SPRINGFIELD, MO. (AP) -- A booming whitetail deer population in Missouri could mean longer hunting seasons to give hunters more opportunities to take deer.

State officials will be in Springfield Tuesday to host the first of 16 meetings statewide to get input from hunters on possible changes that could boost the number of deer killed. Current estimates put the state's deer population at around 1 million.

Proposed changes to the hunting calendar would include moving the antlerless deer hunt into October and pushing the November hunt forward to open on the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Firearms hunters would continue to have a separate antlerless hunt, and archery hunters would have an additional week of hunting.

The department will also gather opinions through online surveys.

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