May 2009
Shooting clinics reveal nontoxic shot secrets
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Conservation Department experts teach you how to make every shot count.
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| CONSEP training helps experienced hunters and novices alike improve their shooting with steel and other nontoxic shots. Information about the free classes is available at mdc.mo.gov/hunt/gamebird/wingshooting.htm. (Missouri Department of Conservation photo) |
JEFFERSON CITY–Practically every hunter knows that steel and other nontoxic shot performs differently than lead shot. What many do not know is how nontoxic shot is different, how different it is and how to adjust shooting habits to compensate for the differences. Those who attend free shooting clinics around the state will learn these things and become more effective hunters in the process.
The Missouri Department of Conservation offers “Effective Wingshooting, the CONSEP Way” clinics at nine locations statewide from June through October. The clinics – part of the Cooperative North American Shooting Education Program (CONSEP) – are designed to help hunters become more effective, ethical wingshooters.
This year’s Missouri CONSEP offerings include:
· July 24-26 at the Ozark Regional Office in West Plains. Call 417-256-7161 for registration and additional information.
· Aug. 21-22 at Nodaway Valley Conservation Area (CA) in Holt County. Call 816-271-3100.
· Sept. 11-13 at the Jay Henges Shooting Range at Forest 44 CA in St. Louis County. Call 636-300-1953, ext. 302.
· Sept. 18-20 at the UMC Range, Sedalia. Call 816-655-6250.
· Sept. 25-27 at Runge Conservation Nature Center, Jefferson City. Call 573-884-6861.
· Oct. 2-4 at the Andy Dalton Shooting Range at Bois D’Arc CA in Greene County. Call 417-895-6880.
· Oct. 2-4 at Ted Shanks CA in Pike County. Call 660-785-2420.
· Oct. 9-11 at August A. Busch Memorial CA in St. Charles County. Call 636-300-1953, ext. 302.
· Oct. 16-18 at Duck Creek CA in Bollinger County. Call 573-290-5730.
Each event includes an afternoon or evening classroom session open to everyone. Registration for these events is limited only to the capacity of the hosting facility. A limited number of participants who are in a position to pass their knowledge on to other hunters will take part in one-day hands-on shooting training sessions following the classroom portion of the clinics. Ammunition and lunch are provided free of charge at these hands-on sessions. Separate events with shooting training are offered to hunter education instructors.
Lead is the most common material used in shotgun ammunition. Because lead shot has been found to poison waterfowl and eagles that feed on waterfowl, federal law requires duck and goose hunters to use nontoxic alternatives to lead shot. In 2007, Missouri expanded that prohibition to all hunting on 21 conservation areas.
Areas where only nontoxic shot is allowed and possession of lead shot is prohibited are B. K. Leach Memorial, Black Island, Bob Brown, Columbia Bottom, Cooley Lake, Coon Island, Duck Creek, Eagle Bluffs, Fountain Grove, Four Rivers, Grand Pass, Little Bean Marsh, Little River, Marais Temps Clair, Montrose, Nodaway Valley, Otter Slough, Schell-Osage, Settle’s Ford, Ted Shanks and Ten Mile Pond.
For more information, visit mdc.mo.gov/hunt/gamebird/wingshooting.htm.
-Jim Low-
Some Missouri waters swimming with cash rewards
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Returning tags to the Conservation Department can get you up to $150
JEFFERSON CITY–Fishing is not something most people do for money. But anglers do love to tell others about their catches, and the Missouri Department of Conservation is willing to pay for your story if you catch one of a few very special catfish.
In its continuing effort to put catfish management on a firm scientific footing, the Missouri Department of Conservation has tagged thousands of blue and flathead catfish in lakes and streams throughout the state. In years past, those tags carried rewards ranging from $25 to $50 for anglers who reported catching tagged catfish. More recently, the agency upped the ante, offering as much as $150 per tagged catfish.
Fisheries biologists have long used tagging to learn how long fish live, how fast they grow, where they go and other useful information that is useful in setting fishing seasons and creel limits. However, tagging alone accomplishes nothing unless anglers report catching tagged fish. Each time an angler finds a tag on a catfish and calls the number printed on it, fisheries managers get a clearer picture of fish population dynamics. The more data points, the clearer the picture of fish population dynamics.
The percentage of tagged fish caught and reported by anglers gives biologists a rough idea of what percentage of the overall fish population is caught by anglers each year. Estimating harvest rates is very helpful when establishing fishing regulations.
Tag returns from anglers can underestimate the actual harvest, however. Some anglers are glad to report tagged fish in return for information they receive about the fish they caught. For others, however, even a $25 reward is not enough incentive to make a phone call and mail in a tag. Determining non-returns is a key part of every fish tagging study. So is estimating the number of non-returns accurately.
