Outdoor Guide Magazine March-April 2019

March- April, 2019

Outdoor ag Guide M

e n i z a

HUNTING • FISHING • CAMPING • BOATING • SHOOTING • TRAVEL

Spring Fishing....................Page 4

Anglers-in-Chief.................Page 8

Crappie Tactics................Page 12

Lovable Leeches...............Page 15

Phantom Drone...................Page 22

Stories in Snow................Page 27

CCC Legacy.....................Page 37

MISSOURI - ILLINOIS - AND OTHER EXCITING OUTDOOR DESTINATIONS

Outdoor Guide

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March-April, 2019

It’s Time to Fight Invasive Species

Spring may be the best time of year to wage battle with invasive species. More importantly, it offers a grand opportunity to recruit new soldiers to the fight.

A couple of the enemies are easy to identify as they emerge from the barren winter background with dramatic flair.

While most of the deciduous trees and shrubs in our area are just beginning to show tiny buds of their future leaves and flowers, honeysuckle bushes are choking out all The Department of Con- other ground cover and crowding servation created this forest floors throughout our region facsimile movie poster. with green leaves. Destroy them where you can.

The callery pear trees and their most familiar cultivar, the Bradford pear, are already full of white showy flowers in suburban yards where they were planted and, unfortunately, in a lot of places where they have spread, despite being considered sterile and unable to reproduce.

GET RID OF ‘EM Out for a spring drive, you can see them on roadsides, in ditches and fields where they obviously were not placed as landscaping ornamentals. Getting rid of these wild weeds is important, but

/visitlebanonmo

another important first step is to refuse buying, planting and selling them in the future.

Arelatively new cavalry with resources for the fight has arrived.

Established in 2015, the Missouri Invasive Plant Task Force is an advocacy group that brings together industries and agencies to identify and control plants that are challenging native species and biodiversity.

Coordinated by the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Grow Native marketing and education program, the task force reviews and recommends educational and regulatory action related to those non-native plants that have the potential to cause environmental or economic harm.

The group’s website, www.moinvasives.org, offers a full list of resources including a recent story suggesting 10 native trees to plant instead of Bradford pears. In honor of the Arbor Day on April 5 and the coming of spring when people may want to spruce up their landscapes, the list is a helpful guide.

• DOGWOOD – The official state tree of Missouri, the flowering dogwood, is the best-known option. It grows distinctive white flowers that bloom beginning in mid-April and produces red fruits in the fall that last into the winter providing food for the birds.

• EASTERN REDBUD – The other common native spring bloomer is the eastern redbud with pink flowers in early spring, and big heart-shaped leaves that turn yellow in the fall. It produces seeds for the birds shaped like little pea-pods.

• SERVICEBERRY – One of the state’s native trees to show off abundant white blooms early in the spring is the serviceberry. Its fragrant flowers turn into red to purple-black fruits that people and birds love to eat. Its fall foliage is a blend of orange, gold, red and green.

• WILD PLUM – The wild plum’s white flowers of spring become edible round yellow or red fruits about an inch in diameter. Eating Bradford pears is not an option.

• BLACK HAW VIBURNUM – The black haw viburnum grows clusters of white flowers that turn into small purple fruits in the fall that taste like raisins.

• CHOKECHERRY – The chokecherry is a small tree that produces white flowers and red fruits that turn purple in the fall. It does well in shaded areas.

• YELLOWWOOD – The yellowwood is a medium-sized tree that grows pendants of white flowers up to 14 inches long that look almost like an exotic planting. Its green leaves turn golden

@visitlebanonmo

Even though they look pretty with bright white flowers, honeysuckle bushes are a scourge on the landscape.

yellow in the fall.

• BLACK GUM – The black gum tree has glossy dark green leaves that will turn yellow, orange or scarlet. The fruit it produces for the birds turns dark blue in the fall.

• IRONWOOD – Ironwood is also known as the eastern hop hornbeam and grows a fruit that resembles beer’s best ingredient, as suggested in its name. They are incredibly resistant to disease and insect problems.

• AMERICAN HORNBEAM – Last but not least on this list of trees to plant instead of Bradford pears, the American hornbeam is a small-to-medium tree with a spreading rounded top. Its blue-gray bark appears to ripple as the tree ages, leading to its common nickname, musclewood.

The task force’s website offers many resources, including identification and management guides, videos and ideas for teachers to share as curriculum in science classes for all ages, and volunteer opportunities to join the battle. For more information, send an email to info@moinvasives.org.

John J. Winkelman is community engagement manager at Mercy Hospital Jefferson. If you have news for Outdoor Guide Magazine, e-mail ogmjohnw@aol.com and you can follow John on Twitter at @johnjwink99.

1-844-4LEBANON

March-April, 2019

Outdoor Guide

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Feral ho ogs Fera l h are a re

destructive.

Report hogs to mdc.mo.gov/feralhog

Page 4

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

The Wonder of Early Spring

Photo and Text

By BRENT FRAZEE

A crowded Bennett Spring State Park is a sure sign of spring for many Missouri anglers.

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For fishermen and hunters, spring is like Disneyland.

So many rides, so little time.

From the time I take my first trip to the Ozarks in March until the perfect weather of May melts into June’s heat, I am on the go. Even at my advanced age of 68, my soul awakens on the first warm days of March.

This will be the year I finally catch that 10-pound bass, when I catch a live well full of big crappies, when I stumble onto a section of woods just teeming with morels, when I shoot that boss tom turkey, when I catch so many fish in a day that I lose track of how many.

Realistic? Probably not. But that’s what spring is all about – getting a shot of adrenaline and dreaming big.

At this point in my life, tradition plays a large role. I look forward to returning to places I have visited for years and reuniting with friends who have gotten older along with me.

TROUT OPENER, 37 TIMES I have traveled to either Bennett Spring or Roaring River for the trout opener March 1 for 37 years – almost half of my life.

The calendar might not say so, but that’s the first day of spring for me.

I still remember the first time I went to Bennett and became part of the cast of thousands, squeezing in between a couple of grouchy old-timers.

With my elbows pinned to my side, I cast straight ahead and caught my first Ozarks rainbow. As I made my second cast, I watched an older woman across the stream hook something far bigger – me. Instead of apologizing, she grew impatient with me as I used my pliers to dig the treble hook out of my coat.

When I finally got free, I thought to myself, “This isn’t for me,” and I became an observer. I’ve been that way ever since, taking photos and interviewing people about the tradition that pervades opening day.

I don’t fish, but I have a great time capturing the excitement felt by more than 1,000 fishermen as they celebrate winter’s demise.

THE REAL HILLBILLY I know my time will come later in a not-so-crowded environment. For years, one of my first trips of spring would be to J.D. Fletcher’s Devil’s Dive

Resort on Table Rock Lake. He would call me when the white bass started their spawning run and would tell me to drop everything and get down there – and I followed instructions.

We caught huge white bass in those days – some of them as big as three pounds. But it was more than just the fishing that lured me back there. J.D. was a true Ozarks character, a guy seemingly out of a Lil’ Abner comic strip.

He was a true hillbilly and he was proud of it. He was an excellent fisherman and guide, but he was much more than that. He was an entertainer, a comedian, a tour guide and a P.T. Barnum sort of guy.

One day I asked him what J.D. stood for. Without missing a beat, he replied, “Just Dumb.”

I was saddened when he passed away in 2014. But I still return to little Eagle Rock, Mo., to fish with his son, Jeff, who followed in his dad’s footsteps.

I also look forward to getting together with Johnny Everhart at his Wilderness Lodge near Blairstown, Mo., to chase spring’s Grand Slam – taking a turkey, catching crappies, gathering a bag full of morels and landing a few bass, all in the same day.

Now that’s packing a lot of spring into one day.

BIG BASS, BIG LAKE The highlight of my spring is often my return to Lake of the Ozarks, where I fish with longtime friend Jim Divincen and fishermen such as Marcus Sykora, John Neporadny, Scott Pauley, Dion Hibdon and Ed Franko.

In the spring, I don’t count sheep when I try to fall asleep. I count the big bass that we often see cruising around nests in the clear water of gravel-bottomed coves at Lake of the Ozarks in the spring. April and early May are times when the bass fishing at the big lake can be phenomenal, and I have been lucky enough to experience it many times over the years.

I also anticipate the annual trip to Stockton Lake to fish with my longtime friend Ken White and guide Les Jarman. We’ve been fishing together for years, chasing white bass when they make their spawning run up tributaries. We have photos of us together from years ago and we marvel at how we haven’t changed a bit – at least, that’s how our joke goes.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Spring is my idea of heaven. And I doubt that will ever change.

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

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Tips, Tricks and Thoughts for the Great Outdoors

It’s Time to Go Fishing

By LARRY WHITELEY

Winter is starting to lose its grip and signs of spring are beginning to appear. It’s time to go fishing! All that casting, hook setting, lure selection, reeling in, keeping or releasing. It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it.

Then there is all the ribbing and kidding that two fishing buddies usually do. “What are you doing - squirrel fishing?”

“That’s the prettiest bird’s

nest I’ve ever seen.” “My wife can cast better than that.”

There will be those days when every cast brings in a fish and when you are so close to your limit you start releasing fish so you don’t have to quit. Then there will be days you couldn’t catch fish with a stick of dynamite.

If you’re not catching fish, there’s always excuse time.

Water’s murky, too cold, don’t have the right color jigs, you’re making too much

noise, water’s too clear, or lake’s fished out.

Even if you’re not catching fish, it really doesn’t matter. A bad day fishing is still better than 10 good working days.

So get ready, it’s time to go fishing.

A FISHING QUOTE “Fishing keeps us humble, which makes us better people.

Infrequent success reminds us that we have much to learn from those less intelligent

than ourselves.” – Robert Montgomery THE CHALLENGE OF FISHING We now have computerized weather forecasts to tell us what the wind or temperature will be. We have tables and calendars which suggest the best times and days to fish.

There are studies that tell us how much fish react to color.

We know the temperature and dissolved oxygen content

March- April 2019

Outdoor agazine Guide M HUNTING • FISHING • CAMPING • BOATING SHOOTING • TRAVEL

Volume Twenty Seven, Number Two • Published Six Times A Year Office: 505 S. Ewing, St. Louis, MO 63103 Office/News Department — 314-535-9786 www.outdoorguidemagazine.com e-mail: ogmbobw@aol.com COVER PHOTO: Bennett Spring by Thayne Smith Bobby Whitehead, Editor/Co-Publisher Kathy Crowe, Graphic Designer Maria Murphy, Production Coordinator

John Winkelman, Associate Editor — ogmjohnw@aol.com Lynn Fowler, Circulation Manager Carl Green, Copy Editor

— Account Executives — Dan Braun, Marketing Director Lauren Marshall — Regional and Specialty Editors — Joel Vance Darrell Taylor Ray Eye Brent Frazee Brandon Butler Bill Seibel

Curt Hicken Bill Cooper Thayne Smith Steve Jones Larry Dablemont

John Neporadny Jr. Rick Story T. J. Mullin Ron Henry Strait Larry Whiteley

Ted Nugent Ron Bice Colin Moore Jim Cassada John Sloan

March-April, 2019

LARRY L. WHITELEY is the host of the internationally syndicated Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Radio and nationally syndicated Outdoor World newspaper and magazine tips.

each species like best.

However, we are still faced with the same problem that anglers have always faced. No matter how much information we have, we still can’t answer the question: Will the fish still follow the rules?

When all the conditions are perfect for catching fish, you may catch none. The opposite is also true. At times when a certain fish isn’t supposed to be biting, in water temperature and wind conditions that aren’t supposed to be suitable for catching that fish, you can still catch it.

Fish aren’t robots, and their behavior can’t always be predicted. This fact makes them harder to catch but it also creates the challenge that makes fishing such a great sport.

Besides, if it was easy it would be called catching, not fishing.

FISHING TIP Fishing’s a great way to get away from this crazy world we live in today. There are no politicians, protests or negative news while out fishing.

LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES If you love the outdoors and still haven’t decided where you want to go on vacation this year, you might want to consider what is known as the Heartland of America’s outdoor playground – Land Between the Lakes, located in western Tennessee and Kentucky.

Land Between the Lakes is the largest inland peninsula in America and has more miles of shoreline than Florida.

Would you believe people come here from the Great Lakes by boat on their way to Florida? In fact, from here you can go anywhere in the world by water.

Originally created when the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers were impounded, creating Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, it features more than 170,000 acres of forested and protected public land and more than over 300 miles of undeveloped shoreline.

Land Between the Lakes offers camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, motorcycle and ATV trails, great restaurants, resorts, and hotels. Plus the area is rich in Civil War history and a whole lot more.

I was there last spring for a turkey hunt, and I’m going back to enjoy the great fishing and other activities. Check it out at www.landbetweenthelakes.com.

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER “There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.” –Linda Hogan MADDENING SPORT OF TURKEY HUNTING Over the years, I have heard lots of comments from fellow hunters about the maddening sport of turkey hunting, and most of them were probably from Bobby Whitehead, Ray Eye or Billy Cooper. Here are just a few that were printable: • “God’s three greatest gifts to man are beautiful women, smooth whiskey ... and twoyear-old turkeys!”

• “The first time you hunt turkeys is for sport ... every other time is pure, friggin’ revenge.”

• “Now wait a minute ... a gobbler has testes that are ten times bigger than his brain ... and you think I know what he’s going to do next?”

• “A deer walking through the woods sees a man sitting on the ground and thinks, ‘Could be man ... could be a stump’ and walks on through.

A turkey walks through the woods, sees a man sitting on the ground and thinks, ‘Could be a stump ... could be man!’ and runs away.”

• “If turkeys had a nose like a deer, you could never kill one of them #%^ stupid things.”

ONE MORE TURKEY QUOTE “ I don’t hunt turkeys because I want to. I hunt them because I have to.” – Tom Kelly

In Memoriam — Jared Billings • Charlie Farmer • Richard Engelke • Mark Hubbard Spence Turner • Hank Reifeiss • Bill Harmon • Barbara Perry Lawton • Danny Hicks • Ron Kruger

Scott Pauley Tim Huffman John Meacham Bob Holzhei Jeannie Farmer Kay Hively Tyler Mahoney

— Staff Writers —

Claudette Roper Brad Wiegmann Mike Roux Craig Alderman Randall Davis Jerry Pabst Ryan Miloshewski

Kenneth Kieser Gerald Scott Russell Hively Roxanne Wilson Gretchen Steele Jo Schaper Jed Nadler

Don Gasaway Terry Wilson Bill Keaton Charlie Slovensky Michael Wardlaw Larry Potterfield Tom Watson

It’s the first smallie of spring

– Nebraska Game and Parks photo

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Outdoor Guide

State Finds 28 More Diseased Deer

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) in January reported that 28 more deer from 11 Missouri counties were found to have chronic wasting disease (CWD). This brought the number of cases of the deadly deer disease in Missouri to 103 since 2012.

CWD is a deadly illness in white-tailed deer and other members of the deer family, called cervids. CWD is spread from deer to deer through direct contact and through contact with soil, food, and water that have been contaminated through feces, urine, saliva, or carcasses of infected deer. CWD kills all deer and other cervids it infects.

The CWD-positive deer were from the following counties: Adair (2), Crawford (1), Franklin (5), Jefferson (1), Linn (2), Macon (4), Mercer (1), Oregon (3), Ste. Genevieve (7), Stone (1) and Taney (1).

28,000 SAMPLES The results came after the department collected tissue samples for CWD testing from more than 28,000 deer over this past summer and throughout the fall deer-hunting season.

That number included more than 20,000 tissue samples collected during mandatory CWD sampling on opening weekend of the fall firearms deer season.

During that weekend, the department collected tissue samples from deer harvested by hunters in 31 counties in or near where the disease had already been found. The number also includes more than 8,000 tissue samples collected from hunter-harvested deer through MDC’s statewide voluntary CWD-sampling efforts during the past deer season, plus roadkilled deer, and “sick-looking” deer.

“Eight of the CWD detections were from hunter-harvested deer sampled by taxidermists or meat processors, who are all very important partners in helping us find cases of CWD,” MDC Wildlife Disease Coordinator Jasmine Batten said.

“Of the remaining 20 positives, 15 were from hunter-harvested deer sampled at our mandatory sampling stations, four were from hunter-harvested deer sampled by MDC staff outside of opening weekend through our voluntary sampling program, and one was from a found dead deer.”

FOUR NEW AREAS Batten said CWD was detected in four new areas this season – northeast Stone County near Reeds Spring and southern Taney County on Drury-Mincy Conservation Area, both in southwestern Missouri; west-central Oregon County near Alton in southeast Missouri; and in Mercer County, north of Mercer, two miles from the Iowa border in north-central Missouri.

Hundreds of cases of CWD have been found in northwest Arkansas bordering southern Missouri, and CWD has also been found in Wayne County, Iowa, which borders northern Missouri.

“In the new areas, the number of CWD positives is low, indicating the disease was likely recently introduced in those locations,” Batten said. “Overall, where CWD occurs throughout the state, the number of infected deer also remains low, which indicates that CWD is relatively rare in the state – and we want to keep it that way. If left unchecked, CWD could dramatically decrease the overall health and number of deer in Missouri over time.”

TARGETED CULLING WORKS The department is now focusing on managing CWD in the immediate areas where new and recent cases of the disease have been found. Staff are working with landowners on a voluntary basis through mid-March to harvest and test additional deer for the disease.

“Post-season targeted culling is a proven method of slowing the growth of CWD in a local deer population and, as a result, minimizing the accumulation of CWD in the local environment,” Batten said.

The department is modeling this management approach after similar and effective efforts in Illinois.

“Illinois is showing success in stabilizing CWD prevalence through targeted culling and reports a steady 1 percent prevalence statewide over time,” Batten said. “In contrast, since stopping its targeted-culling management efforts in 2007, the state of Wisconsin continues to see a steady increase in CWD prevalence. Some local areas of southwest Wisconsin are seeing over 50 percent of adult bucks with the disease.”

MDC staff and participating landowners have taken a total of about 4,600 deer through targeted culling since the effort began several years ago. Post-season targeted culling accounts for about 4 percent of all CWD samples collected so far but has resulted in finding almost half of all CWD cases in Missouri.

Deer harvested through targeted culling that do not test positive for CWD are offered to the participating landowners or donated to the Share the Harvest Program for local food banks and food pantries. Deer that test positive for CWD are properly disposed of by staff or meat processors.

The Department of Conservation has tested nearly 130,000 deer for CWD since it began its efforts in 2001. For more information, go online to mdc.mo.gov/cwd.

Missouri Department of Conservation staff collect lymph nodes from a harvested buck for CWD testing during the fall firearms deer season.

– MDC photo

March-April, 2019

— Random Shots — Anglers-in-Chief, A Mixed Bag

By JOEL M. VANCE “Fishing is a chance to wash one’s soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with the shimmer of the sun on the blue water,” – Herbert Hoover in a sweet little 1963 book titled Fishing For Fun. Quite a few presidents have fished, and several have written about fishing, but none as simply as Hoover. He said, “And it is discipline in the quality of man – for all men are equal before fish.”

During his 1989 autumn vacation, the late President George H.W. Bush discovered that some men are more equal than others when it comes to fishing. If ever a president had the press as, perhaps not the enemy of the people, but certainly no friend of his, it was on that fishing trip.

“KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (AP) – The vacation was 14 days old and the standings were: Fish 14, President Bush 0.

The presidential patience appeared to be wearing thin.”

The Portland, Maine newspaper ran cartoons and a box score on how long it had been since Mr. Bush caught a fish. The President couldn’t buy a fish. All about him were landing wall-hangers. Mr. Bush seemed a placid man, not easily riled except by Dan Rather (who, fortunately for him, was not part of the fishing party).

TENDER FEELINGS But I suspect the Bushian neck was getting a bit crimson as one aide after another dragged fish aboard while he struck out. Now, Mr. Bush did not react the way I would (i.e. scream curses and throw my fishing rod in 80 feet of water).

I felt mighty sorry for him and wrote about it, saying in part, “I am totally on your side in this matter. I hope on the next trip, you catch a ton of fish, and (Brent) Scowcroft and the others sit around with their ears getting red and you smoke their mangy hides. I hope you kid them until steam leaks from their ears.”

Mr. Bush read what I wrote and subsequently I received a note from the White House. This scared the hell out of me since my previous associations with the federal government were either with the IRS or the Army, two organizations with which I definitely want to minimize future contact.

“I’m glad to know I have some support, even when the fish aren’t biting,” said the note, and it was signed by George Bush, whose signature looked like something that would

President Bush tries fly fishing.

– David Valdez, Flickr photo

flunk you in preschool.

There was a telling postscript which proves that Mr. Bush, Sr. was a true angler. “On our last two days in Maine, I got ‘blues’ (not the state of mind – the fish). Some nice redfish in Texas at year’s end and some bass on New Year’s Day. Things are lookin’ up!”

Only a real angler would go to the trouble of making sure people knew he did catch fish, by golly, and quite a few of them. The greenhorn angler wouldn’t be that possessive of his ability to fool fish.

WHOSE ROD IS IT? The late Norm Strung, Field and Stream associate editor, once guided then-Vice President Bush on a Montana fishing trip. They were trolling for lake trout, four rods out, when a fish hit.

“Fish on!” someone shouted.

“Is it my rod?” asked the president-to-be.

An aide, mindful that the only person who outranked Mr. Bush wasn’t aboard, said with weary tact, “Mr. President, they’re all your rod!”

The presidents themselves disagree on who can be considered a fishing president. Mr. Hoover, a fly fishing purist, said there were only three fly fishing presidents: himself, the fiercely grinning Teddy Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland. He ignored Dwight Eisenhower, who was a good fly fisherman, and Mr. Hoover died before Jimmy Carter not only flung a Presidential fly but wrote about it, and before George H. W. Bush didn’t and then did catch fish. (Mr. Bush was more a lure lofter than a fly flinger. and so was Mr. Cleveland).

