All Outdoors, August 27, 1999

1. Camping trips provide special education
2. Teal boom promised good hunting
3. Duck blind applications open
4. Outdoor Calendar

Available via Internet at: http://www.mdc.mo.gov/news/out

"The ethical hunter transcends the mundane, the ordinary, the predictable, the structured, the artificial. As Aldo Leopold argues in his seminal work, A Sand County Almanac, hunting in most forms maintains a valuable element in the cultural heritage of peoples."Ann S. Causey, "Is Hunting Ethical," from A Hunter's Heart

1. Camping trips provide special education

Outdoor Missouri provides a unique classroom for special ed students

CAPE FAIR, Mo.The rewards of outdoor recreation are among the lessons some Ozark South Elementary School students are learning. Special education teacher Janice Kohler treats her fifth- and sixth-grade students to weekend camping trips as rewards for school year accomplishments and incentives for personal growth.

"I work with behavior-disordered students," says Kohler, "and I'm always looking for innovative ways to teach them how to cooperate with others and the benefits of working toward a goal. Having seen how our family outings taught those things to my sons, I thought camping would be a fun way to teach my students."

The camping trips began three years ago when the Council for Exceptional Children gave Kohler a $1,000 grant for camping equipment. A classroom business, in which students make gift bags out of wrapping paper, pays for food and other supplies needed for the trips.

Throughout the school year, students learn lessons designed to prepare them for camping and to help them become more independent, Kohler says.

"During the school year the students learn how to pitch tents, roll sleeping bags and cast. I have them work in teams of two putting up the tents so they learn to work with others and develop communication skills. The individual activities are intended to show them what they can accomplish when they concentrate and make an effort."

All aspects of the outings include lessons on responsibility. Each trip begins at 10 a.m., with students checking to assure they have all the necessary supplies before heading to the campgrounds. Those supplies include a food item they have volunteered to bring as their contribution to the trip.

Upon arrival at U.S. Army Corps of Engineer campground at Table Rock Lake, the first duty is erecting tents. Often fish caught by the students supplement the dinner meal. The students help clean the fish, cook the meals and clean up the camping site.

Kohler says the class camping trips introduce many of the students to outdoor activities. Under the supervision of Kohler and her husband Jim, the students learn to split wood, build campfires, clean fish and cook. The students also learn about plant and animal species on the campgrounds and in the lake.

While participating in outdoor activities is the most enjoyable part of the trip, the students were excited to learn about the outdoors. The four student campers, Jeff Allison, Dominique Dominguez, Dustin Little and Peter Thomas, were proud of their ability to choose tent sites and erecting the tents without help from the teacher. The outing was fifth-grader Peter Thomas' first camping trip. Each accomplishment of his assigned tasks gave him courage to take on new challenges.

"I was kind of worried that I would need help to put up the tent and do the other stuff, and my mom or no one else would be there to help," says Peter. "But it was easy and fun and I know I can do all the other stuff."

Kohler takes six to 10 camping trips each summer. She says the outings leave lasting impressions on the students about their abilities and nature.

"Many of the students have never had the challenges of being responsible for providing their own place to sleep or helping to prepare their meals," says Kohler. "Many of them also never had a chance to experience nature. Those are the two aspects of the trip that I think are most valuable. Every year former students tell me how much they enjoyed the trip and that they want to go camping with me again. I feel like I'm helping the children develop an appreciation for the outdoors and teaching them that they are capable of getting out there and enjoying all that nature has to offer."

-Arleasha Mays -

2. Teal boom promises good hunting

Teal numbers are at record levels. All that's needed to make a great hunting season is rain.

COLUMBIA, Mo.Missourians could see more teal this September than they have in 50 years. Whether the birds will stay around long enough to give hunters a shot at them will depend on the weather.

Good habitat conditions (read "abundant water") in the prairie pothole region of the north-central United States and south-central Canada allowed already strong waterfowl populations to have another successful nesting season this year. Surveys conducted by the U.S. and Canadian wildlife agencies indicate the fall flight of ducks and geese will be the largest ever recorded, with 105 million birds flying south.

That migration already has begun, according to Dale Humburg, a wildlife research biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. He says surveys along the Missouri River in mid-August showed flocks of 30 to 50 teal on oxbow lakes and other permanent, natural wetlands. He also saw teal on managed wetland areas along the river, such as Bob Brown Conservation Area in Holt County where water pumping is providing early-season habitat.