To get a better handle on the number of non-returns, the Conservation Department offers a $150 reward for some tags. The assumption is that almost every angler will return a tag for that amount. Comparing the rate of return on $25 and $150 tags will give researchers a good idea what percentage of fish with $25 tags are not reported when anglers catch them.
Conservation Department workers have tagged more than 7,000 flathead and blue catfish combined that are 12 inches and larger in recent years. Most of those tags have rewards of $25. The reward amount and the phone number to call are printed on the tags. Anglers also need to report when, where and how they caught each fish, along with its length and whether they kept or released the fish.
The “dangler” tags are small plastic ovals attached just under the dorsal fin on top of fishes’ backs. Tagged catfish are swimming in parts of the Fabius, Gasconade, Grand, Lamine, Marmaton, Platte, South Grand rivers, the upper Mississippi River near Hannibal and the Missouri River around the mouths of the Platte, Grand, Lamine and Gasconade rivers.
“Anglers don’t have to keep a fish to get the reward,” said Resource Scientist Zach Ford, who oversees the catfish harvest evaluation project. “If they catch a tagged flathead catfish and choose to release it, all they have to do is clip off the tag and mail it in. They get the reward marked on the tag, along with a letter describing when and where the fish was tagged. They get the tag back, too. Some people like to have them for keepsakes.”
To learn more about the Conservation Department’s catfish management work, visit www.mdc.mo.gov/7228, and click on “How we manage them.”
-Jim Low-
Memorial Day boaters urged to keep zebra mussels in mind
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Moving boats, personal watercraft and other marine equipment could spread the pest far and wide.
OSAGE BEACH–A little caution by boaters over the Memorial Day weekend could save a lot of trouble and expense for Missourians in the long run.
That is the message from the Missouri Department of Conservation concerning the zebra mussel. The thumbnail-sized invader from Eurasia has galloped across much of North America in two decades and now has footholds in several Missouri waters. The only hope of slowing its spread lies in caution by boaters.
Zebra mussels cause several kinds of trouble. For one thing, they alter the ecology of waters they infest by competing with native fish and other animals for food. Their habit of attaching themselves to any solid object dooms native mussels, which are smothered by dense encrustations of the prolific invaders.
Zebra mussels have a hefty price tag for property owners, too. They weigh down docks, buoys and other objects exposed to water. Large numbers of mussels attached to boat hulls increase water drag, leading to higher fuel costs. Their tiny larvae, called “veligers,” get inside marine engines, live wells and water lines, requiring maintenance and creating a danger of damage due to overheating.
Zebra mussels also drive up utility bills by clogging water intakes of public and private utilities. Keeping those pipes open requires millions of dollars of maintenance annually.
And zebra mussels are only one of a growing number of invasive aquatic plants and animals that can hitch rides to previously uninfested waters on boats and other marine equipment.
An alert marina worker averted a zebra mussel infestation at Lake of the Ozarks in 2000 when he spotted thousands of tiny zebra mussels on the hull of a cabin cruiser brought to Missouri from out of state. Not everyone was so vigilant, however, for in 2006 marina workers, boaters and Conservation Department workers discovered zebra mussels at several locations in Lake of the Ozarks.
Today, Lake of the Ozarks has dozens of known infestation sites. The pests also have turned up in Lake Taneycomo, Bull Shoals Lake and in the Osage River below Bagnell Dam.
Most recently, zebra mussels have been discovered in the Missouri River in the Kansas City and Chamois areas.
No one has discovered an affordable way to eradicate the mussels once they are established in a lake or stream. Consequently, state officials can only hope to contain their spread to where they already exist and monitor other waters for new infestations.
Boaters are in a position to do more, however. Measures every Missouri angler and boater can take prevent the further spread of zebra mussel include:
· Thoroughly inspecting hulls, drive units, trim plates, transducers and other submerged portions of boats for adult zebra mussels after each use. Adults are fingernail sized with dark and light stripes. Small zebra mussels give hard surfaces a sandpapery feel.
· Examining crevices and recessed areas around motor housings, trim tabs and behind water intake screens on motors’ lower units.
· Checking trailers, ropes, minnow buckets and anything else that was in the water. Report any suspected zebra mussels to the nearest Conservation Department office.
· Removing all suspected zebra mussels, along with vegetation or other material clinging to boats and trailers and put it in a trash container.