COOLIDGE FAUX PAS Mr. Hoover scoffed at politicians who cast for the news cameras rather than the trout. One of those was Calvin Coolidge. Mr. Coolidge first put his foot in it with the nation’s anglers when he was quoted as saying that fishing was for old men and boys. This went over like a can of worms at a Trout Unlimited convention.

Advisors advised Mr. Coolidge to get right with Izaak Walton, and soon he was catching fish ... with worms. Fly anglers were enraged.

Mr. Coolidge finally recognized which way the political wind was blowing and got himself a fly rod.

Mr. Hoover was unimpressed. He ribbed his fellow Republican: “President Coolidge apparently had not fished before election,” Mr. Hoover wrote. “Being a fundamentalist in religion, economics and fishing, he began his fish career for common trout with worms. Ten million fly fishermen at once eviSee ANGLERS-IN-CHIEF page 38

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

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March-April, 2019

Claudette’s Kitchen

When Food Doesn’t Like You

By CLAUDETTE ROPER

In the past three years, I’ve had to deal with an onslaught of food sensitivities. The list is extensive, but so is the list of what I can still eat. It may not be everything I want or crave, but life is still good.

One reason for mentioning this now is that there seem to be more and more people experiencing food allergies and food sensitivities. The

former causes an immune system reaction that can range from mild to life-threatening. In contrast, food sensitivity/intolerance symptoms are frequently limited to digestive problems.

We’re also seeing a lot of people avoiding gluten – whether it be for sensitivities, allergies, a special diet or just a fad. One of the greatest pitfalls, in my humble opinion, is the idea of replacing what I can’t have with something I can – at any expense, and I’m not talking money here. There are many “gluten-free” desserts out there that contain lots of unhealthy ingredients and chemical compounds, but they don’t contain gluten.

On the other hand, substitutions can be very helpful.

One of the most common issues is the consumption of gluten – the necessary component of homemade pasta

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Coconut flour can save us from many sins. Coconut bread is gluten-free, has a low glycemic index, and has protein and fiber.

and bread. Without gluten, noodle dough won’t stretch and bread won’t rise.

CHECK THE LABEL Manufacturing plants have machinery to create pastas from rice, quinoa and corn flours. Read labels to be sure one of your problem ingredients aren’t included lower in the list of ingredients. An example of the need to read labels is on gluten-free bread or flour – for tapioca, potato, corn, white rice, corn flour and xanthan gum.

For anyone with tapioca, potato or corn sensitivity in addition to gluten sensitivity, “bread” as we know it is not likely to be found. As a matter of fact, those same sensitivities make it difficult to use most standard breading mixes for fried fish and fried turkey breast. Mountain Man always has a bag of breading ready to go – two parts yellow and one part red Andy’s Fish Breading. Delicious!

There’s just one problem … I can’t eat it. Instead, my fish goes into a Ziploc bag with a combination of buckwheat flour (no, it isn’t wheat) and rice flour, salt and garlic powder. A pinch of citric acid powder will give it some zing and if you like paprika or pepper (and they like you), then add them, too. It’s easy.

GOOD OLD BUCKWHEAT Buckwheat flour has many other uses. It is effective in making crepes – my youngest just visited and wanted some of mom’s signature crepes. I didn’t tell him they were made with buckwheat flour and goat milk, and he never noticed!

This flour has excellent thickening power and I can promise you I’ve made some excellent cheese sauces and gravies without having to relearn the process.

Still, with all those good foods that I could eat, I missed bread. My daughter-in-law turned me on to a coconut-flour recipe that gave me a starting point. After much tweaking, I have it down to my satisfaction, but since variety is the spice of life, I’m still working on additional variations.

What I will share in this issue is the basic recipe and a few variations. Some of the benefits that attracted me to coconut flour are that it is gluten free, has a low glycemic index and has a significant amount of protein and digestible fiber. It even qualifies for the very popular paleo and keto diets.

COCONUT BREAD 1/2 cup coconut flour (yes, that’s all – it’s not a misprint) 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 6 eggs 1/2 cup melted coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a small bread pan. In a small-sized bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.

Use an electric mixer to beat the eggs. Having them at room temperature will achieve more volume. Drizzle in the coconut oil. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until very smooth.

Fill the pan about two-thirds full with batter. Bake for 4050 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Rye Alternative: Pull out one heaping tablespoon of coconut flour and replace it with one heaping tablespoon of carob powder. Add one tablespoon ground caraway and sprinkle the top liberally with whole caraway. This bread can be sliced as thick or thin as you like. It’s great for making reuben sandwiches.

Citrus Alternative: Add 1/4 cup of citrus juice and 1/2-1 teaspoon lemon extract (not flavoring), to the beaten eggs.

You may add a little sweetener to the eggs if desired. A halfcup of poppy seeds is optional. Bake as directed. Poke holes into the top of the baked loaf and drizzle some more juice across the top. This is good with poppy seeds stirred in, too.

Pour yourself a good cup of coffee and enjoy.

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 11

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Outdoor Guide

Page 12

March-April, 2019

Shallow Water Crappie Tactics Photos and Text

By TIM HUFFMAN

A nice Rend Lake crappie. Crappie will move from middepth water up into the shallows to spawn. Some will stay in the shallow water through summer.

Shallow fish are fun to catch. The Outdoor Guide region is full of good, accessible crappie waters. Crappie will first move into staging areas (50-degree water temps) and then up to spawn depths of 2-6 feet (water temps in 60’s).

The shallow bite often goes into the summer in some waters. Crappie in skinny water can be spooky but they can offer great action.

CASTING WITH JIG & FLOAT Casting is good any time of year, providing the crappie don’t get too deep. A single jig can be worked along middepth ledges and cover to provide a lot of action during pre-spawn conditions. After the crappie move on into shallower water, casting is one way to catch them.

Crappie spawn at different depths in different waters, but it’s not unusual to see them in 1-5 feet in stained waters.

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Crappie spawn deeper in clearer water, with the depth dependent upon light penetration. Casting is a good way to keep a distance from the fish, cover a lot of area and have fun.

The most important thing for casting is to have cover that allows a bait to be retrieved without constant hang-ups. Rocky banks, scattered stumps and trees, and submerged cover can be fished. Thick brush, weeds and other vegetation usually prevent casting. So evaluate the area to ensure casting will work.

The right equipment is important. A 7-foot or 8-foot spinning rod provides good casting distance and good leverage for setting the hook.

A 1.25” snap-on float or a small Thill egg-shaped float are good picks.

Keep in mind that the smaller the float, the more fish you’ll catch because it will be more sensitive, and crappie are less likely to feel the resistance. The line should match the water clarity, with 6-pound test being a good all-around line.

Fish location and depth are temperature-related. Prespawn and post-spawn crappie will be out in mid-depths just a short distance from the spawning waters. Spawning crappie will be shallow. In our example, we’ll put the crappie at four feet with scattered stumps.

Success starts by being extremely quiet as you approach. Bumping stumps with your trolling motor or boat will spook the fish. Therefore, work quietly to get into good position with the boat.

Cast beyond your target.

After splashdown, slowly work the float and jig into the prime depth and area.

Try a hop-hop-hop-pause or a very slow, steady retrieve.

You want to attract attention to the bait and make it look alive. The pause often triggers a strike.

Hook sets should be strong because monofilament line stretches. The hook set must remove all slack, stretch until the line tightens on the fish, then continue until the hook

embeds into the crappie’s mouth. Don’t be fooled by the paper-mouth theory because the upper part of a crappie’s mouth is very tough.

SLOW TROLLING River fish will move up shallow in the spring, but it’s not unusual to find them shallow any time of the year.

Illinois fishing guide Kyle Schoenherr prefers slow trolling or jigging.

His slow trolling includes 16-foot BnM jigging poles because he’ll get more bites, but he says the average weekend fisherman will do better with 12-footers because they are much easier to handle.

“Most trollers don’t use floats, but floats keep the baits in the strike zone and above some of the brush. Also, the floats help detect bites,” Schoenherr said.

“I don’t hesitate putting baits into the edge of the brush in shallow water. It’s a lot of work but you’ll catch fish.

The cover I’m fishing can be seen when fishing really shallow. As the depths increase, there can be more submerged cover. Good electronics are important for catching from submerged wood.”

JIGGING SHALLOW IN HOT WATER It won’t be long after the spawn until the water starts to heat up. “Crappie will surprise most fishermen by getting in really shallow water from late spring through the summer,” Schoenherr said.

“When cover is thick, I switch to holding one 10-foot or 12foot long BnM jigging pole.

I’ll use a 3/32 jighead with a tube jig. This is a simple tactic any fisherman can use.”

Jigging is a straight upand-down technique allowing for a bait to be taken out with fewer hang-ups. Drop it on a crappie’s head, and it will usually bite.

Shallow water offers opportunities from early spring through the summer. Get in on the action and enjoy the fun.

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Crappie guide Kyle Schoenherr isn’t afraid to slow troll in shallow water. He says it’s a good way to get multiple baits in the cover.

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 13

Tommy Biffle on Fish-Attracting Scents

By JOHN NEPORADNY Jr.

Using fish-attracting scents makes a lot of sense to Bassmaster Elite Series pro Tommy Biffle.

While some anglers might consider fish-attracting scents a marketing gimmick, Biffle thinks otherwise.

“I think scent is pretty important,” he said. “If the fish are biting well, you will catch yourself not using it as much maybe. But if you make yourself use it all the time, you will catch more fish.”

The Oklahoma pro started out using Fish Formula when it was introduced in the 1980s, and he has been using some form of scent throughout the rest of his career.

THE FOUR STUMPS Biffle recalls the instant he became a firm believer in garlic spray after it was introduced. While fishing a tournament in Tennessee, Biffle had caught bass off of four stumps in the back of a creek one day.

The next day he went back to the same stumps but never got a bite. When he saw his partner spraying garlic on his bait, Biffle asked if he would spray some on Biffle’s jig.

“So I went back to those four stumps that I had just got done fishing about three minutes before and caught three four-pounders off those stumps,” he said.

The two-time Bassmaster Classic runner-up started realizing how effective scent could be when northern lakes became frequent sites for Bassmaster tournaments. He noticed when fishing around home he would catch a bass here and there by flipping or casting a jig doused in scent, but he discovered a scented bait produced better numbers on northern waters.

“If you find a place where you can catch a bunch of smallmouth in one spot, then you can really see how good scent is,” he said.

Biffle recalled a Bassmaster event at Thousand Islands.

The fishing was slow one morning so he decided to apply a goby-flavored scent to his Gene Larew Biffle Bug. He immediately caught a four-pound smallmouth when the camera boat arrived. On his next two casts, he caught two more fish in the same weight class. On his fifth cast, Biffle caught a walleye. When the camera boat guys asked what he was doing, Biffle told them

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he was applying scent to his Biffle Bug. The tournament veteran also believes scent played a key role in his victory at the 2013 Bassmaster Elite Series event on the Mississippi River in Lacrosse, Wis. TRY THE GARLIC Scents now come in a variety of flavors, but Biffle believes the best scent is one loaded with lots of garlic.

However, he can’t explain why fish like garlic so much.

“It definitely works on people,” he quipped.

Other flavors of scents he has used throughout the years include shad, crayfish and goby. Biffle decides which flavor of scent to apply based on the main forage of the area he is fishing.

BIFFLE BUG JUICE His fondness for scent prompted Biffle to team up with Gene Larew to produce Biffle Bug Juice, a new gel crawfish formulation with garlic. Larew claims the amino-acid base formulation provides natural protein requirements for bass.

Although some anglers apply scent to crankbaits, Biffle believes the best lures for scenting are soft plastics,

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Biffle: Garlic scent really does work.

especially those with hollow bodies and ribs. His favorite lure for adding scent is the Biffle Bug since it has an oval-opening cavity for injecting scent and a ribbed body for applying his gel scent between the ribs.

When applying his Bug Juice to his Biffle Bug, the Oklahoma pro keeps squirting the gel into the hollow area until it starts oozing out of the opening and then he applies a generous amount on the lure’s bottom ribs.

“Then I wipe the nozzle applicator off on the tail,” he said.

STICKING TO IT Since his Bug Juice is a Vaseline-type scent, Biffle

claims it will stay on a bait longer than a spray scent. He has noticed the scent grease has stayed on his lure while fishing for 10 to 20 minutes before he had to reapply.

Water temperature sometimes dictates how frequently Biffle has to reapply scent to his bait. He has to reapply scent more often in the summertime because the warm water makes the Bug Juice runnier, so it drips off the bait faster, whereas in cold water, the grease thickens and clings to the lure longer.

Cold weather also makes it more difficult to apply a grease scent since it tends to thicken, but Biffle has some solutions for this problem. When fishing in the cold, Biffle prevents his

Bug Juice from thickening by keeping the scent in his pocket so it will remain warm. If he is having trouble squeezing the gel out, Biffle cuts off part of the bottle’s nozzle to make a larger opening so the grease can flow out more freely.

Biffle favors the grease style of scent over spray scents because he considers the gel easier to apply and is less messy. “You get more of (the spray) on your boat than you do on your bait,” he said.

The former Bassmaster star is unsure if his Biffle Bug Juice is better than other scents. All Biffle knows is that it works for him – and he has the tournament results to prove it.

Outdoor Guide

Page 14

March-April, 2019

The Paddlefish, Like No Other

By GERALD J. SCOTT

a motel room anywhere in the Osage Basin west of Bagnell Dam until after April 30, when the paddlefish season closes.

My body’s no longer interested in snagging a paddlefish, but my mind is fascinated by them. Here are some of the reasons why.

PRIMITIVE FISH? Some scientists refer to the paddlefish as a “primitive fish,” because it has undergone very few morphological changes since it first appeared

If you’re among those who think using heavy saltwater tackle to drive a treble hook through the thick hide of a fish bears a frightening resemblance to hard work, you may think you don’t care that Missouri’s annual paddlefish (spoonbill) snagging season opens March 15.

Be forewarned that you might change your mind about that when you try to find a parking spot at a boat ramp, a seat in a restaurant or

in fossil records between 300 and 400 million years ago, predating the first appearance of dinosaurs by more than 50 million years. To me, that’s not primitive, that’s getting it right the first time.

Getting it right became an understatement about 65 million years ago when a massive asteroid slammed into the shallow ocean just off of what is now the Yucatan Peninsula.

A series of superheated shock waves radiated out from the impact crater and within at most a few hours, every flam-

Andy Belobraydic of Richwoods, MO, snagged the state-record paddlefish on the James River arm of Table Rock Lake in Stone County in March, 2015. It was 56” long with a girth of 43” and weighed 140 pounds.

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mable object on the entire planet was ablaze.

Smoke and ash rose into the upper atmosphere and blocked out the sun for several years. When the skies finally cleared, 95 percent of all the plants and animals that had been alive the day before the asteroid hit were extinct.

Mr. Paddlefish, who was a trifle slow on the uptake, said to Mrs. Paddlefish, “Did you notice how hot and yucky the water got for awhile? Now it’s so cold I wish I was warmblooded.”

His wife replied, “Open your mouth and eat your plankton. Whatever’s going on up there has nothing to do with us. Besides, climate swings are never as bad as everyone says they’ll be.”

LAST FISH STANDING But life doesn’t make guarantees even to paddlefish. Sometime before the beginning of recorded history, three of the four species of filter-feeding paddlefish found in North America after the asteroid impact had become extinct, as had one of the two species of predacious paddlefish found in China. It is widely believed that the remaining species of Chinese paddlefish became extinct in the first decade of the 21st century.

That leaves the North American paddlefish as the last fish standing. You might think a species that survived a global mass extinction could shrug off human interference, but such is not the case. Due to a combination of over-fishing, sedimentation and – by the far most important – dam construction, paddlefish are in serious trouble over much of the Mississippi River watershed, virtually all of which they occupied as late as the middle of the 19th century.

Only in nine of the 11 states associated with the middle or lower sections of the Mississippi, Missouri or Ohio rivers are paddlefish numbers listed as “stable.”

Paddlefish numbers are “declining” in the other two.

Paddlefish populations in the upper portions of the nation’s three largest rivers

are either “endangered/ threatened” or “extirpated.”

Alabama is the only state outside of the Mississippi River basin that still has paddlefish, and they’re ranked as “endangered/ threatened.”

A MISSOURI SOLUTION After reporting so much bad news, I’m happy to congratulate the Missouri Department of Conservation for having been in the forefront of modern paddlefish research and management since the agency’s early days. It needed to be, because Missouri already had a unique, self-sustaining paddlefish population in and west of the Lake of the Ozarks as a result of paddlefish being trapped upriver when Bagnell Dam closed.

The MDC knew that Truman Dam would block paddlefish movement out of the Lake of the Ozarks and permanently drown the spawning grounds located west of Osceola, and it was ready with a solution.

Paddlefish were raised from egg to about 12 inches in length and then stocked in both lakes, creating a putgrow-and-take fishery.

Later these stocking efforts were expanded to include the James River arm of Table Rock Lake. This program has been so successful that the current state record paddlefish was caught at Table Rock in 2015.

Purists who think the paddlefish they snag have to be truly “wild” can find plenty of places to ply their trade on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and in both rivers’ tributaries. Snaggers on the Mississippi have the added incentive of a longer spring season and a fall season.

If you’d like to try to catch a paddlefish this spring – as opposed to having more frustration than success – my best advice is to hire a guide. For one thing, there’s a lot more to this sport than meets the eye both before and after a paddlefish has been brought boat-side.

Then too, paddlefish are very slimy, and you really don’t want one in your own boat.

March-April, 2019

Outdoor Guide

Page 15

For Fishing, Leeches Go from Horror to Hero

By JOEL M. VANCE

and in plastic surgery. One leech purveyor says patient acIn a memorable scene from ceptance of leeches “depends the movie The African Queen, largely on the physician’s Charlie Alnutt, the scruffy skill in clearly explaining the owner of the rusty boat, has to process.” dive underwater to fix someAfter his experiences in thing. He surfaces sputtering Africa, Humphrey Bogart and shuddering, covered with would have had some diffileeches. culty accepting a leeching, no The revulsion was real matter how persuasive the doc … because the leeches were was. But for an angler who just real. Star Humphrey Bogart, had his finger reattached after who played Charlie, was no his filet knife slipped, leeches fan of the leech, especially might be among his best when it was snacking on him. friends, however temporarily.

Director John Huston, a Historically doctors used believer in realism, had taken leeches to draw out “bad his cast to Africa and if leeches blood.” The idea was that if were part of the scenery, so you sucked out enough bad much the better. blood—“an imbalance of A little bloodsucking never bodily humours” – the body hurt a movie. That’s what would recover its balance leeches do. Never mind Count among blood, saliva, urine and Dracula. He was fiction. feces, and the patient would Leeches are real, and they do recover. suck blood, or at least some Many didn’t. Legend claims of them do.

George Washington was bled Among the lesser-known more than four quarts in 24 citizens of the natural world, hours. Whether the blood the leech has not benefited was bad or not, the lack of it from good press. If a leech probably killed the Father of were the size of a Mack truck, Our Country. you’d see people running off NAPOLEONIC cliffs to get away from it. It can HORROR be an oval blob or stretch out There is a horrific story to amazing length – of those sold for fish bait, the “jumbo” about what happened to size can stretch to more than some of Napoleon’s soldiers in Egypt during a 1799 20 inches. campaign. They drank water CITIZEN LEECH with bloodsucking leeches in But for all their ghastliness, it, and the leeches fastened leeches are helpful citizens of inside the soldier’s mouths the natural world in more ways and throats, in some cases than one. Two, to be exact – in suffocating France’s finest as medicine and in fishing. the leeches bloated with GalLeech therapy is as old lic blood. Other soldiers died as medicine (history records from blood loss. leeching well before the birth Napoleon didn’t have the of Christ), but as new as a best of luck with leeches few years ago, when medical anyway. According to legend people revisited the practice. his doctors applied leeches to It sounds medieval, but him to alleviate hemorrhoid modern doctors stick leeches pain, but somehow lost the on the site of recent surgeries, leeches and instead overdosed and the creatures inject an an- the Emperor with laudanum, ticoagulant and vascular dilat- causing him to be spaced out at ing substance that stimulates the Battle of Waterloo, which blood flow. It’s win/win for he lost, along with his empire. patient and leech alike.

Shakespeare said Richard The use mostly is in re- III lost the Battle of Bosworth attaching severed appendages Field, crying, “A horse, a

In a scene from the movie, Katharine Hepburn picks the leeches off of Humphrey Bogart.

One ends sucks and the other holds on.

horse, my kingdom for a horse,” but there’s no record of Napoleon shouting, “A leech, a leech, my empire for a leech.” Doesn’t quite have the same ring anyway.

LEECH BASICS Now here’s how a leech works (you might want to have the faint-hearted leave the room). You’re swimming happily and a leech, being an aquatic creature, latches onto whatever part of you is available. There is a sucking disc, like a miniature bathroom plunger, on either end. The one on the back end is for holding on; the one on the front is the mouth and, after murmuring, “Mmmmmm!” the leech proceeds to snack.

You won’t feel it – there is no pain from the bite because an anesthetic is among the chemicals the leech injects into the wound. It also introduces an anticoagulant, which allows the wound to bleed for up to 48 hours after the leech is removed.

One recommendation for removal of a feeding leech is to let it finish feeding and drop off by itself – a remedy that takes more fortitude than most people have. Bogart heated them with cigarettes until they dropped off – an ironic twist since Bogart, a heavy smoker, died of throat cancer.

Lewis and Clark carried a bucket of leeches from St. Louis toward the Pacific Ocean, insurance in case someone needed serious bloodletting. Or maybe it was a bait bucket – leeches are good fish bait, too. Many soft-bodied lures are designed to imitate leeches, and they’re usually fished with a lead head and jigged to undulate in the water.

To humans a leech is among the least appealing creatures in all of nature, but to fish it’s filet mignon.

