COLUMBIA, Mo. -- As Missouri deer stalkers opened their hunting season this weekend, state officials encouraged them to go for the does -- and bypass the bucks.

That's because Missouri woods are overpopulated with female deer.

A new state Department of Conservation rule encourages hunters to take more does, a step that could lead to more big bucks in the long run by sparing the young ones.

But deer hunters are buck-centric, and that's central to deer hunting culture, enthusiasts say.

"A lot of hunters want a big rack to put on their wall," said Joe Toepel, a hunter from Montgomery City who browsed a selection of rifles this week at a Columbia gun shop.

"With a buck it's almost a mystical, evolutionary thing," said Lonnie Hansen, a research scientist with the Missouri Department of Conservation in Columbia. "Even our early ancestors were fascinated with the antlered animals."

But the practice of favoring bucks over does has changed Missouri's deer population, with does accounting for about 60 percent of the state herd.

"You put a buck and a doe in front of a hunter, and he or she is more likely to shoot the antlered deer," Hansen said.

In an attempt to make does more attractive to hunters, the conservation agency is restricting kills of bucks only to those male deer with at least four points on one side of their racks.

Hunters are limited to one such buck apiece -- a step that should protect younger bucks.

For several years, hunters have been able to buy bonus antlerless-only permits that allow them to kill does or young button bucks, which are male deer with indistinguishable antlers that might not be visible to the hunter.

The buck rules were developed from a series of public meetings last year attended by about 2,900 hunters, of which 51 percent said they favored the restriction on antler points.

The agency's other steps to thin the doe herd include offering unlimited doe hunting licenses, staging special youth hunting seasons and allowing a four-day urban deer hunting season in October.

Columbia taxidermist David Megahan said he usually mounts 100 bucks for every doe.

"If a guy has a really nice buck on the wall already, he might want to get a doe mounted because they make a nice pair," Megahan said.

Missouri's firearm deer season began Saturday and concludes Nov. 23, and resumes from Dec. 11 to Dec. 19.