest guy HONEST!

VA made the switch last season. Personally I think it does open the window for the poachers to get away with it much easier. There aren't near enough game wardens to keep up with the poaching as it is. For me personally, it's neither a plus or a minus. There are check in stations everywhere and 9 times out of 10 it's not really inconvenient to check one in. I'm sure it probably helped some folks out, depending on where they live and hunt. IMO the folks it hurts the worst are the actual check in stations. They will lose "X" amount of business by not having to have people bring their game in. How much that is...??? Who knows.

WV still has check in stations as of last season. I have not heard if they are considering the change yet. Of course WV is a whole different animal. Nobody checks them in anyhow over there, so it definitely won't make a difference. Based on what I know, my guess would be 1 out of 5 get checked in at all right now, even when they are required to be taken to a check in station....and that might be way low

I like the idea and then again I don't. In Va. you have to call it in and they give you a # that has to be written on the tag. Get caught with out the # and your busted. They check it in with out seeing it. It's the same. If you want it scored you have to take it in though.

I don't like it because I like going to the check station and hanging out. It smells good. It feels good. It's a part of the hunt I enjoy.