BAITING THE HOOK Medical leeches aren’t cheap – a good one will run you more than $7 at a leech supply house (and yes, there are such things). But the fish bait variety will run you about $20 for a pound or roughly $2 a dozen. Leeches are tough as leather, so one leech can seduce several fish. Walleyes

Wikipedia photo

are the fish of choice for leech anglers, but almost any fish will slurp a leech, wriggling on a jig hook.

It figures – leeches are annelids, related to nightcrawlers, which are perhaps the finest all-around fish bait and infinitely more appealing to deal with than a (gulp!) leech. Baiting a hook with a leech takes a certain amount of grim resolution, but not as much as collecting the leeches in the first place.

A fellow I once knew collected leeches each spring and, like those who find morel mushrooms, he would not reveal his hunting ground, not that I wanted to know. He sold his leech harvest to bait dealers for enough money each year to buy a major appliance – a refrigerator one year, a television set the next.

But I figure he earned his appliances. Leeches are fond of dark places, so the best time to collect them is at night, turning over logs and other debris in murky streams, ponds or marshes. This is not a sport for the squeamish.

TIE A RIBBON Ribbon leeches are the species-of-choice for fish bait. They are not blood suckers, but feed on mosquito larvae and organic matter. In fact, many leech species don’t go for the jugular, but you won’t know until you apply a leech to skin and see what happens. However, wading bare-skinned through leechinfested water is a crap shoot, since at the same time you’re plucking non-bloodsuckers, you may be attracting their sanguinary kinfolk Leech care is not as labor intensive as keeping gerbils or even nightcrawlers. Leeches can go for months without feeding and don’t even need to be refrigerated (which prolongs a nightcrawler’s ill-fated life almost indefinitely).

If you do feed them, throw a few nightcrawlers in with them, a case of bait serving bait. Avoid dosing them with chlorinated water, though – they do have their sensitive nature. At the other extreme, don’t immerse them in distilled water either. A jug of the same water where you found them

is ideal, but it needs changing every couple of days and not all at once – add about half new water each time.

Make sure the lid is tight on your leech container. They can flatten out and squeeze through some mighty small openings. In olden times some of the finest porcelain manufacturers made exquisite leech jars for the medical trade. Today you find the originals in museums, but if you’re an angler with a yen for the unusual, you can buy replicas from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain for about $150.

Or you can use an old, fiftycent Mason jar.

The leech as bait is mostly familiar to the north-central states. One of the biggest of Minnesota’s alleged 10,000 lakes is Leech. Every bait shop in Minnesota, where if you shout, “Is Olson here?” to any given crowd, at least half will raise their hands, will have an ample supply of leeches. It’s up to the angler to attach them to a hook, however.

IMITATIONS NOT JUST FLATTERY Dedicated fly anglers prefer imitation leeches. A friend who lives in Vermont is an avid fly angler and uses nothing but what he calls a “bunny fly” which is a strip of rabbit fur died black to imitate a stretched-out leech. It casts like a brick, especially in the wind, but during the peak of the season, he’ll catch and release 30-40 smallmouth bass in an evening’s fishing.

I once fished side-by-side with him, using popping bugs, and he caught two bass to every one of mine, and most of his were bigger.

A Missouri friend ties what he calls his B.U.B. fly (Big Ugly Bug) which is a blob of black chenille and feathers wrapped around a big hook. Looks all the world like a leech, but most Wooly Worm variations, especially in dark colors, do. His fly and the Western favorite Bitch Creek

Nymph, never mind the name, are close imitations of a swimming leech, and it’s probably to avoid tender sensibilities that they’re called anything else.

CARP IMITATORS The late Gary LaFontaine, among the finest of Western fly anglers, wrote about using a Bristle Leech to attract big trout. He’d seen big rainbows rooting in the mud of a lake, for all the world like bottomfeeding carp. They were nosing out hiding leeches.

A sizeable contingent of flyangling purists considers fishing with such flies as somehow unsporting – the equivalent of using a quarter-stick of dynamite. They’re still struggling with the ethics of using stonefly imitations, much less the imitation of something you buy in bait shops.

But then there’s the somewhat larger continent of fly anglers who’d rather catch fish than be pure of heart. There’s not much mystery to the method of fishing a leech imitation; you retrieve by twitching the rod or the line to give the fly or lure a pulsing action, like that of a swimming leech.

BLACK BLOBS, EGAD! So, whether it functions as bait for you or breakfast on you, the leech is an object of fascination and revulsion. Several years back we bought a place that had a one-acre pond (we call it a lake to impress folks). Our daughter Carrie joyfully went swimming for the first time and came out of the water with some curious black blobs clinging to her legs.

“Oh!” my wife exclaimed in horror. “They’re leeches!”

“Oh!” I exclaimed in excitement. “Right out of the African Queen!”

It didn’t win me any favors with either Carrie or my wife.

On the other hand it sparked a lifelong interest in leeches, a passion not shared by the rest of the family … or Humphrey Bogart.

Humphrey Bogart is prepared with real leeches for the famous scene.

Page 16

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Wild Turkey Federation on the Job Photo and Text

By BRANDON BUTLER

Riparian area habitat work helps turkey populations.

If you’re not familiar with the term “riparian,” it simply refers to land adjacent to rivers, streams and other moving bodies of water.

Riparian areas include floodplains and floodplain buffers. They offer diverse habitats, which can be moist and swampy, or dry and sandy. It all depends on rainfall. Riparian areas are often forested, varying in density from thick to open.

When you consider the essential needs of turkeys – food, water, cover and nesting sites – riparian areas are rich with all four. It’s water that defines a riparian area, so go ahead and check that box. Insects, seeds and berries are usually found in abundance. The moist soil produces dense vegetation for ample security, and all kinds of brush and fallen trees are available for nesting.

In Missouri, there is an abundance of public land along our many riverways.

A few of my favorite turkeyhunting spots close to home are large sections of public land along the Missouri River.

These areas are remote and most easily accessed by boat, which alleviates a lot of hunting pressure.

I hunt riparian areas on these public lands that have been improved by the work of National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) biologists and volunteers, along with staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Missouri Department of Conservation (DOC).

NOT JUST FOR TURKEYS A bonus of improving habitat for turkeys is the improvement of habitat for countless other species, most of which are non-game species that likely wouldn’t command the financial resources to fund habitat improvements on their own unless they had already reached a critical status.

Missouri is one state working hand-in-hand with the NWTF to put dollars to work in a way that benefits turkeys along with numerous other critters.

“Each state has a wildlife action plan that justifies the

funding made available to them via the USFWS through Pitman-Robertson funding,” said John Burk, NWTF district biologist covering Missouri.

“The purpose of these plans is to address the needs of species of greatest conservation concern while also keeping common species common.”

NWTF partnerships are improving lands in our state.

“Partnerships are critical for state conservation agencies to get meaningful work accomplished on both public and private lands,” said Dave Hoover, DOC’s small-game coordinator for the DOC. “The NWTF has a long history of partnering to get conservation work done,” he added. “The NWTF Super Fund has provided important funding to several restoration projects here in Missouri, as well as assisting with equipment acquisition, particularly as it relates to prescribed burning – a critically important practice for improving habitat for turkeys.”

OTHER SPECIES GAIN Riparian habitat work being accomplished through NWTF partnerships is enhancing public land and hunting opportunities for turkeys across America. It’s also benefiting other game species such as bobwhite quail, rabbits and squirrels, as well as many non-game species. NWTF members and supporters should feel good knowing their dollars are being stretched through partnerships to improve riparian habitats where they hunt and enjoy the great outdoors.

Brandon Butler is the executive director of the Conservation Federation of Missouri.

Great Lakes Asian Carp Plan Advances The projected cost of preventing Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes has nearly tripled, according to a new plan from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The federal government is expected to cover 65 percent of the $775 million construction price tag. The report calls for the other 35 percent to come from “non-federal” contributors.

Former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner said in May that Illinois would work with other states and federal officials on a strategy to fortify an Illinois River lock and dam at Joliet to keep Asian carp out of Lake Michigan.

Several states are expected to help Illinois pick up the $272 million bill, with Michigan spearheading the Great Lakes Basin Partnership to Block Asian Carp.

“It’s an enormous advance in progress,” said Tammy

Newcomb, a Michigan water official. “We are committed to working with partners toward moving forward with the project to protect the Great Lakes.”

Despite the price tag, the potential economic losses far outweigh the construction costs, officials believe.

“When you look at a onetime cost of approximately $775 million, it pales in comparison to a $7 billion annual sport fishery that would be put at risk if the Asian carp were to get in the Great Lakes,” said Drew Youngdyke, spokesman for the National Wildlife Federation.

“It’s not just the big lakes,” he added. “The fish would survive and thrive in the bay inlets and connected river mouths. It’s all of the economies and all of the outdoor recreation going up all the rivers and connected inlet lakes.”

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 17

EXPERIENCE ELLINGTON ~ Only 2 Hours South of St. Louis ~

Clearwater Lake and Webb Creek Recreation Area - Hwy H – Bring the family to

1

boat, ski, fish, and unwind on crystal clear Clearwater Lake. This area of the lake is formed where Webb Creek and Logan Creek empty into Clearwater Lake. It is known for its crappie, bass and catfish fishing in the spring and Clearwater Lake fun for the entire family all summer long. Camping is available; at Webb Creek Recreation Park; plus a full service marina with boat/wave runner rentals on site. Webb Creek Park features over 40 campsites, swim beach, playground, showers, picnic pavilions, boat launch, and more. Call Webb Creek Marina at 573-461-2344 for marina, boat rental and campsite information or visit www.recreation.gov to make reservations. If you are interested in all the conveniences of home call Webb Creek Cabins for cabin rentals, 573-461-2244.

Black River and K Bridge 2 Recreation Area

- K Hwy – Float, canoe, fish and explore the beautiful Black River. Enjoy swimming, camping and picnicking right on the banks of the Black River. K Bridge Recreation Area and Campground offers playground, showers, electric and comfort station, visit www.

Black River reserveamerica.com to make reservations. Floats (raft or canoe) can be arranged on site by calling Jeff’s Canoe Rental at 573-598-4555. A small general store is also available on site.

3

Current River -Hwy 106 to HH Highway- Fish, swim, camp and relax on majestic Current River. Great place to explore Current River. Rough camping is available at Log Yard Landing (known to the locals as Cardareva Gravel Bar) and the School Yard. These are available on a on a first come basis, electric is not available. Bring your tubes, rafts and kayaks; a perfect day float….put in at Current River Powder Mill and float to Log Yard.

Enjoy the quiet outdoors, a nice campfire and Current River this summer!

4 Blue Spring

- Hwy 106- This spring is the 6th largest spring in Missouri and known for its deep blue color. It has been said that this spring is so deep, if submerged the Statue of Liberty’s torch would not be seen above the water and actually the bottom has never been found. Take your camera! Blue Spring can be accessed by boat, kayak, float or a short .25 mile hike from Powder Mill Recreation Area. Located on Current River, near Powder Mill.

5 Rocky Falls

- NN Hwy- A cascading crystal Rocky Creek drops from the Ozark Mountains into a lazy pool which eventually winds through the Ozarks to Current River. A must see if you are in the area and fun for all ages. Wear non-slip shoes and use caution when climbing on the falls. Picnic tables provided.

6 Current River Conservation Area

–Consists of 28,000 acres of state land. Deer, turkey, eagles, elk and a multitude of wildlife can be seen. UTV’s, ATV’s and vehicle traffic are welcomed on miles of gravel roads that wind through some 60+ food plots. Buford pond, Missouri’s first fire tower, a 1926 log cabin and an earthen Fort Barnesville can all be found here. Buford Pond provides fishing and picnicking and is a favorite location of all. For hunting enthusiasts an unstaffed rifle and archery range are provided.

Current River Conservation Area is home to the Missouri Ozark Ecosystem Project, the world’s most comprehensive forest management study. This 100 year project spans over 9,000 acres.

Main park entrance located on South Road in Ellington, other entrances located off Hwy 106 and HH highway. Maps are available at the main park entrance.

7 Local Flavor

– Ellington Chamber of Commerce & Copeland-Shy Visitor Center – One of the oldest homes in Ellington, built in 1886 by Dr. William Copeland, was recently opened as a visitor center. We invite you to stop by and pick up brochures and information about the area. Located at 155 W. Walnut Street (Hwy 106) in Ellington.

Copeland-Shy House

Also while in town you won’t want to miss the Reynolds County Museum while visiting Ellington. This museum is filled with relicts from days gone by and the rich history of the Ozarks.

Volunteers staff the establishment and are happy to answer questions; Open Mar-Nov, T-F 10-4 and 2nd Saturday of the month 10-4. Call 573-663-3233 for more information.

Need a spot for the kids to play, then visit Brawley Park located on South Road. This park features a playground, basketball courts, picnic pavilions and short hiking trail.

Want some nostalgia from a couple decades back; how about a Drive In movie. One of only a few drive-ins left in the Midwest is located just south of Ellington on Highway 21., call 573-945-2121 for info.

9 Blair Creek

- Hwy 106 – This area is a favorite of the local’s spring, summer and fall. For the person who is looking for the unknown, adventure into the wild Ozark hills for the beautiful views, caves, swimming, picnicking. Here riding the back roads in ATV’s, UTV’s and 4-wheel drives is exciting Blair Creek and fun. Entrance located North of Hwy 106 across from Blue Spring entrance.

10 Scenic Highway 106

- This 26 mile drive between Ellington and Eminence is known state wide for its scenic views and beauty, and is especially a favorite in the fall. This section of highway is also home to the Mid Atlantic Bicycle Trail and sees many bicycle travelers from April-October. Bicycle enthusiasts say it’s one of the “toughest sections on the trail” and known for the steep hills & hollers.

11 Peck Ranch

- H Highway, Shannon County- Listen for the bugle this fall! Elk are now roaming the hills of the Ozarks and can be seen in Peck Ranch, Current River Conservation Area and the surrounding region. Thanks to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s recent Elk Restoration Program elk were released into the elk zone beginning in the summer of 2011. With the third release the summer of 2013 the elk herd is nearing 200 bulls, cows and calves. Peck Ranch is open from sunrise/sunset daily and offers a driving tour. Bugling occurs in the fall, Sept-Nov. Check the Missouri Dept of Conservation website for park closing details. Maps are available at park entrance.

Elk

2

9 8 4

8 Ozark Trail

- Hwy 106- Blair Creek & Current River section; Hwy 106 – Whether you are looking for a one day hike or want to make a few days of it; hiking these sections of the Ozark Trail is rewarding and adventurous.

Such splendid locations as Rocky Falls, Klepzig Mill and Buzzard Mountain Shut-Ins are located right on the trail.

For the adventurous visitor this is a must!

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Ellington Chamber of Commerce | www.ellingtonmo.com | Find us

Outdoor Guide

Page 18

March-April, 2019

Gunsmith TechTalk

By JED NADLER Master Gunsmith

What Makes a Bullet Rise?

This is one of my favorite topics to discuss and illustrate.

Having been trained as an engineer, I can just see my professor looking at me, wondering what I’d been smoking, if I suggested that a bullet might rise after being shot from a horizontal barrel.

Sir Isaac Newton would flat-out protest even louder, claiming that the gravity force he studied so long to quantify would not permit it.

But how do you explain a bullet rising higher than the crosshairs of the scope just after it leaves the barrel and then gradually dropping back into alignment just at the exact moment you need it to, at the target?

One of the most imaginative explanations I’ve heard

and it didn’t spin from the rifling, then I could see that happening. But that is one of the actual benefits of rifling.

If the bullet IS slightly asymmetrical and wants to wander off in a specific direction, it will only go that way for a fraction of a fraction of a second before it rotates and goes a different way. With this strategy, a bullet whose center of mass is off will just do tight spirals and stay mostly where it was pointed.

ROTATION RATE As a sidelight … how fast does a bullet rotate? A bullet in a barrel with a twist rate of 1:10 (one rotation in 10” of barrel length) and going 2,500 feet per second rotates at 125,000 RPM, more or less. Yeah, that’s right, about 15 times faster than your car engine at redline!

When we bore-sight a

What most don’t realize is that the scope view is actually angled downward to intercept the bullet path. was “aerodynamics” … the bullet’s shape giving it lift.

If it weren’t symmetrical

scope and rifle, we provide a ballistics diagram similar to the one you see here. It shows how the scope is mounted

some number of inches above the bore and how the bullet drops some number of inches on its way to a target 100 yards away.

Obviously, everything is out of proportion in such a graph, a few inches vertically and 100 yards horizontally.

But the Outdoor Guide isn’t wide enough, even with a full two-page spread, to fit a proportionately drawn illustration.

SIGHT, BULLET PATHS What most don’t realize is that the scope view is actually angled downward to intercept the bullet path. In fact, it intercepts the bullet path twice as shown, with the second intercept at the desired bore-sight distance.

In that way the sight path and bullet path can be close to each other over a wider range of distances.

Undeniably, in the whole range of distances between the first and second intercepts, the bullet will impact a target above where the crosshairs would indicate. The bullet has not risen since leaving the barrel but it has risen with respect to the scope view. In this range, one would have to “hold under” the crosshairindicated point, as the bullet

will strike above it. There’s our answer. Gravity prevails.

Now, please look at the little, double-headed black arrows between the bullet path and the scope view. Where they are located is the widest gap between the two. Using the scale on the left, those little black arrows represent about a quarter-inch or .25 caliber diameter bullet. When the gap between the two paths is less than a bullet diameter, we consider it effectively the

same point. Therefore we can declare that span of distance the “point blank range” where the “aimpoint and the impact point are the same.”

THE ANSWER I have illustrated the point blank range in the gray shaded rectangle. In this example, as long as you’re happy with an error no bigger than the bullet, you don’t have to hold over or hold under from about 35 to 105 yards.

So in closing, the answer is, “Yes, a bullet can rise, if you point the barrel up.”

DISCLAIMER – Do not make changes to a firearm for which you are not qualified. Dangerous conditions can result. Take the gun to a qualified gunsmith.

Jed Nadler can be reached at FIRST Gunsmithing in Valley Park, at (636) 8266606 or online at info@ FIRSTGunsmithing.com

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Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 19

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Outdoor Guide

Page 20

March-April, 2019

One More Turkey-Hunting Story

By LARRY DABLEMONT I will fish hard for the next couple of months, and fishing will dominate this column for a while, but first I have to tell one more turkey-hunting story.

In doing this, I realize I am causing most hunters to say, “Heck, I had a better story than that one.” That’s why we publish the outdoor magazine, “The Lightnin’ Ridge Outdoor Journal” to print stories from readers, whether hunting or fishing, that will top mine.

So if you have some really great outdoor experiences, write them up and send them to me.

I killed my first gobbler not long ago, when he came readily to my call, gobbled a couple dozen times, then got behind a big rock the size of a boar hog and began to strut, where I could only see his fanned-out tail. That kind of thing shows me that I haven’t got enough patience to fill an empty shot-shell hull.

I was tempted to jump up on that rock and blast him as he ran away, but remembering how many times I have tried such a thing, only to find out that turkeys have faster reflexes than me, I waited.

Finally he looked up over the rock and I was rewarded

for my two or three minutes of agonizing wait. It was 30 minutes past noon, and I had been hunting since daylight.

THE LONELY GOBBLER The most enjoyable hunt I had was the day I watched a big gobbler come gobbling and strutting through the woods, convinced that I was a hen. He must have spent an hour moving slowly toward me, breast feathers glistening in sunlight between the trees.

He circled me, 50 yards away, almost in range. What a sight that was.

He never got inside my shotgun confidence distance, and then he retraced his steps, leaving as he had come, gobbling and strutting.

So this time, I struck out across some private land I had permission to hunt, about 10 in the morning. I walked at a pretty good clip, through patches of woods where I would call enticingly. I heard nothing.

Finally, 15 minutes before noon, after walking about two miles, I reached the wooded peak above the river where I had wanted to be an hour before. It was a steep, boulderstrewn hillside, not exactly a bluff, but pretty close to it.

I sat there on a big rock, thanking God that there were

His big mistake was gobbling at an owl hoot.

–LiveTradingNews.com photo

places like this left to see in the Ozarks, and that I was able to walk far enough to see them.

IMITATING AN OWL I called, and there was no answer – quietest morning I had ever seen. So I headed back into the woods behind me, and for some reason, I decided I would give my barred owl call, which often causes turkeys to gobble. I am glad I thought of it, because down close to the river below me, two gobblers hammered out gobbles close together.

Excitement replaced resignation, and I quickly found a good place to hide beneath a concealing cedar tree. Entic-

ingly, I called… Nothing! I hooted like an owl again, so good that an owl across the river answered me. But no gobbles...

I sat there thinking that they were probably down there with a group of hens, and would never gobble again until next March. Beneath my breath I cussed my rotten luck. Resignation replaced the excitement. I was tempted to take my lucky buckeye out of my pocket and throw it at them!

TIME FOR WAITING You’ve never heard better calling than I gave them that mid-day, sitting beneath that

cedar tree. I have heard hen turkeys that aren’t half as good at sounding like a hen turkey than I was. Still, there was nothing. At such times it is hard for me to sit still and wait.

There are hunters like me who always prefer the feeling of the ground on the bottom of their feet than on the bottom of their rear. There was a thorn or a sharp stick beneath me, and I was about to get up and stomp on it when I saw, down the steep hillside amongst the boulders, a bright red and white head sticking up through green buds. I watched him come up that hill, my heartbeat going from 90 to 150 in about two seconds.

He was big and beautiful and wary. I watched, and he walked, pausing to look for that hen he thought I was, then coming closer. In a minute or so he was only 35 yards away, an old mature gobbler with a dangling double beard, who made the mistake of gobbling at a doggone owl hoot, or he would be roosting in one of those river bottom sycamores tonight.

I had to carry him back, across one creek and up two mountains. Walking two miles carrying a 20-pound turkey is difficult. I stopped once again to thank God for places I can still walk to where

trees are big, and people are scarce.