"The birds are already arriving," says Humburg. "August is usually a dry month, and this year is no exception. We don't have much water on low-lying areas right now, but if we get some rain between now and mid-September we'll be in business."

Humburg said wild seed-producing plants had enough rain early in the summer to produce lots of teal food. If Missouri gets significant rain in the next three weeks, much of that natural vegetation would be surrounded by shallow water, creating ideal conditions for teal to feed and rest on their way south. Such conditions, coupled with high teal numbers, would mean excellent hunting.

"We went into the nesting season with more than 7.1 million blue-winged teal and 2.6 million greenwings," says Humburg. "It's going to be really interesting to see what kind of fall flight 10 million teal can produce."

This year's season for blue-winged, green-winged and cinnamon teal is Sept. 11 through 26. It is the second year for the 16-day teal season. This significant increase in hunting opportunity compared to the previous, nine-day season is a direct result of increased teal numbers.

Shooting hours remain sunrise to sunset, and the limit stays at four teal in the aggregate daily; eight in possession.

Rail, snipe and woodcock seasons are the same as last year's. Shooting hours remain one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. The season for sora and Virginia rails will run from Sept. 1 through Nov. 9, with daily and possession limits of 25 rails in the aggregate.

The season for common snipe will run from Sept. 1 through Dec. 16, with a daily limit of eight and a possession limit of 16.

- Jim Low -

3. Waterfowl hunting reservations go paperless

Written applications are out. Now hunters can apply by phone or over the Internet and check their success the same ways.

JEFFERSON CITYThe waterfowl hunting reservation system introduced in Missouri last year remains in effect for the 1999-2000 hunting season with a few changes. Foremost among those changes is the elimination of paper applications.

Don Martin, wildlife programs supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation, says eliminating written applications will make applying for reservations at waterfowl hunting areas more convenient and efficient.

"Hunters can make their reservations starting Sept. 7," says Martin. "They can call or visit the Conservation Department web page any time of day or night, seven days a week until midnight Sept. 26. I think people will be pleased with how easy it is to get their applications in this year. All you need is a touch-tone phone and the conservation identification number from your hunting permit or Conservation Heritage Card."

Hunters can apply for reserved hunting slots by calling (800) 829-2956. Computer users can submit their applications at the Conservation Department's home page, <www.mdc.mo.gov/hunt/wtrfowl/reserve/>. If you don't have a hunting permit or heritage card, you can get your conservation identification number from any hunting permit vendor statewide.

Hunters may apply for anyone living in their immediate households. However, reservation holders must be present at the hunt for reservations to be valid.

This year, applicants can apply for reservations at as many as three conservation areas. You can request the first available weekend date, the first available weekday or the first available date. Asking for the first available date offers the best chance of getting a reservation. The choices for the first available weekend or week day date are new this year. Last year the only choices were first available date or first available date on a particular day of the week.

Applying early is a good idea. Phone lines may be busy as the deadline approaches. The toll-free number is only for applying for reservations. For answers to questions about the reservation system or hunting areas, call the nearest Conservation Department office or the office where you want to hunt.

Four Rivers Conservation Area (CA) has been added to the waterfowl reservation system this year. For information about this area, call (417) 395-2341. Other CAs under the reservation system are: Ten Mile Pond ((573) 649-2770), Otter Slough ((573) 624-5821), Eagle Bluffs ((573) 884-6861), Montrose ((660) 693-4666), Grand Pass ((660) 646-6122), B.K. Leach ((573) 248-2530), Fountain Grove ((660) 646-6122), Ted Shanks ((573) 248-2530), Duck Creek ((573) 222-3337), Schell-Osage ((417) 432-3414), Marais Temps Clair ((314) 441-4554) and Bob Brown ((660) 646-6122). The Swan Lake Public Hunting Area ((660) 646-6122) also is under the system.

Applicants can call the toll-free reservation number starting Oct. 5 to learn the outcome of the drawing. Again, they will need their Conservation ID number.

Reservations will be issued for half the hunting opportunities at each area. The remaining hunting slots will be allocated to hunters without reservations on a walk-in basis. Each day, reservation holders and walk-in hunters will take part in early-morning drawings to determine where on the area they hunt.

Detailed instructions for waterfowl blind applicants are available in a waterfowl reservation application information sheet, available wherever hunting permits are sold or at any Conservation Department office.

- Jim Low -