· Rinsing boat bilges, trailers, motor drive units and live wells before launching them in another location helps prevent transferring microscopic zebra mussel larvae. Use water at least 104 degrees if live zebra mussels are found, or if your craft has been in waters known to be infested with zebra mussels. Most commercial car washes meet this standard.
· After rinsing, allow boats and other equipment to dry in the sun for at least five days before re-launching in a different lake or stream.
Some measures that help prevent the spread of zebra mussels also aid in stopping other aquatic pests, including the rusty crayfish and Asian carp. One of the best things anglers can do is dispose of live bait properly. Put unused bait in trash bags and deposit it in trash receptacles away from water. Never release unused bait – whether fish, worms, crayfish or anything else – into lakes or streams.
Boaters can prevent invasive plants and animals from hitching a ride by draining all water from bilges and live wells and removing vegetation and other trash from boats and trailers when they move them from one body of water to another.
More information about invasive aquatic species prevention is available at visit www.protectyourwaters.net/.
-Jim Low-
Squirrel, black-bass seasons open May 23
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Increased squirrel bag limits do not go into effect until 2010. See fishing regulations for bass length limits on some streams.
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| Missouri’s squirrel season opens May 23, along with the catch-and-keep season for black bass in southern Missouri streams. See 2009 hunting and fishing regulation guides, available wherever hunting and fishing permits are sold, for bag/creel limits and other regulations. (Missouri Department of Conservation photo) |
Missouri’s squirrel and black bass seasons always open on the same day, the fourth Saturday in May. To take full advantage of these seasons, it helps to be familiar with the regulations for each.
SQUIRRELS
Squirrel hunting regulations remain unchanged from last year. However, some hunters might be confused by an action taken by the Missouri Conservation Commission at its March meeting. The Commission voted to increase the bag limit for squirrels effective on March 1, 2010. This year’s bag limits remain the same as last year – six gray or fox squirrels in the aggregate per day and 12 in possession.
“In the aggregate” means you can bag any combination of fox and gray squirrels, so long as you do not exceed six squirrels in one day in total. If you bag a daily limit two days in a row, you have a possession limit of 12 squirrels. After that, you must eat or give away some squirrels before going hunting again in order to stay within the possession limit.
Hunters can pursue squirrels from May 23 through Feb. 15, 2010, with rifles, shotguns or archery equipment. Summer foliage makes rifle shots more difficult than in late fall and winter, when leaves no longer obscure a shooter’s view. As a result, shotguns are the preferred method for most hunters during the early part of the season.
Hunters also can take squirrels with cage-type traps, as long as they label traps with their full name and address. Squirrel traps also must have openings measuring 144 square inches or less, for instance, 12 inches by 12 inches. Hunters must attend their traps daily. The same regulations apply to rabbits and groundhogs during their respective seasons.
Lonnie Hansen, the Missouri Department of Conservation’s resource scientist in charge of squirrel management, said 2008 was a down year for squirrel numbers in the Ozarks. That was because a late freeze reduced acorn production the previous year. White oak trees in the Ozarks produced a good crop of acorns last year, so squirrel numbers should rebound in that part of the state for 2009, making for better hunting.
Squirrels have a more diverse and dependable food base in northern Missouri, thanks to corn and other agricultural crops. As a result, squirrel populations are more stable there, and hunting is uniformly good from year to year.
BLACK BASS
The bass catch-and-keep season in southern Missouri streams applies to largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass. Anglers may catch these species legally all year, anywhere in the state. They may keep legal-sized bass caught from impoundments all year long, statewide. However, from March 1 through the Friday before the fourth Saturday in May, you may only keep black bass caught in streams if you are:
· on the Mississippi River,
· north of the south bank of the Missouri River,
· in that portion of southeast Missouri south and east of Cape Girardeau following Highways 74 and 25, U.S. Highways 60, 67 and 160 and the west bank of the Little Black River to the Arkansas state line, or
· on the St. Francis River downstream from Wappapello Dam.
In the rest of the state—essentially the Ozarks—black-bass fishing is strictly catch-and-release from March 1 until the fourth Saturday in May.
In most of the state’s waters, the daily limit on black bass is six, with a possession limit of 12. Black bass taken from streams must be at least 12 inches long in most areas. There is no statewide length limit on bass taken from impoundments. However, special length and daily limits apply on many lakes and streams. To ensure that you keep only legal bass, you must check for special regulations on the waters you intend to fish. You can find these posted at areas with special regulations and in the 2009 Summary of Missouri Fishing Regulations, which is available from fishing permit vendors.
An abundance of stream accesses maintained by the Missouri Department of Conservation statewide makes it easy to combine float-fishing and squirrel hunting. It is important to remember, however, that a hunting permit does not give you the right to trespass on private property bordering streams. The best places for this dual sport are where streams run through conservation areas or national forest land.