NOT ABOUT WHAT’S EASY As someone who once couldn’t walk for months, I know how wonderful it is to walk, even when it isn’t easy.

I don’t need easy. If that was the case I could have perhaps shot the old gobbler that struts just a little ways behind my house most mornings, but I am saving him for a time when I am old and lazy.

Seems like only yesterday we were watching it snow, stoking up the fire and thinking about how nice it would be when redbuds were in bloom and wild gobblers were sounding off in the bottoms, where May apples and mushrooms would help us to forget the winter. And I’ll be doggone if it didn’t get here.

Now we have to wish it would have stayed awhile. It is almost May finally … time to find some crows foot and poke greens and plant stuff in the garden. The first pair of orioles arrived today. I can hear one scolding a squirrel as I write this.

My website is www.larrydablemontoutdoors.blogspot. com. Write to me at Box 22, Bolivar, Mo. 65613 or e-mail me at lightninridge@ windstream.net

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Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 21

Book Reviews ’17 Lives’ Is an Eye-Opening Read Title: THE MAN WITH 17 LIVES: Superman Ain’t Got Nothin’ on Me Author: Bill Vaznis

Paperback, $17.95 at amazon.com

By RON BICE I was 12 pages into it and I was hooked. In fact, I didn’t want it to end! It has 191 pages that will definitely make you think – and I’m still thinking!

The author, Bill Vaznis, has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for writing this moving book. He’s a colleague, and to my knowledge the first outdoor writer to be honored for such an accomplishment.

Bill is a survivor and should have died at least 17 times throughout his life. He believes his guardian angels have pulled him from the shadows of death and we all have this resource if we are only willing to tap into this spiritual helping hand.

As I continued to read I could relate to the many times divine intervention Bill Vaznis saved my life as well.

As Bill shared, “The target audience is a reader who does not regularly attend church services, does not read the Bible, believes time is not measured in hundreds or thousands of years but rather in billions of light years and does not pray to a higher being ... except to fill an inside straight.

“Yet something in the back of his mind tells him that God does indeed exist, that there is a higher power in the universe and that everything happens for a reason. Indeed, there are no coincidences in life. But how does the average guy reach him?

“The real purpose of this book is to let the reader know that she or he does not need to be an angel, a card-carrying Christian or a pillar of society to gain entrance into the realms of the afterlife. In fact, you do not need to rely on a priest, a rabbi, a minister, a nun, a pastor, a monk, a witch doctor, a soothsayer, or a TV evangelist to run interference for you. Why? We all have a direct line to the Commander-In-Chief, if we would only take the time to recognize his presence in our daily lives.”

Bill is a full-time outdoor writer and award-winning wildlife photographer whose works have appeared in every major outdoor magazine in North America. He is a former archery columnist for Bowhunting World and Whitetail Strategies, the former editor of Bear Hunting Magazine, and he has published over 1,000 articles and columns plus thousands of photographs on bowhunting, big-game hunting and freshwater fishing.

His books include Successful Black Bear Hunting, 500 Deer Hunting Tips and Still-Hunting Trophy Whitetails.

I highly recommend The Man With 17 Lives. To learn more, go to Bill’s web site at www. billvaznis.com.

Always a Market for Fresh Sheds Photo and Text

By RON BICE When I started looking for shed antlers over 40 years ago, I had little success. However, with a little knowledge, you can increase your odds considerable.

I’ve picked up over 400 whitetail antlers over the years. I had no idea they had monetary value when I first started shed hunting, but they do. You can turn your shed hunting into a profitable adventure.

Sheds are used by jewelry makers and craftsman that fashion chandeliers and other awesome creations. They are also sold as chew toys for dogs and used overseas for medicinal purposes.

And then there are the collectors, people who just like antlers, and like them a lot. I call them “shed freaks.”

In most cases, antlers are sold by the pound, but collectors of rare and very large ones will pay a tidy sum. An antler will most likely have to score 100” before a collector will pay big money, and if you are lucky enough to have found a matching set, the number can rise significantly. The key is finding the right buyer.

SHED FREAKS Many of the “shed freaks”

Most antlers are sold by the pound unless they are rare or large.

check out the various Department of Natural Resources websites to learn where the deer yards are–places where deer congregate in the winter to make survival easier. These are areas with increased odds of finding abundant shed antlers.

They may travel to Saskatchewan and other Canadian provinces as well as many states, searching not only for whitetail antlers but those of mule deer and elk as well. A 400” set of elk antlers can bring as much as a couple grand.

But most shed hunters, like me, find only a few each year.

Even so, you can sell your finds if and when you decide to do so.

A matched set of whitetail antlers from the same buck scoring over 180” can usually be sold for a fair amount, approximately $150 to $200 depending on the characteristics of the set.

Working with an antler

dealer is the way to go because they’ve spent the time finding the key collectors who are looking for a unique set.

BEAT THE RODENTS! If you want to get the best price for your antlers, you’re going to want to find them as soon as they hit the ground as rodents will begin to chew on them, reducing the value rapidly. January through March is the best time to search.

Squirrels are the number one culprit, and then other rodents chew on them as well.

Once they start consuming one, they may return for days until it is all but gone. The good news here is even antlers that have been chewed on still have value, but it will be reduced to poundage rather than collectability in most cases.

At this point a fresh typical antler in good condition is worth around $10 a pound.

There are several websites that buy antlers. Check this one – antlerbuyers.com/getantler-prices/ – for starters and go from there to see what the value might be of the antlers you have in possession.

And if you’re new to this fun sport, keep in mind, every one you find can be exchanged for money. As I shared earlier the key is finding the right buyer.

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Outdoor Guide

Page 22

March-April, 2019

Wildlife Wrangling and Outdoor Ramblings

Phantom Drone of Ray County

Photo and Text

By RANDALL P. DAVIS

When you consider myths, legends, folk tales, fables and lore, most are spawned with a foundation of truth. Given time – and the imagination of those telling the story – more “facts” are added and some tidbits taken away to where the tale rarely resembles the original.

But it’s truly a rare opportunity when a myth’s genesis is observed first hand. My family

holds this great distinction. This is the tale.

It was Christmas not long ago, and that Jolly Ol’ Elf mistakenly thought I was a very good boy because from his sack came a shiny DRONE! – a high-definition photography drone, to be exact.

I was tickled as a 12-yearold would be and had visions of capturing some of the most dramatic and inspiring outdoor video ever produced. From now on, sweeping vistas of

fishing and hunting trips, hair-raising bat exclusions from lofty roof peaks, and an odd herding of skunks from buildings would be visually preserved to savor years later with my buddies in the retirement home.

Finally, I would be fulfilling my life-long dream of making an epic film, one on par with The Ten Commandments or Gone With The Wind. The only difference was that my actors would be raccoons, possums

and even the odd carp.

Drones, however, require a certain technical savvy all 12-year-olds possess ... but not 60-plussers. And I knew I might be in trouble when difficulty arose just assembling the propellers.

LINKING TO NASA When it came to the Wi-Fi link-up to apps to cell phone to controller to NASA, I was convinced another generation would have to be involved. I

To this day, the author still searches for the legendary Phantom of Ray County.

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mean, I’m the film director.

This technical stuff is for ... technical people.

Son Keith – realizing my imitation of a bewildered heifer starring down at her newborn calf was a typical “befuddled dad” look – quickly stepped in. Within minutes, the aerial wonder was up and running. It even made a mini-liftoff in the living room, but Keith snatched the fluttering flying saucer by the leg before it mated with the ceiling fan.

After more adjustments, we set the batteries to charge overnight to be fully fueled for tomorrow’s maiden flight.

The dawn broke clear and bright. Winds were light. The family had assembled on the deck, cell phones in hand, to capture the launch. We even had a drum roll that would have made Clark Griswold jealous.

Keith was at the controls.

I energized the machine and set it on the ground. Tiny lights illuminated under each of four wings, flashing bright red, green, yellow and white.

I could just see the beautiful video of bluegill fishing at the lake or swooping low over a housetop and fluttering bats, or maybe even panning around me as a client’s dog chases me to the vehicle.

THE CREATURE AWAKENS Keith hit the go buttons.

Nothing happened. I could see him intently focused on the controller, trying different things. He was tapping the screen as fast as a 100-word typist. Still nothing.

Finally, like it just woke up, the propellers whirred to life.

The featherweight device then lifted and hovered. Keith made a few more adjustments and my drone sizzled up.

It was beautiful circling over the house. It made a couple of loops, then arched out a little over the pasture.

At that point I heard Keith say, “These controls aren’t acting just right. I can make it bank outward but it’s not banking back to us.” It was about that time I felt that familiar, “uh oh.”

Within seconds, the buzzing contraption had climbed to a

lofty height and was slowly edging further away. By then Keith had trotted out into the pasture to get a little closer and hopefully bring my bird home.

In two more seconds, he was running through the woods with the controller over his head, like an Olympic runner bearing the torch.

INTELLIGENCE, ARTIFICIAL Perhaps it was then the device’s artificial intelligence took over and it felt the wind of freedom in its face – or propellers – and thus heeded the call of the wild and ignored all electronic impulses to return home.

My drone banked sharply, and like a wild goose in rut, headed due north.

Daughter Sarah and I stood and watched my flying machine grow smaller and smaller in the distance. And a seasonal poem came to me at that moment: “And together we waved, As it soared out of sight.

‘Merry Christmas to me, hope you have a good flight.’”

By then, Keith had crossed the creek bottom and was ascending the next hill, still attempting to communicate with the whirlybird.

I jumped in the pickup and went to fetch him. We then left the place, taking a route down county roads that was close to the drone’s travel route.

ALL GOOD THINGS… For over an hour we searched.

Occasionally, Keith would pick up a blip on the screen indicating we were vaguely within range. But the best we could determine was that the rogue drone was somewhere in the wilderness behind an old rock quarry. A good place to leave this story ... and start a myth.

So, should you be traveling through Ray County and happen to see an object with flashing lights making a whirring sound, it’s not a meteorological event, nor a UFO. It’s not even that hairy legend, Mo-Mo, with his newfound toy. It’s simply my Christmas present-turnedfolklore, the Ray County Phantom, trying to find its way back home.

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 23

How Nugent Became a Hunter

Editor’s note: This is a recent interview given by Ted Nugent that discusses his development as a hunter and his relationship with legendary outdoorsman Fred Bear.

Q: How did you get started hunting, and what was the evolution of your hunting experiences over the years?

A: Born in 1948 to a father already following in the footsteps of Fred Bear, the mystical flight of the arrow took hold of me immediately and expanded each year of my life. Kids’ bow and arrow sets and Wham-O slingshots quickly morphed to yew longbows and eventually Wing, Bear and Shakespeare recurves.

Hunting adventures and predator lessons on squirrels and river rats along our Detroit neighborhood Rouge River wildlife kingdom expanded to annual family bow-hunting safaris “Up North” and the life-changing introduction to Fred Bear, and as they say, the rest is history. My extreme fascination with wildlife, wildness and bowhunting today is more exciting than at any time in my 68-year American Dream.

FINDING TIME Q: At the height of your recording and concert career, you must have been incredibly busy, and much of your time was spent in arenas and other venues far from the natural world.

Did you miss hunting and the outdoors, and did those outdoor connections help keep you grounded and give you a positive focus?

A: Though I have literally never missed a hunting season in 68 years, I did miss the soul-cleansing powers of extended time afield during the nonstop touring years, so I fixed that around 1973, vowing to never miss the rut ever again!

I attribute my longevity, overall health and youthful craving for my ferocious music and precious, even sacred hunting lifestyle to the definitive balance in my life, and to the extremes of hunting, outdoor and quality family time I orchestrate every fall and winter between tours.

Such a quiet, downto-earth lifestyle literally cleanses my soul, clears my head, relieves my ears and fortifies my spirit to once again grab my guitars and unleash an out-of-body stream of musical consciousness.

MEETING FRED BEAR Q: You were a friend of Fred Bear, one of my childhood idols and a man I still look up to today. From the outside it would seem unlikely a rock musician and Fred would develop

such a close relationship.

How did you meet Fred and how did your relationship with him grow?

A: On our annual bowhunting trek to northern Michigan, my family and I would visit the little Bear Archery shop in Grayling and enter what, unbeknownst to me at the time, could very well have been the bowhunting dream epicenter of Planet Earth.

The tall, lanky gentleman with a contagious warm smile greeted us with a friendly handshake and welcomed us into his small shop. We joined the man on this and future encounters at the Grayling Restaurant for some lunch, a piece of cherry pie and a glass of chocolate milk, then bid him farewell as we headed to our Titabawasee River log cabin campsite to get on with our family bowhunting weekend.

It would be a few years before I came to grips with just who this man was and the unbelievably joyous opportunity I was so privileged to experience. When I returned to Grayling in 1967 after graduating from high school, I hooked up with the great man, and even though he was rather confused and set back by my gung ho rock ‘n roll, we nonetheless became fast friends, and I was privileged beyond words to hunt with Fred for many years before he died in 1988. The song that exploded from my soul shortly thereafter sums up my and many people’s love and admiration for this legendary conservation guru.

THE NEW ARCHERY Q: Fred always seemed to be a man ahead of his time with the many innovations he introduced to archery. How do you think he would have embraced crossbows, range finders and other modern hunting aides?

A: I am certain Fred would have loved everything and anything to lure new sporters into the great outdoors! The advances in technology have encouraged more and more people to experience what is surely one of life’s highest of highs, while inspiring critical wildlife awareness, conservation and resource stewardship.

Easier-to-shoot compounds, straighter arrows, more forgiving mechanical releases, arrow rests and sighting devices provide increased confidence, but dedicated practice is still the guiding force to become proficient.

THE EXPERIENCE Q: Fred shot many trophy animals in his career, but I still watch some DVDs of hunts he filmed

and his focus was always on the experience, the land he was hunting and the people he was with. Do you think it would be wise for today’s hunters to adapt more of that approach rather than to be obsessed with antler scores and how their kill compares to that of others?

A: Believe me when I tell you that the vast majority of hunting families are still driven and motivated by those very same basics that Fred lived and promoted.

We do respect the incred-

ible patience and Herculean dedication and effort necessary to kill older, wiser more challenging trophy animals, but even the most hardcore trophy hunter still lives and hunts by those same principals.

This is not a hunch, as I share hundreds of very special campfires each years with hundreds of all-American hunting families, and the evidence is overwhelming. I live a hunting, fishing and trapping lifestyle and engage See NUGENT page 24

Ted Nugent with his hunting mentor, Fred Bear

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Outdoor Guide

Page 24

March-April, 2019

Using a Red Dot Sight for Turkeys

By BILL KEATON I laughed out loud last spring when I read Bobby Whitehead’s article telling how he missed a nice tom using a red dot sight. It was even funnier to me when he said he took it off his shotgun and will not use it again.

I called Bobby and asked him if he had sighted it in. His response was, “No. How do you do that with a shotgun?” I laughed again and proceeded to tell him how I do it.

I have hunted turkeys since 1986. I wouldn’t think of hunting without a sight of some type that I have zeroed at 30 yards well before the season opens.

I have used a shotgun scope, a Holosight, and a red dot, but my favorite is a red dot.

Both the Holosight and the red dot sight have a distinct advantage over a shotgun scope.

A turkey’s eyesight is so keen that it will detect the slightest movement. For a scope to shoot accurately, the shooter must be directly behind the scope and

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ensure that the crosshairs are perfectly straight up and down.

You also cannot accurately shoot with a scope if you are a little off to the side.

The problem is that a smart old tom has a way a sneaking in behind you or from the side before you have your gun perfectly positioned for a shot.

If you want to make a good shot, you either must hope that the tom will walk behind a tree big enough to hide your movement or, if there is not a tree big enough to hide you,

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then risk him seeing you when you position your gun.

PARALLAX EFFECT If you take a shot with the scope off center, you will likely miss because of a concept called parallax. In simple terms, parallax causes the object (the turkey) to appear to be where it isn’t, causing you to miss.

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that do.

The advantage of a Holosight and a red dot sight is that neither is affected by parallax.

If you have properly sighted it in and the dot is on the turkey’s head when you shoot, he will be meat for Thanksgiving. That is true whether you are right behind the sight, off to the side and whether the gun is tilted to one side or another.

HOW TO DO IT So how do you sight-in a shotgun equipped with a red dot sight? I am sure there are other methods, but here is how I do it. I gather several sheets of newspaper. Then I take a black felt-tip marker and roughly draw a turkey neck and head on each one.

(You could use printed targets if you like, but newspaper is a lot less expensive.) Be sure your turkey choke is installed in your shotgun.

In the beginning you will be using target loads such as AAs. This is much easier on the shoulder, and again it is much less expensive than using your turkey loads. Start by putting your target out at five yards. Be sure to use a rest to eliminate shooter error. Put the red dot at the base of the turkey head and shoot. The shot pattern and wad should punch a nice hole where the red dot was placed. If not, make appropriate adjustments to your sight to move the impact spot in the right direction and repeat the shot at five yards.

Once you are dead on at five yards, move the target out to 10 yards. At this range, your shot column should punch a slightly bigger hole in the newspaper.

Again, make corrections as needed. Depending on the terrain you typically hunt, you will repeat this process, moving your target out five yards at a

• Nugent

time until you have checked your shot pattern 10 yards farther out than you expect to shoot.

PATTERN SPREADS As you move out, of course your pattern will spread. You want to be sure that the pellets are concentrated around the head and neck area. If they are not, make corrective adjustments. Once you have completed these steps, you should make a final check with the turkey load you will be using when you hunt. Put a target at the range you expect (or hope) you will be shooting your tom.

If you can, put the target at the height of a mature tom’s head. Again, using a rest from a shooting position, put the red dot on the tom’s head and shoot.

Confirm that the center of the pattern is on the tom’s head and that there are sufficient pellets in the neck and head area to make a kill. If not, make minor sight adjustments as needed and repeat the test with your turkey load until you have the best kill pattern.

QUICK MOUNTING My shotgun has grooves in the receiver for a mount, which makes mounting a sight very quick and easy. I use a rail mount with thumbscrews and can quickly mount the sight prior to turkey season and quickly take the sight off for waterfowl season. I use a Bushnell Red Dot sight, which has served me well.

If you follow the procedure I have given you, you won’t miss when the big tom slips in from behind for a five-yard shot or the one that takes his time for a 40-yard shot. Good hunting!

from page 23

my deepest dreams nonstop with my family, friends and two precious Labrador retrievers. It matters not the game, as each and every day afield cleanses my soul and inspires my spirit no end.

A NEW GENERATION Q: You have been a tireless promoter of hunting and conservation. What are your thoughts on how to generate interest for hunting and conservation in young people today who seem more detached from the natural world.

A: Hunting, fishing and trapping isn’t just the ultimate positive conservation and environmentalism, but truly a time-honored lifestyle for tens of millions of American families. I am somewhat pleased and increasingly hopeful about recruiting youngsters into

the healing powers of nature, thanks to the army of volunteers at our own Ted Nugent Kamp for Kids and so many other organizations now focusing on youth.

The prognosis is somewhat better now than just a few short years ago, but much more still needs to be done. As parents, we should demand the inclusion of nature and wildlife biology as part of a regular curriculum in our education system. The National Archery in Schools programs would do much to combat the sad disconnect otherwise.

Each of us can and must reach out further and more often to bring as many children as we can into the great outdoors for weekend fishing, shooting and camping activities. An army of individuals can make a huge impact.

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

How RVs Changed Traveling Photo and Text

By THAYNE SMITH

Historic events have played a major role in the lives and lifestyles of most Americans.

Those who own RVs, or are potential buyers, are no exceptions. The way we live and travel is often dictated by major events.

We react dramatically to times of change. Crises dictate adjustments in our lifestyles.

Periods of economic growth and decline greatly affect our buying and spending habits.

New products, designed to enhance our comfort, are at the top of our shopping lists.

THE RV IS BORN It’s well known, in fact, that the first interest in what we call RVing developed when a fluid called gasoline was used to power automobiles called Model Ts. With some pieces of canvas added, sometimes said to be waterproof, and draped over the side of the vehicle, the motorized “camp on wheels” was born.

The comforts it afforded were greatly enhanced (during the time of World War I) when a highly refined version of the same liquid provided light and power for portable Coleman lanterns and camp stoves.

The coming of larger automobiles and the truck in the 1920s gave new emphasis to the growing demand for “campers.” A few manufacturers and a lot of do-it-yourself carpenters, mechanics and engineers started making what were popularly called “house cars.”

They contained stoves, lanterns, bunks and beds, chairs and benches and storage areas.

A few even had hand pumps to draw water from barrels for drinking. In some, the pumps also supplied water for sinks and the washing of dishes, utensils and bodies.

The “tent on wheels” idea took on a new meaning in the early 1930s when Kansans, Okies and Texans abandoned their prairie lands and used vehicles of various sorts to

This versatile fold-down camping trailer, featuring allseason uses for outdoors enthusiasts, is among America’s most popular modern-day units.

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escape the infamous “Dust Bowl.”

As the youngest member of the P. B. and Myrtle Smith family, living in Healy, Kansas, I remember well the trials and tribulations of those terrible windy, dirty storms. Eventually, they caused illness to family members and the hiring of a neighbor and his sturdy International truck to move the family to a rocky hillside farm near Marshall, Arkansas.

PENT-UP DEMAND More changes, many refinements and assembly-line manufacture of RVs came at the end of World War II, serving the pent-up desire of Americans to see their own country first, visit historic and tourist attractions and recreate in comfort.

New types and styles of RVs were introduced. Folding camping trailers (often called “pop-ups”), travel trailers of many kinds and sizes, truck campers (including slidein units for pickups) and larger coaches (called “chassis mounts”) built on a truck frame and big motor home-type units (mostly converted buses) all became popular.

Sales were spurred by more stylish units, more factories, more competition, better roads across the nation and high employment rates. Manufacturers banded together to form the TCMA (Trailer Coach Manufacturers Association), later called by the RVI (Recreation Vehicle Association) to adopt names for types and styles of units, standards on construction, nationwide promotions

This custom-built, 14-foot, chassis-mount El Dorado camper, constructed on a 1963 Chevrolet frame, served as the author’s first RV.

and common goals.

