Hunting in Mississippi: 5 Things for Landowners to Know About Hunting on Private Property

According the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, about 80 percent of the land in Mississippi is privately owned, and while the benefits of being a landowner in the Magnolia State are plentiful, there are some regulations to keep in mind when hunting on your Mississippi property or granting others the permission to hunt on your property.

Here are five things for landowners to keep in mind about regulations that pertain to hunting on private property in Mississippi:

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1. Courtesy Card
Landowners who grant permission to others to hunt on their land should keep a copy of a courtesy card for each person granted permission to hunt on their land.

2. Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP)
According to Mississippi Sportsman, “Since DMAP went statewide in 1985, there are currently about 650 cooperators representing roughly 1.7 million acres.”

These cooperators are required to collect data on their deer harvests each season, which is accomplished by “pulling each deer’s jawbone for aging, recording deer weights, taking antler measurements and collecting lactation data on does.”

3. Nuisance Animals
As the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks declares, “Nuisance animals may be hunted, trapped, taken, killed, chased, or pursued on private lands. Landowners and any leaseholders may hunt nuisance animals year-round at any time of day or night with no weapon/caliber restrictions on property titled in their name or otherwise owned, or leased by them.” In Mississippi, nuisance wildlife includes beavers, coyotes, foxes, nutrias, skunks, and wild hogs.

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4. Headlighting
No person, landowner or not, is permitted to use headlighting as a means of hunting deer at night in Mississippi, and it is considered a Class I violation, which could equal a minimum of a $2,000 fine and forfeiting your hunting privileges for one to three years.

5. Trapping
Landowners should keep in mind that they cannot set traps that are within 100 feet of public roads. In addition, traps must be checked at least once every 36 hours.

This article is for information only. Please check current regulations before hunting.

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