The group was revamped in 1975 and became RVIA (Recreation Vehicle Industry Association) following the disastrous energy crisis of 1972-73. A number of manufacturers were bankrupt and overall sales fell sharply over a two-year period.

Ups and downs have followed the winds of war and the ending of the Cold War through following years, with generally steady growth prevailing.

THE 9/11 EFFECT The next major disaster – the tragic events of September 11, 2001 – changed America forever. Seeds of uncertainty were sewn throughout the land, and many doubts were planted in the RV industry.

However, the worst fears of industry leaders were not realized. Just the opposite prevailed, in fact. Travel plans and patterns changed drastically and American citizens adopted new modes of work and play.

For many of us, leisure time took on more meaning.

Airline use declined while a new wave of patriotism swept across the land. Trips to foreign lands lost appeal and the desire to stay closer to home came with warnings and thoughts of domestic and international terrorism. Even on our own continent, travel by air declined sharply with rules and regulations and rising prices that were not conducive to leisure.

NEW HEGHTS Fortunately, airline and cross-country leisure travel has soared in recent years, as populations and the economy have reached new heights in America. At the same time, the sales and uses of RVs have joined them.

Many in America’s growing population have adopted the attitude that it is patriotic, educational and less expensive to “see America First,” saying the 9/11 tragedies made them realize life can be fleeting and that leisure time is best spent near home, or on our own precious continent, with family, friends and loved ones.

In great numbers, they have turned to RVs to make it happen.

Page 25

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Outdoor Guide

Page 26

March-April, 2019

Spring Begins Its Many Splendors

Photos and Text

By JEANNIE FARMER

Spring has the remarkable ability to shred off the winter blues. As sunshine thaws to melt away the frozen landscape, the Earth becomes alive again. It flourishes with a new love story of a budding romance and revitalization, illustrating the picturesque beauty of the natural world.

When the cold winter months of winter have dissipated, the loveliness of spring provides a magnetism alluring to naturalists and those yearning to be outdoors. The blooming flowers, budding trees and sweet, soft melodic songs of birds whet the appetites of nature lovers.

The sights and sounds of spring invigorate and ener-

gize hunters who are green with envy to venture to the forest and hills in pursuit of the wild turkey. Hikers gather their backpacks, lace their walking shoes or boots and journey to the footpaths of the great outdoors. Families prepare for camping trips, while canoeists, kayakers and fishing companions head to the rivers and lakes.

NEW LIFE ARRIVES Spring also awakens winter hibernators to the freshness of a new life. It offers an abundance of food foraging animals, including many that breed in January and February, giving birth to young in the spring season. Research suggests that the fox species mate in winter months. Their offspring are born in March,

April and May. River otters, common in many midwestern states, mate in March or April. They give birth in spring, as do many others, including chipmunks, skunks, raccoons and more.

Waterfowl including ducks and Canada geese begin migrating to their feeding grounds, while birds prepare to build nests. With days growing longer and warmer, animals routinely breed and give birth to their young.

This also applies to the house sparrow, which innately knows when it’s time to breed, generally in early March.

Migrations in Missouri typically begin in mid-February. With the approaching warmer weather, large flocks of waterfowl and geese jour-

A male mallard duck finds a clear lake to his liking at Sequiota Park in Springfield, MO

ney from the north, making their way south, and return to their nesting grounds on North America’s thousands of lakes and ponds.

EARLY NESTING DUCKS Among early nesters are duck species including buffleheads, canvasbacks and mallards. By mid-March, a multitude of others join them. These include common mergansers, gadwalls, greenwinged teal, lesser scaup, pintails, redheads, ring-necked, ruddy and wigeon.

By mid-March, and throughout many states, great blue herons arrive. In early April, cattle egrets, green herons and great egrets join them. When the waterfowl population has settled into their domiciles, another group of migratory birds has returned. They include the flycatchers, sparrows, thrushes and warblers.

By mid-March, hibernating wintering migrants have left, including most bald eagles and tree sparrows. Those remaining until late April are the pine siskins, purple finches, white-crowned and white-throated sparrows, all to nest later in summer.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds also enjoy the pleasantries of the spring season while seeking their breeding grounds. They migrate to the central United States from early March to April. Blooming flowers that provide nectar join to attract them.

They include bleeding hearts, columbine, desert trumpet, Columbia lily, scarlet creeper, trumpet vine, cardinal flower, trumpet honeysuckle, impatiens, petunias, butterfly bush, cone flowers and zinnias.

BLOSSOMING TREES Trees blossom at the same time, providing a canvas of beautiful pastel colors. Tiny buds on branches begin to open to renewed life. For instance, redbud trees begin to blossom before their foliage erupts in mid-spring.

The lush rose-violet, with lavender-pink and sometimes pure-white colors, appear in clusters on the bark of branches and trunk. Typically, before maturing, the blossoms unfold with a pinkish-bronze color of medium-green to blue-green.

The dogwood tree offers splendor to the spring season.

The blossom is typically ivory, pearl-like, creamy white, with a velvety appearance.

Its green foliage is hidden by a covering cluster of pedals.

Dogwood and redbud trees can be observed growing in natural settings of hillsides, fields and forests.

Spring wildflowers grace the countryside, forests, roadsides, hills and meadows, along with pastures, prairies and pond banks. Meanwhile, the loveliness of spring flowers fill in the dead barren spaces of winter.

They join with all the other wonders of spring to invite adventurers to partake in its many splendors.

A beautiful monarch butterfly graces flowers at the Springfield Botanical Gardens.

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 27

Snow Lets You Read Stories of Wildlife

By GERALD J. SCOTT

As I write this, there are broken tree limbs in my backyard and on my roof, so I can’t disagree that snow can create some unpleasantries, especially when it’s best measured in feet rather than inches.

But be that as it may, when I see snow, the first thing I think of is that nature has covered the landscape with a blank page, upon which all creatures great and small can write their stories.

The most memorable – and certainly one of the most exciting – snow stories I’ve ever read had two main characters. I would have missed it had I not thrown caution – to say nothing of common sense – to the wind and driven 30 miles through a blizzard to reach a place I’d never been before. I’m still not sure how I did it, but I found the farm lane I’d been told to turn into and followed it to where I was supposed to park.

I’m a passionate deer hunter, but there was no way I was getting out of my SUV. Instead, I laid the seat back, snuggled under an emergency blanket and went to sleep.

Sunlight streaming through the windshield woke me about 8 a.m. to a world that was as beautiful as it had been ugly only a few hours earlier. After munching a couple of protein bars and drinking most of a

thermos of coffee, I began still hunting my way down the west (upwind) side of a tree and brush lined drainage that slowly but steadily widened and deepened as it meandered north.

FIRST TRACKS Not surprisingly, mine were the only tracks on the deer trail I was following. Or at least they were until some very impressive deer tracks exited a side draw and headed north down the trail. Within a few yards, bobcat tracks joined the deer’s.

Was this a coincidence? Or was I about to read a story about a bobcat that didn’t believe in fighting within its own weight class?

To find out, I slowed my pace to avoid becoming a character in the unfolding drama. I’m not sure how far I’d been tagging along when I heard a loud “Bleat!” followed by a cacophony of breaking brush, growling and snorting. Perhaps a minute later, I caught a glimpse of a trophy buck bounding west across an open field.

So now I knew the story’s beginning and ending, but I was most interested in reading about its climactic battle. According to the “writing” in the snow, the buck paused to do battle with a trail side bush that had apparently offended him

in some way. The bobcat used this lapse in judgment to creep within about six feet of the buck, before launching itself onto the top of the no-longerunsuspecting deer’s back.

It kept its seat on the bucking buck – sorry, but I couldn’t resist – long enough to remove three large clumps of deer hair, one of which had a small piece of skin attached, before being rudely returned to earth.

A BIG KICK By this time the snow was too trampled to read clearly, but I think the two combatants must have started moving in a circle while both tried to gain an advantage. Deer usually use their front hooves as both offensive and defensive weapons, but this one was somehow able to whirl around and deliver a fight-ending kick with both hind legs. I’m basing that theory on the fact that there was a roughly bobcat-shaped indentation in the snow almost six feet from the outside edge of the trampled snow.

As I mentioned earlier, the buck then left the area, operating at what looked to me like full power. The bobcat, on the other hand, was obviously at least a trifle the worse for wear.

I followed its tracks east until they changed from a stagger to a limp. His gait was rapidly changing into something

Life in the snow leaves tell-tale stories for anyone to discover. – Field and Stream photo

approaching normal when I jumped him out of a brush pile.

It looked to me like he wasn’t having any trouble running flat out.

That’s the only time I’ve been fortunate enough to read a story in the snow within seconds of the time it was written.

Normally, snow stories about the interaction of predator and prey are harder to read and may even require some imagination to interpret.

DISAPPEARING RABBIT For example, I’ve long since

forgotten how many times I’ve observed rabbit tracks simply disappear. Usually – but not always – the rabbit had been running in a zig zag pattern just prior to disappearing. If I’m lucky, a careful, close look at that last track will reveal six-inch, slightly crescent-shaped scratches in the snow about a foot on either side of the track.

Mystery solved. Those marks are caused by the tips of a large hawk’s primary wing feather tips barely touching down as it literally snatched the rabbit out of

its tracks. Since rabbits are far more likely to be abroad after dark, isn’t it possible that those scratches were made by an owl? Anything’s possible, I suppose, but owls attack from a much shallower angle than do hawks. If an owl’s wings touch the snow at all, the result will look like a brush stroke.

The interaction of predators and their prey fascinates me, but snow also records a lot of nonviolent stories. Reading them is free, but you do have to leave hearth and home behind to check them out.

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SIDE-BY-SIDES

BE A RESPONSIBLE RIDER Remember, Multipurpose Utility Vehicles (Side-by-Sides) can be hazardous to operate. Always wear your seat belt, helmet, eye protection, and clothing appropriate to the driving situation. Keep doors and side nets closed. Never carry a passenger in the cargo bed, stay off public roads, obey cargo limits and guidelines, and never drink and drive. ALL MUV DRIVERS SHOULD WATCH THE SAFETY VIDEO “MULTIPURPOSE UTILITY VEHICLES: A GUIDE TO SAFE OPERATION.” Be sure to follow the Owner’s Manual directions when carrying cargo or towing a trailer. Avoid excessive speeds, and never drive faster than conditions permit. All Pioneer models are recommended for drivers 16 years of age and older, and tall enough to wear the seat belt properly and reach all the controls. The passenger(s) should also be tall enough for the seat belt to fit properly and brace themselves, if needed, by placing both feet firmly on the floor while firmly grasping a hand hold. Whenever you drive off-road, make sure you follow all the “TREAD LIGHTLY” guidelines, and always stay on established trails in approved areas. Keep your off-road area clean, use common sense, and respect the rights of others. We strongly recommend that you use only Honda approved accessories that have been specifically designed and tested for your vehicle and do not remove any original equipment or modify your Honda in any way that would change its design or operation. Operating your Side-by-Side vehicle with a modified engine, emissions control system, or noise-control system may be illegal. Always obtain written permission before driving on private lands, and obey all the laws and regulations governing your off-road areas. Specifications, programs and availability subject to change without notice. All specifications in this brochure—including colors, etc.— apply only to models sold and registered in the United States. Some models shown with optional accessories. Pioneer,™ Unicam,® Honda Phantom Camo,® QuickFlip,® are trademarks of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. FOX® is a registered trademark of Fox Factory, Inc. ©2017 American Honda Motor Co., Inc. A3909

Outdoor Guide

Page 28

March-April, 2019

Kayaking: Lights at Night Are All Right Photos and Text

By TOM WATSON

Whether you are working your midnight catfish hole or catching the last rays of sunlight at the edge of a weed bed, having lights on your kayak is a smart extension of properly outfitting your fishing platform.

U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Rule 25, Navigational Lights, says that in lieu of regulation running lights, a small, non-motorized craft “…can have ready at hand an electric torch or lighted lantern

showing a white light which shall be exhibited in sufficient time to prevent collision.”

Simply put, kayaks don’t require running lights. However, a light (either fixed or handheld) is key to paddling safety during night/low-light outings.

Regulation boat lighting is arranged in a specific pattern, and that placement will indicate directional maneuvering and intent to other crafts. It also implies that the craft running that lighting pattern knows and follows the Rules of the Road as well.

For most recreational boaters, however, a simple white bow light and red stern light are more than adequate. Most kayakers simply carry a flashlight or wear a head lamp for night visibility and as a warning light to show their presence to other approaching boaters.

It’s important to know that colors still matter. For example: Blue or red flashing lights are restricted to law enforcement vessels only.

Red or white strobes are for emergencies only.

Use a full-view deck light

if at anchor.

MULTI-USE LIGHTS Most popular boat lights on small, hand-powered craft are multi-use lights that easily at-

tach, are obviously waterproof and can be re-arranged as needed. The key to light placement is that its glare doesn’t keep you from clearly seeing your surroundings. Every boat should have a light immediately available for emergencies on or in the water.

Besides lights on your water craft (deck mounted or pedestal/post mounted), you can choose lighted paddling gloves or mini, adhesive-backed LED lights to affix to your hull or

gear (imagine a light inside your tackle box lid that can double as a boat light).

Also consider adding marine-grade reflecting tape to your boat deck, paddle blades and PFD and other deck gear to make yourself more easily seen on the water from someone else’s light.

Boat lighting makes you visible and should be considered based upon the water traffic where you paddle. Be safe; have fun out there!

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Rock Island Trail Talks Get Extension

Missouri has been granted an additional 180 days to negotiate an agreement to rail-bank 144 miles of unused Rock Island Railroad line between Windsor and Beaufort across central Missouri for use as a hiking and biking trail known as the Rock Island Line Trail.

The agreement would create a second major trail across the state, along with the popular Katy Trail, which runs 240 miles from Machens in St. Charles County to Clinton.

The Department of Natural Resources and Missouri Central Railroad, which now owns the Rock Island corridor, had asked for the extension, which was granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on Feb. 7. The rail-bank process allows rail corridors being used as public trails to revert to the railroad if needed in the future.

“This will allow us to continue talking with Missouri Central Railroad,” said Mike Sutherland, deputy division director of Missouri State Parks, which is a division of the Department of Natural Resources. “The corridor could be an asset, but we have to look at many aspects, including potential costs.”

LOTS OF MONEY AND PEOPLE “We are open to being a trail sponsor as long as it doesn’t impact the rest of

the system,” said Ben Ellis, division director of Missouri State Parks. “This trail would take lots of money and people.

We are looking for help to support it.”

The Department of Natural Resources and the Missouri Central now have until Aug. 20 to enter into an interim trail agreement. The state is waiting for the Missouri Central to complete salvaging rails and ties so it can assess what its costs would be. Preliminary estimates were that the trail would cost $65 million to $85 million to develop, and annual operating costs would be something like $576,000 a year.

A map of the trail route can be seen on-line at mostateparks.com/rockislandcorridor, plus the text of more than 10,000 public comments gathered at public meetings.

The trail route connects to the Katy Trail at Windsor, south and west of Sedalia.

Beaufort, at the route’s east end, is just south and west of Union in Franklin County.

The route runs just north of Lake of the Ozarks and includes three old tunnels and old railroad bridges over the Gasconade and Osage rivers.

The route would also connect at Windsor to the Rock Island Spur of the Katy Trail, which is an established trail that runs 47 miles toward Kansas City.

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Dog Feeding Myths, Debunked

Photo and Text

By PURINA PRO-PLAN

When it comes to grains, by-products and raw diets – all hot topics in regard to your dog’s nutrition – can you tell what’s myth from what’s fact? Grains and by-products tend to carry a negative connotation, while raw diets raise questions and often incite debates.

With all of this competing information out there, it’s easy to become confused over what you should or shouldn’t be feeding your hardworking dog.

“Quality diet and nutrition are essential to helping a dog live a long, healthy life. However, many owners aren’t aware of what this consists of and are looking to the latest trends and fads to help make decisions about their dog’s health,” explains Purina Veterinary Communications Manager Shelly Adrian. “It’s important to learn the facts behind the myths that are out there so you can make well-informed decisions about feeding your hardworking dog.”

Knowledge is power!

Here, Purina experts dispel a few popular myths to help bring clarity to the nutrition, quality and safety of your dog’s food.

MEAT-BASED, RAW DIETS MYTH: Dogs are carnivores and should be fed a raw, meat-based diet. Cooking destroys nutrients in dog food, so raw meat provides better nutrition.

FA C T: D o g s a r e n ’t wolves, they’re omnivores.

Although raw food diet proponents claim health benefits such as improved digestion, firmer stool, healthier skin and coats, and nutrition more akin to the “wild diet,” very few of these claims are supported by published research.

Raw food diets can actually pose serious health risks, including food-borne illness for both humans and dogs caused by bacterial contamination of uncooked meat, physical injury caused by bones, and potential nutrient imbalances or deficiencies.

Certain cooking processes in the manufacture of dog food can actually increase the digestibility of protein by gelatinizing the collagen, as well as the digestibility of grains and starchy foods by altering the cellular structure of the starch granules.

GRAINS AS USELESS FILLER MYTH: Grains are unnecessary fillers in dog food

Grains and by-products play a role in providing complete nutrition for dogs.

– not only are dogs allergic, they also cannot digest grains to use as energy.

FACT: Grains are a nutritionally valuable ingredient in dog food, as they are an important source of many nutrients such as protein, fiber, essential fatty acids, B-vitamins and minerals.

Grains can also provide a source of readily digestible carbohydrates, helping to meet a crucial physiological need for glucose, the most important energy source for all cells in the body.

What’s more, true food allergies are rare in dogs, and the offending substances usually aren’t grains. However, Purina respects and accommodates those dog owners who are selective about particular ingredients and choose to feed an appropriate grain-free diet, offering a range of grain-fee formulas that are nutritionally complete and balanced.

BY-PRODUCTS AS CHEAP FILLER MYTH: By-products are just cheap, low-quality fillers used in dog food.

FACT: By-products are a common ingredient in dog foods and can provide a highly digestible and nutritious source of protein and essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats. By-products actually can deliver more essential nutrients than regular muscle meat.

Purina uses only safe and clean, high-quality by-products, including nutrient-rich organ meats (livers, kidneys, lungs and spleens), corn glu-

ten meal and tallow. Foods made with by-products also are more sustainable, allowing the use, rather than the waste, of nutritious components of a whole-food ingredient.

COMPLETE AND BALANCED The most important aspect of dog food is whether it provides complete and balanced nutrition for pets.

“Owners should have a good understanding of the ingredients used in their dog’s food — such as grains and by-products — and the benefits they bring,” Adrian said.

Owners also should research the quality and safety standards of their dog food and know who makes it, where it’s made, the steps taken to ensure the quality and safety of their food, and if their food meets or exceeds FDA and AAFCO standards.

Adrian suggests contacting or checking the pet food manufacturer’s website or speaking with a veterinarian.

Interested in learning more? Adrian recommends credible third-party resources to gather further information on your own.

“The World Small Animal Veterinary Association, American College of Veterinary Nutrition, Pet Nutrition Alliance, Pet Diets, and Petfoodology are all solid, reputable sources that can help you decipher what’s fact from fiction,” she said.

Or visit www.purina.com/ nutrition to learn more about the nutrition, quality and safety of dog food.

Page 29

Page 30

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Camping Gear & Gadgets Air Bed Fits Right Over the Front Sea

Have a good night’s sleep right in the cab of your vehicle with the Pleasure-Way Inflatable Air Bed. Made from durable PVC, the bed has a flocked top for added comfort. It comes in two pieces – the main bed and a support cushion that goes between the front seats.

The bed measures 61” long and 27” wide and comes with a carrying case, 12-volt air pump and a repair kit. It is designed to fit in the Ram ProMaster or the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van from 2007 through 2017.

The Inflatable Air Bed lists for $199 but is available for $169 at Van City, 3100 Telegraph Road; call (314) 894-3905 or (800) 467-3905 or go online to vancityrv.com.

Andersen Connection Is Easy, Strong, Quiet The Andersen Ultimate 5th Wheel Connection is strong but lightweight, smooth and quiet, with no more galloping or chucking, and easy one-person installation.

It works with a gooseneck ball hitch or rail set, and it features a new ball funnel for easy coupling.

The Ultimate 5th Wheel Connection is regularly priced at $799.99 but now is on sale for $749.99 at Byerly RV, 295 E. 5th St., Eureka MO 63025 or call (636) 938-2000 or go online to byerlyrv.com.

Super Ride Uses Fixed Cam for Smooth Connection Super Ride is a 20K Fifth Wheel Slider known as “the

Maybe it’s time to get a walking stick. They come in handy and they don’t have to cost a lot of money.

Brazos Walking Sticks, of central Texas by the Brazos River, offers several models including this Free Form Ash Walking Stick, in four sizes. It’s a strong but lightweight staff, hand-made by craftsmen and covered with protective lacquer, even though it also feels like rough bark.

It’s a solid piece of wood with no moving parts to get loose.

Sizes are 41-inch for children or short adults, 48-inch for adults shorter than 5’4”, 55-inch for people between 5’4” and 5’11” and the 58-inch stick for people over 5’11”.

The Free Form Ash Walking Stick is $44.99 at brazos-walking-sticks.com.

Pro-Tech offers an RV patio awning cover kit that can cover from 16 feet to 20 feet and is both stain-resistant and easy to clean.

The Pro-Tech awning cover kit will extend the life of RV awning fabric by protecting it from sun and weather.

It’s easy to install – just snap it on. It accommodates all late-model RV awnings, including electric ones, as long as the diameter of the rolled-up awning is between 3.65” and 4.25”.

The Pro-Tech awning is selling for $117.43 online at rvupgradestore.com.

Camping Rope Fits Anywhere, Comes In Handy, too

Have you ever gone camping and found out, too late, that you should have brought a rope? It helps a lot, sometimes.

It won’t break the bank to be prepared. This rope by Emergency Zone, designed for camping, is 50 feet long, but it’s made of four inner cords that can be separated from each other to transform into a 250-foot rope.

The 3/8” inch rope has nylon braiding, weighs only 1.5 lbs. and fits under the seat of the car. It is not intended for rock climbing or rappelling, but it’s great for a clothesline or to secure a shelter.

Slider Hitch that Doesn’t Slide.”

The Super Ride, by Blue Ox, pivots through a fixed cam built into the base of the hitch instead of sliding on rails. It works in a towing position, a middle position and a maneuvering position.

One person can install and remove the slider with its lightweight modular design and self-locking hitch head that engages the kingpin a full 360 degrees.

Two models are available, one that fits a 2 5/16th inch gooseneck hitch ball, and one that fits industry standard rails.

Super Ride Hitch is on sale now for $1,299 at Byerly RV, 295 E. 5th St., Eureka MO 63025 or call (636) 938-2000 or go online to byerlyrv.com.

Ash Wood Walking Stick Comes In Four Sizes

Cover Kit Extends the Life of Patio Awnings

The Emergency Zone camping rope is offered by retailers including Amazon.com, which has it for $11.99.

The Big Tent Sleeps Eight With a Porch Sometimes you just need some more room, even with the most accommodating family. One solution is to get a bigger tent.

Wenzel’s Klondike tent has room for eight and a screen room. A large front awning provides a “camping porch” with sun protection and weather protection.

Features include dry tent entry, a rain fly, two zippered windows, mesh roof vents, a gear loft and a carry bag.

Floor area is 90 square feet plus the screen porch.

Wenzel’s Klondike Tent is available at numerous retailers, typically for $143. For more information, go to wenzelco. com.

Rumpl Premium Blanket Features Mount Whitney Rumpl, the maker of high-tech outdoor blankets, is collaborating with artist, environmentalist and rock climber Jeremy Collins on its most premium product, the Puffy Down Blanket.

The blanket is made of the same materials as premium sleeping bags and down jackets, making it very warm and very packable. The durable nylon fabric repels water, stains, dirt and odor.

Collins’ whimsical drawings and map sketches have been featured in short films and on popular magazine covers.

His design shows California’s Mount Whitney in colorful detail. He has also worked to support Bears Ears National Monument and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The Jeremy Collins blanket lists for $199. For more information, go online to rumpl.com.

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 31

Boots, Some Made for Talking

Author’s note: Many hunters, especially ones planning a trip out of state, make a big mistake. They buy a new pair of boots and wait for the “Big Trip” to break them in. The spring turkey season provides an ideal time to break in new boots. Old boots, however, bring memories.

Photos and Text

By JOHN SLOAN

They stood there in military precision. The current ones were in the middle. I noticed the missing ones, the gaps in the ranks. They began to tell their tales.

I undertook the cleaning out of the “equipment room,” I was

working on the boots. These boots were made for talking: • An old pair of Danner boots, missing. Torn by the malpais, sole flopping, left in a canyon in New Mexico. Worn out like me. Old. • L.L. Beans. The official Maine Guide Boot. On their second set of soles, (they used to re-sole them for free.) Still worn in the slop. Wore them one morning when I killed a four-year-old, eight-point in Hickman County.

• Georgia Boot Company.

Sport-trail turkey boots, up front. Most comfortable boots I ever wore. Like me, wore out before their time. Just haven’t the heart to throw them away.

• Of course the Schnee pac-

All set for hunting, but the boots are just glorified tennis shoes.

boots for when it gets arctic out. There were more. Others I can’t remember.

LACE ‘EM UP I’ve gone through a lot of boots. If an army travels on its bellies, a hunter travels on his boots. Through the swamps, across the mountains, in the snow, blazing hot weather, below zero and everything in between. A hunter, a true hunter, laces up his boots and goes.

No, not the nimrod who parks his truck, gets on hisATV and rides down a cut road to the blind, complete with heater and attendant food plot. I’m talking about the hunter, not the shooter. I’m talking about the one who wore out a pair of boots just scouting. That’s when you break in new boots, when you go scouting or turkey hunting.

There was a time when I would spend 50-60 days a year just scouting. I covered so many miles, I lost count. How do you hunt 21,000 acres if you don’t know every inch of 21,000 acres? Do you even know how big that is? A section is 640 acres. That is one square mile.

Twenty-one thousand acres is almost 33 square miles. And yes, I knew every inch of it.

I wore out a lot of boots. And that … that was just for deer hunting. Boots took a beating.

In early September, each year, I would wear out a pair

of boots chasing elk in the high country. If you really want to determine how good your boots are, go elk hunting in the rocks, scree and obsidian from an extinct volcano. One year is about all you get out of boots in that stuff. Better have good ankle and arch support.

WET AND ROCKY Up on the Tiaga, slipping around trying to put an arrow in a caribou, good, knee-high rubber boots you can comfortably walk in are mandatory. It is wet and rocky country and that is where I learned about Muck brand boots. They handled both aspects.

Today, my footwear doesn’t make a lot of difference. Today, I park the truck, walk 350 yards and climb a tree. Today, I hunt in Nike hiking boots – tennis shoes, if you will. I have a pair of Schnee pac-boots. They’ll keep your feet warm down to -30. Haven’t worn them in years. Not going where it gets that cold anymore. I wear … “tennis shoes.” Pshaw!

Oh sure, I kill a lot of deer.

Last year, as in each of the 12 years before, I killed six “meat deer,” mostly does. It wasn’t hunting, not really. It was a gimme. I let 10 times as many walk. No boot leather worn out on them. Not much satisfaction, either. Just climb up, shoot, drag them out. Do

At left, an ancient pair of L.L. Bean guide boots. Up front, old Georgia boots. Behind them, tennis shoe-type boots.

At far right, first-class Schnee pac-boots.

it in tennis shoes. Or for that matter, in shorts…some days.

For me, the satisfaction – the true enjoyment of hunting – was the scouting. The unraveling of the mystery. All the rest was window dressing.

Took a lot of walking and good boots.

Today, tennis shoes are sufficient. You see, I have little feeling in my feet. Peripheral neuropathy. Feet don’t get cold and I don’t walk very far. So, tennis shoes. I wish I still needed good boots. Boots made for walking.

And maybe … memories.

On this frigid morning, the Schnee boots and battery-heated gloves were a must. It was -17. That night, it went to -23.

Page 32

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Fishing Those Early Spring Ponds Photo and Text

By TERRY & ROXANNE WILSON Millions of miniature bass and bluegill factories dot the American landscape, and many offer easy public access to productive waters that range from those that can be cast across to others several acres in size.

City park ponds, water supply reservoirs, state conservation areas, reclaimed strip mine pits and small state park impoundments account for outstanding fishing opportunities often found in our own neighborhoods.

The problem is that not all ponds are created equal. While some boast hand-sized bluegills and football-shaped largemouth bass, many offer only a few small fish. The first step in finding success on public ponds is discerning the difference between productive waters and those that are a waste of time.

Fortunately, there are pond characteristics that enable pond prospectors to target only those bodies of water capable of sustaining substantial numbers of larger bluegills and bass.

VEGETATION CLUES Ponds with natural grasses and trees around them allow less sediment to be introduced into the pond, which makes the water clearer. Larger fish can locate and eat fry more easily, thus thinning the small-fish population, which enables bass and bluegills to reach the sizes we love to catch. Both species benefit from a balanced predator-prey relationship.

Ponds with abundant, submerged vegetation are capable of sustaining good populations of big fish. Aquatic plants provide rearing areas for the fry of both species to avoid predators, feed on invertebrates and grow. At the same time, vegetation provides ambush points for predators and a shield from over-

head sunlight as well as increased oxygenation. In addition, weed beds provide structure that’s easily targeted by anglers.

TEMPERATURE CHECK Once the most productive ponds have been determined, the key to early fishing action is monitoring the temperature of the water. A temperature gauge is a valuable tool with respect to springtime success.

Small ponds warm more quickly than large ones, and those with darkcolored bottoms heat up even faster

Early spring is a great time to find bluegill in smaller ponds.

as the sun’s warmth is absorbed.

As the thermometer reading creeps into the 50-degree range, male largemouth bass will begin to move to the edges of the shallow flats.

As the water warms, the fish’s metabolism increases, causing them to feed more actively. If an inlet creek is activated by runoff from the spring thaw or rains, it’s an excellent location for the first casts of the season, as even a trickle of incoming

water will be a degree or two warmer than the rest of the pond.

AROUND THE DAM

Another location that produces early season success is the area near the dam. If a mechanical spillway is present, there will be a silt pile that has accumulated in front of it due to its draw of excess water from rains and snowmelt. There is likely to be additional structure in the form of branches and other debris that have been deposited there.

Initial casts to this area should be to the deeper edges of the silt pile before actually targeting the shallow portion so as not to spook the fish. This shallow area provides immediate access to the deepest water in the pond, which gives the fish a secure escape from overhead disturbances.

Each corner of the dam will be silted as well because during heavy rains, the spillway can’t flush all the water at once. This abundance of water then eddies toward the dam corners. If additional structure such as a deadfall or weed growth exists there, those areas will host early spring bass and bluegills as well.

Small, light-colored lures are most effective in the cool water because they replicate the size of available prey. Smaller lures enter with less disturbance and facilitate the slower retrieves necessary to catch these fish.

The fish’s still-slow metabolism may make quick hook sets counter-productive. Hesitating a second or two will result in more positive hook sets in cool water. Fly fishers will hook a higher percentage of fish using a strip-set. Instead of lifting the rod into the hook set, simply strip firmly when the strike is detected before lifting the rod tip.

Hooking and playing a fish among the others does not frighten nearby fish. Instead, it serves to increase their excitement and will increase the chances of more hookups.

Relax!

You’re On Float Time

Float Trip Destinations Don’t Miss your opportunity to be a part of the next Float Trip Destinations page coming out in our May/June Issue.

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Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 33

Your Guide to

GREAT GEAR

Clenzoil Offers Three Pistol Cleaning Kits

Clenzoil introduces a new line of caliber-specific, all-in-one pistol maintenance kits that include all the products needed to clean, lubricate and protect your gear, within a nylon carrying case.

The 600D nylon water-resistant case has a zippered pocket for tools and a plastic compartment to keep oils and dirty brushes contained. Versions of the kits include 22 Cal/5.56 mm, 38 Cal/9mm, and 44/455 Cal. They come with a Clenzoil Field and Range half-ounce dropper bottle, bore brush, nylon cleaning brush, 12-inch aluminum rod set, patches and patch puller.

For more information, go online to www.clenzoil.com.

Kits are also available for rifles and shotguns.

St. Croix Rod Series Designed for Kayakers

St. Croix has launched Mojo Yak, six spinning rods and casting rods designed for kayak anglers.

The rods are fitted with custom Winn split-grip handles and feature premium, high-modulus SCIII graphite blanks to combine sensitivity and power. Features include Integrated Poly Curve mandrel technology, Kigan Master Hand 3D guides and Fuji reel seats.

They have two coats of Flex-Coat slow sure finish and come with a five-year warranty.

Kayak pro Jamie Dennison noted that the rods have a shorter handle and butt design that helps him make more efficient use of the limited space in a kayak.

St. Croix Mojo rods can be seen at dealers or at stcroixrods. com. They list for $150.

Rudd Swimbaits Are Designed to Attract Freshwater Sport Fish

LiveTarget Lures will soon offer three new Rudd Swimbait lures based on the rudd, an important European freshwater bait fish with its golden sides and red fins, favored by pike and zander.

The new lure is lifelike, with anatomically precise features and color patterns in three dimensions, including fins, tail, head and eyes to make a perfect elusion.

The lure’s tail oscillator generates a rudd-inspired swimming action and vibration that elicits pursuit and violent strikes. Precision factory rigging ensures the bait is ready to use immediately, achieving better balance without the need for frequent adjustment or tuning.

It comes in three sizes, 4.75”, 6” and 7.5”. The larger sizes have extra-wide gap hooks behind the dorsal fins that double as shields to protect the hook from collecting vegetation and debris.

For more information and to find out where these will be available, go online to livetargetlures.com.

IFC Upgrades .410 Upper to Convert AR15 into Shotgun

IFC, importer of elite European firearms, is upgrading its .410 upper with a more ergonomic design and a barrel shroud.

The new design is intended to compete with other AR15 platforms and provide an alternative to standard shotguns. It allows any AR15 to be converted into a .410 shotgun and has an 18.5” inch barrel chambered in 2.5” .410 gauge.

It includes front and rear sights and comes with a 10-round polymer magazine, with larger magazines available. Weight is 4 pounds.

The new IFC .410 Upper is priced at $362 and is available from IFC dealers but not online. For more information, see the website www.internationalfirearmcorporation.com.

Montana Decoy Has Handy New Carrier

Montana Decoy’s new carrying case, decorated in Realtree MAX-1 for superior concealment, makes simple work of toting up to three decoys to your setup. Using multiple decoys can help you create a more realistic scenario.

The lightweight case, 14” by 14”, has multiple pockets that make for quick and convenient access. The hip-mounting belt loop keeps decoys close and at hand for running and gunning, and the elastic strap secures leg poles for quiet transportation.

The Montana Decoy carrying case lists for $29.99 at montanadecoy.com.

Mossy Oak Adds Clenzoil Lubricants to Its Product Line

Clenzoil maintenance and cleaning products will be featured as Mossy Oak brings out its GameKeeper CLP product line. The new line will feature an 8-ounce bottle of GameKeeper CLP lubricant, 2-ounce pump sprayer, 1-ounce needle oiler and saturated wipes.

GameKeeper CLP is a one-step cleaner, lubricant, and rust preventative for firearms, effective in removing oils, dirt, copper, lead and other contaminants. It provides a thin, nongreasy coating that prevents rust and lubricates moving parts of firearms and sporting equipment.

GameKeeper CLP also nourishes, preserves and protects wood and leather. It will not harm polymers or other synthetic surfaces. It is great for wood stocks and grips, as well as leather holsters, scabbards and slings. It is not recommended for painted surfaces.

For more information, go online to mossyoak.com.

OxCart Innovation Makes Getting It Done a Lot Easier

The OxCart utility cart is designed to cut your work time in half. It makes hauling and unloading large loads 90 percent easier than with standard carts. It reduces physical strain, allowing you to get more done with less effort.

OxCart combines a rear offset dump pivot point for greater control with a hydraulic-assisted tub lift for easier heavy-load handling. The swivel feature reduces backing, allowing you to control dump wherever you want.

It has commercial-grade durability with all-square-tube construction, axle support and tractor-grade run-flat tires.

Load it to the max and move twice as much in half the time – hay bales, equipment, mulch, fertilizer, feed or anything else that requires heavy lifting.

You can also hook it to your ATV or mower and haul out heavier loads, tested to 1,100 pounds.

OxCart is available at hardware and outdoors stores.

For information, go online to oxcart.com.

TacSol Upgrades Pac-Lite IV Barrel Upgrade Design

TacSol is offering the Pac-Lite IV Barrel, an upgrade for the Ruger IV designed to reduce weight, increase accuracy and improve reliability.

The aluminum barrels are 4.5” or 6” long and weigh 8.5 and 9.5 ounces, with stainless steel breech face and matchgrade steel bore.

The barrel comes with a threaded end, fiber optic front and fully adjustable rear sight to provide superior sighting and optic mounting.

Pac-Lite IV is available from TacSol dealers and distributors. The website is tacticalsol.com.

Vortex Binoculars Show It Better and Keep It Clear

Vortex offers Fury HD 5000, an advanced laser rangefinder binocular designed for exceptional resolution, color fidelity and sharpness.

Its XR lens coatings provide superior light transmission with exceptional clarity and low-light performance and ArmorTek to protect against scratches, oil dirt – all covered by an unconditional lifetime warranty.

Control buttons are on the right side, making use of both glassing and ranging with one hand fast and efficient.

Electronic features compensate for incline or decline to show true distances. It is waterproof, fog-proof and shockproof.

Fury HD 5000 is 5.75” high, 5” wide and weighs 32 ounces. It lists for $1,199 at highbyoutdoors.com.

Outdoor Guide

Page 34

Photos and Text

By LARRY DABLEMONT

March-April, 2019

Story of a Hard Luck Turkey

I have hunted turkeys for a long time. It is one of the few things I am good at. But you have to understand something. Being good at turkey hunting, or being a good turkey caller … that’s something akin to being a good leaf raker or a good flower picker. It is no great thing.

If you can’t be good at anything else, you can be good at calling turkeys. Being good at turkey hunting is something I share with tens of thousands of other turkey hunters, so I’m not braggin’ about it.

There are lots of turkeys to call, and lots of champion turkey callers everywhere nowadays. I’d druther win a local snooker tournament than be one of the many “grand champion all-time” turkey callers. Most of the turkey hunting champions don’t look to be fit enough to walk half a mile, and a good snooker shooter can walk all day long!

The more you walk, the better your chances are at turkey hunting. That’s the way it was one day when I was out hunting mushrooms and turkeys at the same time. I hadn’t heard a gobbler all morning, but I was finding quite a bagful of mushrooms. I had walked a

long way.

I stopped at noon and hooted like a barred owl. I’ll be doggone if a gobbler didn’t answer me. I walked a ways and saw them, five or six toms about 100 yards away in a little grove of big trees, all huffed up and strutting before several hens.

STRUTTIN’ TOMS If they hadn’t been strutting, they would have seen me. Strutting gobblers are consumed with attracting hens, not looking for danger.

So I dropped down quickly and used the lay of the land to move around a bit closer and found a spot behind a fallen tree limb and some brush which hid me pretty well. It didn’t take long. One gobbler went one direction and another went another direction, and three of them headed slowly toward me, strutting and gobbling as they came.

I could see them all the way, and it was a beautiful sight.

I figured they would come around the side one way or another but they didn’t. They stopped on the other side of that brush and began to strut and gobble. I guess they were convinced the hen they were hearing was nesting in that brush pile before me.

I could see them through the brush, but I couldn’t shoot through it. I knew I needed to

the spring and early summer, you should learn about them, but I guess that is another column.)

MOREL SEASON The year 2015 was a great year for mushrooms, one of the best I remember. By this day, the recent heat had done in most morels, but remember: If you find dried ones, all you have to do is put them in water and they will soften up.

Always save the water you soak mushrooms in and pour it out where you think they might grow the next spring, as that water is full of mushroom spores.

The north parts of Missouri and Iowa see the best of their morel season in early May. In

Canada, it’s early June before morels pop out around those lakes where fishermen go.

People ask me what is the key to success in hunting morels, and I tell them it can be summed up in one word: “walking.”

Usually, I would walk for 30 minutes or so, covering a mile or more, finding one here and one there. But once I stumbled across a little community of them that had 96 mushrooms in a 30-yard area. Another time, between 60 and 70. I‘ve given away a bunch and I have eaten a bunch, but it is over now.

Next time, I think I will write about fishing again, and the simplest of any fish to catch, the crappie.

A wild male turkey goes on parade.

get up on my knees but as I did slowly, I got a cramp in my hamstring. Too danged much walking! I rolled around for a minute in agony until it went away then slowly rose to my knees. All three toms were still before me gobbling and strutting.

LET’S GO! After the blast of my shotgun, two of them gobbled again and walked around trying to figure out what happened. I imagined that one

said to the other, “What’s old Tom doing flopping around like that with his spurs up in the air?”

And maybe the other one said, “I believe he’s been shot.

Let’s get the heck out of here.”

They did. The one that remained had a nice long beard and sharp spurs, and I intend to smoke him and eat him with fried mushrooms and maybe some cow pasley greens (crows foot). (If you don’t know about the variety of fresh wild greens found in

When you soak your mushrooms, save the water.

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Labor, community and conservation leaders gathered to help the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance celebrate its state-of-the-art, union-built world headquarters in Spring Hill, TN. “We can all be proud of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s new permanent home in Spring Hill,” said Roofers International President Kinsey Robinson, a founding member of the Alliance board of directors.

“Watching the Alliance grow from a small group of dedicated union sportsmen to more than 260,000 members in 11 years is a source of great satisfaction for me, and demonstrates the importance of this organization in the lives of union members – many of whom share a love of fishing, hunting and the outdoors.”

Executive Director Scott Vance said the headquarters will help the organization expand its impact. “This new permanent home is the perfect base of operations from which to increase the number and scope of our projects nationwide, as we harness the passion, power and skills of union volunteers to impact the future of

The new headquarters is in the former Saturn Bank building.

conservation and our shared outdoor heritage,” he said.

IN THE OLD SATURN BANK Located at 4800 Northfield Lane adjacent to the GM Spring Hill Manufacturing site, the headquarters offers 6,100 square feet of office space and a 4,600-squarefoot warehouse. It is housed in the former Saturn Bank building, which the group purchased in April 2018, followed by a six-month renovation campaign.

The group relied on skilled union labor to transform the facility into a private campus designed to foster its efforts to unite union members in

conservation, public access and outreach projects.

“We are also excited to be neighbors to United Auto Workers Local 1853,” Vance added. “They have been very supportive, and we look forward to working with them on activities and partnerships going forward.”

Union members involved in the project included Electricians, Plumbers & Pipefitters, Sheet Metal Workers, Carpenters, Painters, Roofers, Bricklayers and Machinists.

For more information about the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance and its activities, go online to unionsportsmen.org.

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 35

Rural Ramblings

The Wonders of Early Spring

By RUSSELL HIVELY March and April are the wake-up months for most of nature. It is early springtime when great flocks of geese and ducks head north, grass turns a rich green, trees bud out and leaf, and daytime temperatures are nearly perfect for any outdoor activity. *** Today, many people take medicines to aid their sleep. In the past, most people’s sleep was aided by hard, physical work. *** In the spring, many Missourians plant gardens. One old-timer was asked how to tell the difference between weeds and young garden plants. He answered, “Pull up everything.

The weeds will come up again!” *** Not spraying one’s lawn can lead to many wildflower discoveries each spring such as wild violets, henbit and wild strawberry plants. *** Maramec Spring Park, six miles southeast of St. James on Highway 8, is not a state park

but is a popular outdoor activity park. Its fishing and camping are outstanding. At one time Maramec Spring was the home to an iron works. Water powered the blowers which controlled the blast furnace. Water also powered the trip hammers which pounded the new iron into useable shape. *** Is the word “maramec” really “catfish” in some Native American languages? *** Isn’t it funny that salt has an expiration date when it actually can be 250 millions years old? *** Spring peepers (frogs) can be heard from as far as a mile away.

Their peeps are a familiar sound of springtime. There are several legends about how cold weather quiets the spring peepers. *** We all know that foliage tours to the northeastern United States are popular. Did you realize that a 2018 USA TODAY survey found that the Lake of the Ozarks area was the second best “destination for fall foliage?” ***

Sadly, only a few people air their quilts by hanging them in the spring sunshine before “putting them up” for the summer. *** Seneca MO may have the only baseball team that plays home games out of state. The high school baseball field is located over the border in Oklahoma. *** Since 1935, the tree nursery near Licking MO has supplied millions of trees to Missouri citizens. *** The Gasconade River is so crooked, it takes 200 miles of river to travel 100 miles. *** Did you realize that male turkeys usually leave Jshaped droppings? Female turkeys leave spiral-shaped droppings. *** A full tick can swell to more than 100 times its normal weight. *** Only one in 250,000 deer antlers make the top Boone and

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Maramec Spring Park, near St. James, is known for its camping and fishing.

Crocket ratings. *** Ripe mulberries can be used for catfish bait. *** Early springtime can be the most enjoyable part of the year when nature abounds from the doldrums of winter.

Enjoy this wonderful time of the year. Anyway, that’s what this rural rambler thinks.

zine

Ma y - June 2018

OOr aga OutdG uide M

TRAVEL SHOOTING • • BOATING • G • CAMPING HUNTING • FISHIN

Daylight Savings ................Page

2

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Strange Seeds ..................Page

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Albino Catfish ................Page

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e 20

Hobo Meal .......................Pag

Scrapes Tales ...................Page

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Asian Carp ......................Page

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Outdoor Guide

Page 36

March-April, 2019

A Handy New Vehicle Safe Photo and Text

By TJ MULLIN If a person goes places where civil rights are not respected such as courthouses, post offices, ball parks and hospitals, one is always confronted with the problem of what to do with your carry weapon.

Having worked so hard to get many states into the 21st Century to respect civil rights, this dilemma still exists when such locations are confronted. Merely leaving a weapon under the vehicle seat is not a suitable solution, at a variety of levels.

Not only do you run the risk of losing a valuable weapon, but none of us wants to be responsible for arming a criminal. Leaving your weapon behind when you anticipate visiting such places is hardly an acceptable solution. Something else must be done.

HOLD THE DRILL! Installing a weapon safe in your vehicle is the correct response. Such a safe, of course, must be secured in the vehicle in some manner lest a thief steal the safe from the vehicle.

In days past, I have secured such safes with large bolts and washers in holes drilled into the vehicle frame – a good

solution but time-consuming, and it raises the issue of holes in the vehicle being subject to corrosion.

Still, it makes a secured place to leave the weapon. If you get one of the safes with a rapid release mechanism, you can then quickly access the weapon, a nice feature to utilize when you return to the vehicle after your visit to the “anti-civil-rights zones.”

But drilling holes in your vehicle has, as noted, some serious disadvantages. Also if you want to be able to shift your safe from one vehicle to another as you might, some other solution is necessary.

A NEW SOLUTION The Hornady Rapid Vehicle Safe is just such a solution. Originally I really did not understand how they achieve the goal of easy and convenient installation, but I happened upon a photo in a publication that revealed the secret to me, so I obtained one.

The safe itself has a spring in the lid, which will cause it to rapidly open when the lock is disengaged. The interior is big enough for a full-sized fighting handgun but not two or three, unfortunate for those who quite sensibly always pack a backup (or two). Nor will it contain your “truck

Hornady’s vehicle safe requires no drilling into the car.

gun” AR15, etc., but FBIstyle roof racks are the place for those, I suppose.

The Hornady Rapid Vehicle Safe can be accessed by a key system, an RFD device, or by entering a number code on the lid of the unit.

As noted upon doing any of these things, the safe will spring open, presenting your weapon to your hand.

Instructions contained with the safe say it is not designed to contain a loaded weapon. I assume this is

just “lawyer language” as everyone actually using the safe will ignore it. After all, securing and immediately accessing a loaded weapon is the whole reason for such a unit.

The safe has a strong cable to attach to the unit, which is wound around the seat frame of your vehicle, then locked in place with a padlock. The cleverest thing about the safe is the method of securing the unit in your vehicle. For you obviously cannot simply

let a heavy metal box slide around in your vehicle. Not only would it be difficult to access, but it could be a deadly missile in the event of an accident.

A CLEVER MOUNT To mount the unit securely in your vehicle, unlike the normal bolted-to-the-frame auto safe, it is achieved by taking a sheet of material attached to the safe and wedging it between the seat of your vehicle and the con-

sole. Normally this would not secure the safe, since the space between the seats and the console would be larger than the sheet of material. But cleverly, the Hornady people have wrapped the sheet of material with a rubber tubelike material that, similar to a blood pressure cuff, can be puffed up to fill the void.

This, then, will mount the safe solidly without the need to drill holes in your vehicle.

You can also readily remove the safe from the vehicle by deflating the material and unlocking the cable secured by the vehicle seat frame, allowing you to transfer the safe to another location in that vehicle or another one.

While it would be nice if the unit were a little bigger so it could hold more than one handgun – I suppose you could always buy two or three to solve that issue – the security the Hornady Rapid Vehicle Safe gives one, along with the ease in which it can be installed makes for an excellent product.

I found the instructions for entering the access codes and enabling the RFD tags somewhat confusing but ultimately achieved the desired result, and it was fine thereafter.

All in all, an excellent idea well-made, filling a muchneeded void.

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Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 37

CCC Outdoor Legacy Lives On

By KAY HIVELY When an outdoorsman hunts, fishes, traps or just enjoys a great forest or lake in America, he is probably unaware of a great many men who helped make his outing possible.

Thanks to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), today’s forest and woodlands, lakes and rivers, bridges, campgrounds and trails are part of the CCC legacy.

With an army of more than three million men, the CCC repaired, restored or built hundreds of structures, planted 3.5 million trees, cleaned hundreds of rivers, streams and lakes, saved millions of acres of soil from erosion, fought forest fires, made fire trails, thinned overgrown tree stands, built boat docks, laid miles and miles of pipe and telephone lines, maintained canoe portage roads, built ranger stations and much more.

The CCC was formed on April 5, 1933, when the nation was overwhelmed by the Great Depression. Its purpose was to restore the nation’s struggling natural resources, while giving jobs to a “youthful horde” of men who had no work and no future.

Officers and men from the Armed Forces commanded

Minnesota CCC workers lived in wilderness camps.

the camps, running the dayto-day operation, promoting the value of work, stressing the importance of strong healthy bodies and teaching skills needed to carry out their mission.

FROM EVERY STATE Young men came from every state in the Union. Many came from impoverished conditions. They had poor health, were undernourished, and many had never seen a doctor or dentist. Most of the men volunteered because they were promised good food, shelter, clothing, medical attention and $30 a month ($25 of which was sent back to the man’s family).

Most of the men lived in wilderness camps, often several miles from civilization, where they worked in primitive conditions, in both

FISHING

beautiful and brutal conditions. In Minnesota, men from many states, arrived by train. One group reached its proposed campsite and found nothing but cold and snow.

Immediately, they started building their new home. The first things they set up were the mess hall, washrooms and the latrine. Then they erected tents for sleeping – all in deep snow.

COLD CAMPING IN MINNESOTA During Christmas week of 1934, the average temperature was 46 below zero at Camp F-1 (Company No. 704), located on the shores of Birch Lake, near Ely, Minn.

Another group, Camp S-81 (Co, 724) arrived at its campsite in June of 1933, just before noon. They worked all day, preparing the grounds for their camp, cutting tall grass,

HUNTING

– Minnesota Historical Society

uprooting stumps, driving stakes and leveling ground.

According to their leaders, “After a hot supper, the men were ready for bed. They had ridden 300 miles, cleared land and constructed their homes all in one day.”

Summers in Minnesota were good, as the north woods were beautiful – except for mosquitoes.

MISSOURI DEER RETURN Unlike the vast forests of Minnesota, the CCC in Missouri focused on infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, campgrounds, state parks and animal habitats.

At Roaring River State Park near Cassville, the CCC did mighty work, building huge projects such as picnic shelters, bridges, campgrounds, shelters, a large two-story lodge and a fish hatchery.

Most of these structures are still being used at the park.

The fish hatchery there is a beautiful structure and a major source of fish which are stocked in state streams, as well as in Roaring River which runs through the park.

Employees at the park readily admit that the work of the CCC “transformed the park.”

In other state parks, the CCC built dining lodges, recreation halls, roads and other structures that still serve the people.

In 1935, the CCC began planting wildlife food plots in the Deer Run unit of the Current River Conservation Area. Long after the CCC disbanded, the Missouri Department of Conservation

added more plots and ponds.

These efforts, started by the CCC, made a great impact on the nearly extinct whitetailed deer herds in Missouri.

The introduction of the food plots, and the distribution of surplus deer from Deer Run, made it possible for officials to reopen a deer season in Missouri in 1941.

GIFT GOES ON The efforts of those young men who worked in primitive and sometimes horrible conditions were a gift to today’s outdoorsmen. So the next time you hook a nice fish or take a handsome white-tail, tip your hat to those young men who worked for a dollar a day to give you a great outdoor experience.

The CCC Lodge at Roaring River State Park is still in use

– Missouri State Parks photo

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Outdoor Guide

Page 38

March-April, 2019

Bill Cooper Enters Fishing Hall of Fame (Editor’s note: Bill Cooper, author of the Gravel Bar Gourmet, is one of seven new inductees in the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, in Hayward, WI. Brandon Butler provided us with this description of Cooper as a Missouri outdoorsman.)

Photo and Text

By BRANDON BUTLER Bill Cooper is the best sportsman I know. Not because he’s an astute woodsman, nor because he’s a widely recognized outdoor communicator. Though he certainly is both of those.

Cooper is a Hall of Famer, in my book, because he is one of the kindest and most generous people you’ll ever meet. He’s a guy you always want around your campfire.

I first met Bill at a Missouri Outdoor Communicators convention. His enthusiasm and passion for the outdoors, especially fishing, was immediately evident.

As I grew to know him as a mentor and friend, I learned people around the world have felt Cooper’s influence. He’s

dedicated much of his life to entertaining and educating individuals through his media outlets, which included radio, television, more than 1,500 published magazine and newspaper articles, and now social media. His popular “Outside Again Adventures TV-Online” is proof you can teach old dogs new tricks.

Cooper is a longtime advocate for youth involvement in the outdoors. He’s the kind of guy who teaches fishing seminars for parks and recreation departments and conservation organizations, such as the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the National Wild Turkey Federation, but still finds time to take a neighbor kid fishing.

IN OLD MEXICO He’s done incredibly cool things, too, like serving as a tourism consultant for the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, where he leads hunters on jungle expeditions for ocellated turkey and on the Gulf for tarpon and bonefish.

I was fortunate to accompany Cooper to the Yucatan once. It was the greatest trip

• Anglers-in-Chief

I’ve ever taken. Cooper comes alive during an adventure.

He introduced my wife and I to multiple cities, ruins and natural resources as if he had lived there his entire life. He had an air about him. It’s like he belonged.

One evening, sitting in a little café on plaza next to a nearly 500-year-old church, I studied Cooper for a brief moment. He was dressed in local attire, wearing a sharp dress hat and smoking a big, locally rolled cigar. Gray whiskers and squinted eyes highlighted a face lit up by life. I could see Cooper has followed a path of fulfillment, and I’ve recognized his hope of teaching others to do the same.

TEACHING THE KIDS Cooper has demonstrated a deep commitment to the values, traditions and enjoyments of fishing for more than five decades and he’s not slowing down. He’s still cranking out media and serves on the board of directors for The Land Learning Foundation, an organization dedicated to teaching children

Bill Cooper, a longtime Missouri outdoor communicator, has been selected to the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.

was set for March 9, 2018, at the Conservation Federation of Missouri’s annual convention. It will be my honor to hand him his plaque.

So, Señor Doctor Lieutenant Cooper Sir, as our friends from below the border like call him, congratulations. You earned it.

president in history to gig suckers. Most anglers know nothing about redhorse spearing, but in the Ozarks, it is an honorable and timeworn tradition – and there is no fish sweeter nor more delectable than freshgigged suckers deep-fried on the banks of their home river.

Mr. Carter listed the fishing presidents and unaccountably left out Teddy Roosevelt but included Chester Arthur, who was minor league, and George Washington, who fished but mostly fox-hunted with hounds.

Of the fishing presidents, Hoover was the most skillful, Cleveland and Hoover the most dedicated (with the edge maybe going to Cleveland), and Eisenhower, Bush, Teddy Roosevelt and Carter occupying the next rank.

THE SMALLIE PRESIDENT Grover Cleveland was the first President to count fishing among the important things he did, and he was a fierce devotee of the smallmouth bass. When it came to writing about fishing, he tended toward the unwieldy.

“It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the fishing habit, by promoting close association with nature, by teaching patience and by generating or stimulating useful contemplation, tends directly to the increase of the intellectual power of its votaries and through them to the improvement of our national character,” he wrote.

Mr. Cleveland was such a dedicated angler that he wore

out those who fished with him. A friend, Richard Gilder, editor of Century magazine, commented, “He will fish through hunger and heat, lightning and tempest.”

Another friend, actor Joe Jefferson, made the ultimate comment on presidents who fish. He and Gilder burned out on fishing one hot mid-day on Cape Cod and headed for shore and shade. They lolled on the bank, watching Mr. Cleveland flail at the water, undeterred by heat or slack fishing. Jefferson turned to Gilder and said, “Well, it is lucky for us that you and I can do something besides fish!”

CALL IN THE HAWGS Recent presidents have not been as dedicated to fishing as those who have gone before, possibly because they have been more dedicated to invading foreign countries and defending themselves against lawsuits.

To my knowledge, neither Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and certainly not Donald Trump are known to have ever lifted a fishing rod with purpose in mind. Possibly, George W. Bush has angled, but his most notable outdoor pursuit seems to be clearing brush.

One can only hope that future presidents again will take up the cudgel in the form of an Ugly Stik and go “hawg hunting.” There is no doubt that they personally will be better for it, and little doubt that the country likewise will improve.

from page 8

President Jimmy Carter jousts with an aggressive rabbit in 1979.

denced disturbed minds. Then Mr. Coolidge took to a fly. He gave the Secret Service guards great excitement in dodging his back cast and rescuing flies from trees.”

Mr. Coolidge spent some time at the Cedar Island Lodge on Wisconsin’s Bois Brule River, one of at least five presidents to visit the river and fish in it (though some fished it either before or after their presidency). It now is a Wisconsin state park and a famed blue ribbon trout stream.

The first Presidential visitor to the Brule was Ulysses Grant in the 1870s. Grover Cleveland made the pilgrimage in the 1880s, then came Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower. Gen. Eisenhower visited the lodge just after World War II. He admitted no reporters (all of whom wanted to know if he would run for president). But a local reporter, William Stewart, an old hand on the Brule, and a photographer paddled six miles upstream and found the famed general fishing. Anyone who would go to that much trouble, the general told them, could have an interview.

outdoor skills, including fishing, through hands-on activities and camps.

Having fished for a wide variety of species, both freshand salt-water around much of the globe, Cooper understands the value of fish and fisheries, both as a source of food and a source of unequalled global recreation. Therefore, he promotes conservation and the wise use of our resources at every opportunity.

The Hall of Fame is far from Cooper’s first honor.

In fact, he recently received Resolution No. 1360 on the floor of the Missouri House of Representatives in honor of his lifetime of contributions to the promotion of fishing, outdoor recreation, outdoor ethics and tourism in Missouri through his 45 years of continuous media efforts, which have both educated and entertained countless people.

Bill Cooper deserves this inclusion into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame as much as anyone could. I know he is honored by the recognition, yet as always has maintained his humble nature. Cooper’s formal induction ceremony

LIKING IKE I feel closer to Ike than to any other fishing president, partly because he was the first president I had a chance to vote for, but also because he fished two streams that I also have fished – the Brule and South Dakota’s French Creek.

Ike’s fishing was featured in the September, 1955, issue of Field and Stream, including a recipe for “Trout Eisenhower,” which brings on arteriosclerosis just by reading it: Chunk a pound of bacon and fry it over a hot bed of coals, remove bacon and drain, mix bacon drippings with a halfpound of butter melted in a second frying pan, pouring from skillet to skillet. Shake cleaned trout in a paper bag containing cornmeal, salt and pepper and lay fish in the butter/bacon fat to cook.

I’ve eaten trout fixed this way on the White River of Arkansas and, cholesterol or not, it is a sin worth committing.

SURROUNDED BY SHARKS As a Missourian, it pains me to report that Harry S Truman

(there is no period after the S which stands for nothing) was most interested in fishing when there was a camera around. We have a good fishing lake named after Mr. Truman but he was apathetic toward angling.

My friend Ken White, a Missouri outdoor writer/photographer, was a longtime friend of the Trumans and a frequent photographic recorder of their activities. “Harry used to tell that while he and Bess were courting, he’d sit under a tree and read a book and she’d splash around in a stream catching crawdads or something,” White said. “She was the fisherman of the family.

“But Truman knew how to grease the skillet without wetting a line. Once, I remember, Bess caught a limit of trout and tried to get him to fish, too. He held the rod for a moment, but mostly he held up the fish while she admired the stringer and I took pictures. Looked just like he’d caught them.”

As usual, Mr. Hoover had the last word. “President Truman, prior to his 1948 election, appeared once in a photograph somewhere in a boat gingerly

holding a common fish in his arms. An unkind reporter wrote that someone else had caught it. I can find no trace of the letter that the reporter must have received. It is also reported that Mr. Truman was fishing somewhere north of Key West when his boat was surrounded by sharks. But sharks are always a bad augury. Mr. Truman did not run for a third term.”

CARTER’S RABID RABBIT Sharks are nothing, compared to the rabbit that threatened Jimmy Carter. For those of you who have forgotten that dramatic lowlight of Mr. Carter’s presidency, he was fishing out of a canoe on a pond April 20, 1979, when a swimming rabbit charged Canoe One. The President belabored the aggressive bunny with a canoe paddle, and the press had a wonderful time with the Attack of the Killer Rabbit.

“Carter was not injured,” said one tongue-in-cheek report. Reports of what happened to the rabbit are not clear. The President, in his fine 1988 book An Outdoor Journal, makes no mention of the incident (his only reference to rabbits is that he used to shoot them as a kid).

I suppose, considering that Ronald Reagan had to face a charging maniac with a gun, a runaway rabbit is small potatoes. And my temptation to make fun of Mr. Carter and the ravening rabbit dissolved when I read his book and his staunch defense of hunting and fishing.

I’m willing to bet all I own that Jimmy Carter is the only

March-April, 2019

Outdoor Guide

Page 39

Unplanned Life Leads to Animal Rescues

By ADELE TRAVIS MOORE Founder, TreeHouse Wildlife Center During the Great Depression, a large segment of folks from in and around Dover TN migrated to Granite City to work in the steel mills. My parents were part of that migration.

My dad, Shelby, worked on the St. Louis Terminal Railroad, and my mom, Ruth, managed the apartments they owned. I was born in 1949, one of three children.

Granite was a tough, hard-working, bluecollar steel town. It was what we had, what we knew, and we made the best of it – a very different time and place. We spent the 1950s wonder years in relative peace and prosperity, interrupted by an occasional atomic bomb “duck and cover drill” in grade school, which consisted of hiding under our desks and covering our heads!

Favorite activities included riding our bicycles downtown to shop at Woolworths or attending a movie matinee at the Washington Theatre. As many in our generation look back, we realize that riding our bicycles behind the truck spraying for mosquitoes was probably not the best way to spend our time!

In contrast, the 1960s teen years were alternately turbulent and exciting – cruising up and down Madison Avenue in muscle cars, visiting our favorite drive-in for pizza and burgers, dances at the “Y”, listening to the latest British invasion music, working on our tan at Fun ‘n Sun Beach, and yes, “parking” at the levee.

After high school graduation, our classmates scattered to the wind. Friends made their final rounds through Granite that summer before leaving for college, while others were drafted and shipped off to Vietnam.

THE BLANK SLATE I was a blank slate. I didn’t particularly want to attend college. My goals were simple: to get a job, get married and start a family. I was hired as a secretary at an insurance agency.

The highlight of that job was working in downtown St. Louis when the Cardinals won the 1967 World Series. Confetti rained down for what seemed like hours! Walking to the bus stop that evening was like walking through a snowstorm of knee-deep confetti.

Eight months later, I was bored with my job and my boyfriend broke up with me. What better time to move out of town?

Dateline Miami, Fla. – I moved in for a time with my uncle’s family until I could find a job and save enough money for an apartment. My jobs included working for juvenile court, and as a police dispatcher for the City of Miami. I met my first husband, Richard, after he returned from Vietnam and moved in across the driveway from me. After a short courtship, we were married in 1969.

This building near Dow IL has proven to be a perfect home for the center.

FIRST CLUE While visiting friends in Rhode Island, our Yorkshire terrier, Blue, escaped from their house and ultimately got hit by a car. Blue sustained a broken leg and was taken to a vet by the people who hit her. The vet immediately shipped Blue off to animal control, and by the time we tracked her down, animal control had euthanized her.

Richard had wanted to attend college and major in anthropology, but after the incident with Blue, he changed his major to veterinary medicine. This was the first clue of where my life was headed.

We moved to a little farmhouse in Brighton, IL, and Richard started pre-veterinary courses at SIU Edwardsville while I worked at Western Union.

SECOND CLUE One day in 1972, we noticed a rabbit lying in the middle of the road. We picked him up, not really knowing what to do. Area wildlife rehabilitators were non-existent, and veterinarians were not schooled in wildlife medicine at that time.

The rabbit’s broken leg was splinted, his head trauma causing temporary blindness eventually resolved, and despite everything we did, the rabbit lived! Watching him hop away into the brush, I thought to myself that this is what I wanted to do – my second big clue.

Knowing Richard’s coursework would take at least another seven years, we put wildlife rehabilitation on the back burner. In 1975, we moved to the Champaign-Urbana area for Richard to attend vet school at the University of Illinois, where he started their first wildlife ward. Richard took care of the wildlife that were admitted, and I would help clean up the ward after hours, as well as raise the orphaned mammals. I worked as a temp at Solo Cup and then at my only factory job, Vetter Fairing.

FOUNDING TREEHOUSE Upon Richard’s graduation in 1979, we

co-founded TreeHouse Wildlife Center on our property in Brighton. We built a small clinic, as well as outdoor enclosures. Starting from scratch, we were truly a grassroots organization.

Richard worked at Ralston Purina in St. Louis while I took care of the operation. In 1985, Richard moved to California to pursue other interests, while me and a few volunteers kept the organization in Brighton running for another 25 years.

In 1986, I met my current husband, Jim. We moved to Collinsville, had a son, Scott, in 1989 and now have a grandson, Jace, born in 2013.

THE PERFECT LOCATION Meanwhile TreeHouse was rapidly outgrowing our Brighton location. In 2010, we found the perfect property to relocate TreeHouse in Dow, IL. The building on the property serves as a perfect education center and rehabilitation clinic.

Cages were built, and eight years later we’re still building them. Since 1979, TreeHouse staff and volunteers have rehabilitated thousands of animals and conducted educational programs for people from pre-schoolers to senior citizens.

In 2016, Jim and I moved back to the Brighton property that I love and built a home. Family is important to me, and I look forward to our annual Travis Family reunion in Tennessee.

Knowing what I know now, that rabbit shouldn’t have survived her injuries. Rabbits are highly stressed animals, and it’s a miracle she survived our rehabilitation efforts as well.

I look back on the events of my unplanned life as TreeHouse approaches its 40th anniversary and know that this is my life’s mission.

That blank slate when I left high school has been fully filled out: jobs, wife, mother, grandmother, author and wildlife rehabilitator!

TreeHouse’s website can be seen at www. treehousewildlifecenter.com.

Eagles are frequently seen in and around the TreeHouse Wildlife Center.

All kinds of animals find homes at TreeHouse.

Pelicans have learned to stop by and sometimes need medical help.

Eight Peaceful Acres for Healing Animals

Jim and Adele Moore have built TreeHouse together.

TreeHouse Wildlife Center is situated on 8 1/2 peaceful acres between Alton and Grafton, IL, near the quiet town of Dow. It provides a professional community service to people who encounter sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife. ​The center receives no government funding but operates on donations of visitors and supporters, plus fundraisers, grants and program fees. ​ Wildlife comes first at TreeHouse. Wildlife rehabilitators give urgent assessment and professional care to all animals received at the center, and volunteers assist in the comfort of patients and operation of the facilities.

It has a full clinic, indoor caging and ex-

ercise rooms for wildlife receiving treatment, and a nursery for young animals needing care.

Outdoor housing and release-training facilities provide room for re-acclimation back to the wild. A 5,760 square-foot flight enclosure lets birds regain the strength in their wings.

A PLACE TO VISIT ​TreeHouse also has an education center and gift shop for visitors and provides on-site intern quarters that host college students from around the world for experience in animal rescue, rehabilitation, husbandry and release.

Walking trails are being developed.

The education center was updated last year with a grant from St. Louis Boeing employees.

An Audubon Society grant will help remove invasive species and plant native trees and shrubs to provide winter habitat for birds.

Regular visitors now include trumpeter swans and white pelicans, and a future project will be a Migratory Waterfowl Rehabilitation Center.

TreeHouse is open to the public every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Visitors may walk through the outdoor facilities and education center free of charge. Pets are not allowed other than trained service animals, and smoking is not permitted.

For current hours, upcoming events and more information, go online to www. treehousewildlifecenter.com.

Page 40

Outdoor Guide

DIRECTORY Outdoor

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Outdoor Guide

DIRECTORY Outdoor

March-April, 2019

GUIDED FISHING

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Page 41

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Page 42

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Outdoor Gallery Send in your favorite outdoor photo to ogmbob@aol.com and be featured in the Outdoor Gallery of Outdoor Guide Magazine.

BOUND FOR GLORY – At its recent annual meeting, the Eastern Missouri Crappie club presented its Angler of the Year award for 2018 to Kenny Wilkerson, at left, and its Big Fish award to Mark Hatchet.

SMOKED POSSUM – Young Haydon Wade shows the possum he got with a blow gun, according to his grandparents, Dean and Judy Wade of Licking, MO.

FIRST-TIMER – Sam Dickinson, age 9, of Washington MO, shows off his first rabbit.

HOME COOKIN’ – Young Lane Coerver got this 10-point buck at the family farm in Pike County MO this past hunting season.

March-April, 2019

Outdoor Guide

Page 43

John Sloan’s Pictures of Family Fishing

It is never too early to start a kid fishing, and there is no better family activity.

Fishing can be a learning experience for mothers, too.

Kids, dads and creeks fit together nicely when it comes to a quality learning experience.

A bass angler gets an early start on learning about both largemouth and smallmouth.

How about a family trip to Canada and a chance for a kid to latch onto a trophy lake trout?

Nothing feels better than reeling in a nice catch.

The equipment does not have to be expensive or fancy for kids to enjoy fishing.

Page 44

Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Book Tells Where Dinosaurs Are

By GERALD J. SCOTT

Did you know that remnant populations of at least 20 species of dinosaurs still exist in various parts of the world? I’ll readily admit that I was more than a little skeptical about that, even after Safari Press sent me a review copy of Phil Massaro’s The Perfect Shot for Dinosaurs.

In fact, both the book and the letter accompanying it were already in the box in which recyclable

paper awaits the city’s oncea-week pickup when two simultaneous “wait-just-aminute” thoughts popped into my head.

Safari Press has a wellearned reputation for producing some of the top-tier books on hunting and firearms, including The Perfect Shot by Kevin Robertson, which deals with African big game, and Perfect Shot North America by Craig Boddington. Would they really risk their good standing by publishing folderol

written by some wannabe outdoor communicator?

Phil Massaro and I have never crossed paths – he hunts in Missouri about as often as I hunt in Mozambique – but I know enough people who do know him to have become convinced that his bona fides as an international big game hunter and innovative ballistician are beyond dispute, as are his skills as a wordsmith.

Could this book possibly be for real? I could think of no other way to find out other than to read it.

The foreword was written by Jarrett M. Lane, who was a highly regarded paleontologist until he was shunned by fellow scientists for his belief that dinosaurs aren’t extinct. He spends a couple of pages expounding on his frighteningly logical theories.

When an author writes his or her own introduction, it’s been my experience that the smart move is to skip directly to the first chapter.

But don’t skip this one.

Massaro does a masterful job of actually introducing the reader to what’s coming without wasting a single word.

FAVORITE SENTENCE My favorite sentence is: “A dinosaur can show up at the most inopportune time, so prepare your mental self and carry the firearm that will see that you are not immediately written into the history books.”

A full chapter is devoted to each of 20 species of allegedly still extant dinosaurs. An anatomically correct description of each creature is accompanied by a full color illustration drawn

by Laurie O’Keefe. A second illustration shows the animal’s skeletal structure and the location of its heart, lungs and brain.

While no hunter worthy of the name would ever reveal exactly where he’s found dinosaurs, Massaro does provide general advice on where to look for each of the dinosaur species the book discusses. Not coincidentally, these habitats are as close to the ones the creature occupied millions of years ago as today’s world provides.

But what if you’re one of the few people who will

continue to doubt the existence of living dinosaurs, even after having read the scientific evidence and dramatic first-person accounts of actual dinosaur hunts included in this book?

The Perfect Shot for Dinosaursis still worth far more than the space it will take on your bookshelf, because of its practical advice on the pros and cons of every brand of large caliber rifle I could name – and several I couldn’t – and the cartridges they fire.

Massaro’s advice is keyed to hunting dinosaurs, of course, but he makes sure that the reader can visualize how these same rifles and cartridges can also be used to hunt dangerous mammals like Africa’s famed Big Five, Asian buffalo and the Northern Hemisphere’s brown and polar bears.

But for readers like myself, whose fascination with rifles that kill on one end and maim on the other is more esoteric than practical, it’s the book’s dozens of full-color photographs of many of the rifles that hunters use when hunting today’s dangerous game that seal the deal, whether those rifles are also used to challenge dinosaurs or not.

THE GREAT HUNTERS EDITION True believers might want to reserve a copy of Great Hunters Dino Edition,which will be marketed through Safari Press. It will be published after Rowland Ward Ltd – the rest of the world’s version of the Boone and Crockett Club – has amassed a sufficient quantity of entries in its new “Dino” category. It’s expected to sell for a paltry $125 plus shipping.

Hold on just a minute.

I’m out of White-Out, so I can’t take back what I said about not having a practical interest in big bore rifles.

Unregulated hunting for several species of dinosaurs is available right here in the United States, and having my name enshrined in a new record book’s first edition would be pretty neat.

In the meantime, The Perfect Shot for Dinosaurs and the two companion books I mentioned earlier are already available through Safari Press at safaripress. com.

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Outdoor Guide

March-April, 2019

Page 45

Catching Walleyes, Way Up North

Photos and Text

By KENNETH L. KIESER

Winds constantly swirl over Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods, perhaps mixed with ancient spirits, a Native American belief. Hunters and anglers have trekked this region many centuries and for good reason – plenty of fish and game.

Pre-historical evidence dates back 5,000 to10,000 years, spotlighting ancient tribes that followed the retreating glacial ice into this area. Explorers in 1688 through 1742 found northern Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods area populated by Cree, Monsonis, Assiniboine and Sioux peoples.

The region’s first permanent pioneer, Wilhelm Zippel, a German immigrant who worked as a fisherman, settled on the south shore of Lake of the Woods at

Zippel Bay in 1885. He soon was followed by others, and so-called civilization was born in the north.

Lake of the Woods occupies Minnesota and parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba. The lake separates a small section of Minnesota from the U.S. ‘NORTH-WESTERNMOST’ The Northwest Angle is the northernmost part of the contiguous United States.

Its “north-westernmost point” served as a problematic landmark in treaties defining the international border.

Lake of the Woods is over 70 miles long and wide, containing more than 14,552 islands and 65,000 miles of shoreline, the sixth largest freshwater lake in the U.S.

The day’s fishing resulted in a cooler full of big fish.

Photo and Text

By BRANDON BUTLER

after the five Great Lakes.

Today, lodges throughout this region depend on hunting and fishing for income.

Outdoor enthusiasts arrive in large numbers to sample warm-weather angling and ice fishing after the lake freezes several feet thick.

After the freeze, hundreds of ice-fishing huts are pulled onto the ice, resembling shanty cities common during America’s last depression.

“Most American openwater fishing is done on the Rainy River, Traverse Bay and the Northwest Angle, where the islands begin,” said Joe Henry, Lake of the Woods executive director for tourism. “We had over two million angling hours on our lake in 2016.”

WARM-WEATHER FALL Karen Lutto and Cathy “Cat” Kieser recently decided to experience Lake of the Wood’s fall warm-weather fishing. Their 16-year veteran guide, Bob Busick, who works out of the Sportsman’s Lodge in Baudette, MN, was on his 102nd day of guiding in 2017 and had patterned walleye movements since spring.

“I knew the walleye and sauger were suspended on a huge mud flat, following schools of shiners,” Busick said. “The walleye generally average 17 inches, but my biggest this year was 29¾ inches or about 10 pounds. The fall fishing is generally great here and fish annually return to these flats.

These walleyes are fat, gorged full of shiners, and 18-30 feet depths hold fish in the fall.”

Busick dropped anchor about 20 minutes out of port and the girls were handed rods with large shiner minnows on lead heads. The hook was poked through the shiner’s mouth and gill, and run through the body. Each bait was dropped to the lake bottom and reeled up a turn or two. The rod tips were jigged up and down every few seconds, letting the bait rise and fall. Most hits were soft, and hook sets came after pressure was felt on the lift.

Lutto was quick to hook a good fish just minutes after dropping bait. The walleye put on a good fight and soon was netted by Busick.

“About 18 inches,” Busick said. “Nice fish, but there are more and bigger fish out there.”

Karen Lutto shows off a fine Lake of the Woods walleye.

FIRST WALLEYE Kieser hooked her first walleye of the day, about the same size as Lotto’s. The fish made several strong runs before giving up to the net and Kieser’s relief at landing her first walleye of the day. A big sturgeon was hooked, quickly breaking the 10-pound braided line.

The walleye and sauger bite was good and soon all limited out. Each legal-sized walleye or sauger was tossed into an ice chest to be filleted by the guide at day’s end. Pieces of

skin were left on each fish for easy identification because limits are carefully monitored.

The slot limit for walleyes on Lake of the Woods is 19½ to 28 inches, meaning walleyes between this slot must be immediately released.Anglers are allowed to keep one walleye per day 28” or over.

Want to try fishing Lake of the Woods? Contact Joe Henry, executive director for tourism at Lake of the Woods, at (218)-634-1174 or go online to lakeofthewoodsmn.com.

Winter Fishing at Lake of the Ozarks

Lake of the Ozarks is a four-season fishing destination. There truly isn’t a time of year when you can’t catch fish.

Conditions determine tactics, and timing can be everything, but winter offers anglers many opportunities to boat lunker bass and limits of crappie.

It was 28 degrees with blustery northeast winds when Rob Bueltmann and I launched his bass boat at Public Beach #2.

Rob’s dad is Bob Bueltmann, known around the Lake as Bassing Bob. Rob relocated to the lake with his family to work alongside his father, producing their online fishing platform, BassingBob.com.

This subscriber-based website covers all things having to do with fishing at Lake of the Ozarks. One, if not both, of the father and son combo fishes every day, all year long. They consistently post up-to-date fishing reports, along with articles, videos and more.

I only had a couple of hours to fish, so Rob said we’d just stay in the Glaize Arm. Truthfully, we never ventured further than a half-mile or so from the boat ramp.

THROWING JERKBAITS We pulled up on the point just outside of the cove and started throwing jerkbaits. It only took a couple of minutes for me to hook and land the first fish of the day, which was a small Kentucky bass. I quickly landed two more, both increasing in size.

Rob had wrapped a little lead wire on the hooks of the jerkbaits so they’d sink a bit faster. The wind was blowing up on the points and there was a nice chop on the water. We’d throw to the bank and very slowly work our baits back to the boat.

With a jerkbait, you give it a quick twitch then let it settle for a couple of seconds. This imitates an injured baitfish. The bass were hitting when the bait

was sitting still.

Rob and I fished for two hours. We landed 10 bass, with all but two being keepers. We threw them back, of course, but keepers is the term tournament fishermen like Rob use to judge success. When you’re fishing for checks, keepers are the only fish that matter.

After getting off the water, I headed back to The Lodge at Old Kinderhook. I’m currently president of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers (AGLOW). The membership of this organization consists of professional outdoor communicators and industry partners from New York through the Dakotas. All areas of the Great Lakes region are represented.

As president, I was excited to host the AGLOW MidWinter Board Meeting in my home state at Lake of the Ozarks. There are many nice properties at the lake, but Old Kinderhook is unquestionably one of the finest. I wanted to impress upon my peers how special Lake of the Ozarks

is, and Old Kinderhook did the trick.

Before heading down to the board meeting, I slipped into the hot tub to warm up after being out in the cold and wind.

With coffee and a newspaper, I relaxed for 20 minutes while just outside the windows, folks were ice skating on the lodge’s incredible outdoor ice rink.

NO-FREEZE HOCKEY Most of my fishing and hunting trips don’t reach this level of luxury, but I’ll take it when I can get it. On Tuesday and Thursday nights, there are pick-up hockey games.

Considering the Lake of the Ozarks doesn’t freeze, one might not expect to find ice hockey at the Lake, but Old Kinderhook has it.

After a long day split between fishing and working through a board meeting, a great dinner was in order. Once again, Old Kinderhook did not disappoint. The Trophy Room, the lodge’s signature restau-

rant, serves outstanding food in a rustic yet elegant setting. I had a ribeye, cooked medium rare with lump crab added and a side of truffle fries. It was perfect. The evening wound down with great friends enjoying live music and a few cocktails.

Lake of the Ozarks is known around the country for many different reasons. It’s certainly a pleasure-boating

lake and has a number of incredible golf courses, but one can easily argue that Lake of the Ozarks is a premiere destination fishery with every sort of amenity a visitor could hope to find.

My friends from AGLOW certainly left our state with a new appreciation for the winter fishing and outstanding accommodations available at Lake of the Ozarks.

Rob Bueltmann holds a keeper bass caught in the Glaize Arm of Lake of the Ozarks during cold winter conditions.

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Outdoor Guide

Page 46

March-April, 2019

Goose Hunting on the Missouri River Photos and Text

By KENNETH L. KIESER

The Missouri River is a paradox to the naked eye.

This surface of channelized flow looks consistent on the surface but is ever changing on the long bottom of sand mixed with submerged debris collected from past high waters.

Constant powerful currents fill in holes and create new cavities where one might suddenly disappear in waders while setting out decoys where it was safe to step a day or two before. Some areas even hold quick-sand pits that are exceptionally difficult to escape from without help.

The Missouri is an important migration route for ducks and geese in the Mississippi Flyway. This historic stretch

produces fertile bottomland soil where millions of rowcrop acres thrive and are harvested by January, providing migrating geese with a wealth of food in spilled grain and a cool drink of river water.

A TIMELY WARM FRONT Jay Stock and Randy Carr started waterfowl hunting on the Missouri River 20 years before our hunt that almost never happened. The river froze solid that December and by the middle of January was full of huge, broken-up ice formations, including perfectly round shapes created by ice turning in the current.

Fortunately, an unseasonable warm front moved in, some days in the 60s, and a week later the river was clear and flowing.

Paul “The Legend” Knick

Woodstock the yellow Labrador retriever kept a constant surveillance for incoming geese.

and I joined Stock and Carr on that Jan. 26, 214 years after Lewis and Clark passed through this same place.

We loaded up on two jon boats, Stock’s 17-foot 754 War Eagle powered by a 50 hp Mercury, and Carr’s 1854 Prodigy with a 37-EFI Boss Surface Drive mud motor, similar to versions used in the Florida Everglades and very handy in the river’s shallows.

Both boats were stacked with decoys and layout blinds.

Two Labrador retrievers, Woodstock and Reggie, impatiently waited.

Soon we launched, and the trip to our sandbar took us past bald eagle nests on the far western shore. The sky was filled with ducks and geese flushing off sandbars and still waters behind “L” and Wing Dikes, no doubt annoyed by our sudden presence. The day temperatures were forecast to be mild, but with 45-mile-perhour winds.

SANDBAR SELECTION We quickly arrived at our sandbar just after daylight and started unloading bags of equipment. Stock and Carr chose one of several sandbars, based on wind direction, to set up their 29 dozen Canada goose silhouettes and five to six dozen floaters. They finished by arranging layout

blinds.

“We place our silhouette decoys facing in all imaginable directions so the geese will see geese on the sandbar from every imaginable angle overhead,” Carr said. “Bigger sets work better out here.”

Calling geese is another important element of goose hunting that Stock, Carr and Knick have mastered. Geese flying past are welcomed with clucks, guttural sounds, hail calls and honks that may include some double clucking.

Being where the geese wanted to go was another consideration for both hunters, as evidenced by goose poop covering our sandy island that was about 100 yards in length and possibly 40 yards wide.

Geese tried to land on our sandbar several times while decoys were being set, so it was no surprise when three slipped in from the east.

Knick rolled the last goose that splashed in shallow water, creating a race for the determined retrievers.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY Minutes later, three more geese flew over the blind and hung in the wind over our layout blinds, generally easy shots for experienced hunters, except we missed. Polite grumbling could be heard for

The author loves river bars for geese and cigars. – Jay Stock photo.

a few minutes.

Wind gusts continued, blowing sand off our island that stung the skin and sprinkled all equipment. Faces quickly turned when a gust roared through, sending more flying sand. Well-constructed layout blinds and good waterfowl parkas made the hunt more pleasant in the chilly wind.

Perhaps worse, floating decoys occasionally blew from the shallow sandbar’s edge into the river current.

Stock and Carr quickly tried to retrieve each floater via a long rod with a hook on the end. Some decoys slipped into deeper water than waders allowed and the boat was soon running downriver to save the bobbing decoys, often more than one.

SORE MUSCLES We started retrieving and bagging decoys an hour before darkness settled in on the river.

I felt sore leg muscles from squatting down many times while picking up decoys.

“Not bad – 45 minutes to pick up all decoys and equipment,” Carr said, beaming.

“But I believe we can do it faster.”

I smiled and nodded, while wishing for the leg muscles of my youth. In the end, we had two geese, not bragging rights, but not bad.

The season is closed for now. Tough river hunters will likely always pursue waterfowl and enjoy often-private river areas where geese and ducks want to be and that most sportsmen avoid.

March-April, 2019

Outdoor Guide

Page 47

John, age 54 Shine Found His Fun mily Fis hing with Fa

s ' i r u o s s i M Central , s k r a z O e h Lake of t ! s e n i h S n u F Where the

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Outdoor Guide

Page 48

March-April, 2019

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