To find such places, use mdc.mo.gov/atlas/, the searchable Conservation Atlas database.
-Jim Low-
Conservation officials urge Memorial Day vacationers not to move firewood
Friday, May 15, 2009
Buy firewood at your camping destination, and burn it there.
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| Large, triangular, purple traps are part of Missouri’s efforts to track the spread of emerald ash borers, a destructive forest pest. For more information, visit mdc.mo.gov/firewood, mdc.mo.gov/forest/health/ashborer/, eab.missouri.edu or emeraldashborer.info/. (Missouri Department of Conservation photo) |
The borer – an attractive metallic green beetle – has killed millions of ash trees in several other states. The first infestation in Missouri was discovered last year at a campground in Wayne County.
“Firewood isn’t just the main way this pest spreads,” said Forestry Programs Supervisor Justine Gartner, “it’s practically the only way it spreads. If people are careful not to take firewood from place to place we can delay the spread of emerald ash borer.”
The emerald ash borer is an Asian beetle first discovered in North America in Michigan in 1992. The most likely source of that infestation was imported wooden packing materials. Since then the emerald ash borer is estimated to have killed more than 50 million ash trees in rural forests and city landscape plantings from Maryland to Missouri and into Canada. No North American ash tree species has been found resistant to the pest.
Most trees die three to five years after being attacked. The cause of death is damage to tissue beneath trees’ bark. This tissue carries water and nutrients between tree leaves and roots.
Without outside help, emerald ash borer infestations spread very slowly – one-half to two miles per year. However, the borers spend much of their lives tunneling beneath bark, and this has been the key to the pest’s rapid spread.
Moving one piece of firewood from an infested area can result in an outbreak in a completely new area hundreds of miles away. Infestations are hard to detect until they are well-established. Meanwhile, newly infested areas can be the source of other outbreaks if campers or firewood suppliers transport wood to other areas.
State and federal officials are working to determine the extent of Missouri’s emerald ash borer problem in order to combat it most effectively. One survey involves purple, triangular plastic traps. The traps measure approximately 1 foot by 2.5 feet. The traps are highly visible to people, but more important the color attracts adult emerald ash borers.
To make the traps even more effective, they are baited with an artificial attractant that mimics chemicals produced by stressed ash trees. Emerald ash borers sense these chemicals, which betray stressed trees that are particularly susceptible to parasites. Insects that land on the traps are caught in sticky material.
Approximately 1,000 of the traps are being placed within an 8-mile radius of the Corps of Engineers’ Greenville Recreation Area, where Missouri’s first infestation was discovered. Several hundred traps also are being placed at high-risk sites, such as campgrounds, sawmills and tree nurseries. When the traps are retrieved and examined in July and August they will reveal how far Missouri’s first known emerald ash borer infestation has spread.
The implications of the infestation are severe. Even before the emerald ash borer reached Missouri, ash trees here were suffering from “ash yellows” disease and a complex of insect and disease problems called “ash decline.” Forestry officials say these problems combined could produce devastation unlike any seen since chestnut blight all but exterminated the American chestnut from forests in eastern North America. For more information, visit mdc.mo.gov/firewood, mdc.mo.gov/forest/health/ashborer/, eab.missouri.edu or emeraldashborer.info/.
-Jim Low-
Guided float trip a chance to rediscover the wildlife and history of the Missouri River
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Newcomers to the river will enjoy naturalist and history programs, plus live music and drawings for prizes.
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| You can join experts in history and ecology for a 9.5-mile float trip on the Missouri River June 20. For registration information, visit www.moriver.org/float.html, or contact Billy Polansky, 540-226-3806, polanswe@gmail.com. (Missouri Department of Conservation photo) |
The easy float will take participants 9.5 miles on the Lewis and Clark Water Trail, from Katfish Katy Campground on the Katy Trail at Huntsdale to Cooper’s Landing, also on the Katy Trail, at Easley. The tour passes Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area and will include a stop on California Island.
The event is scheduled to last from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Programs on the river will cover river ecology and history and include live animals. The event also will feature live music, a raffle and drawings for attendance prizes.
For registration information, visit www.moriver.org/float.html, or contact Billy Polansky, 540-226-3806, polanswe@gmail.com.
The event, including a shuttle and lunch, costs $30. Participants must provide their own canoes or kayaks. Rentals are available from:
§ Mighty Mo Canoe Rental, 205 Central St., Rocheport, MO 65279, phone 573-698-3903, e-mail pebblepublishing@gmail.com, online booking at www.mighty-mo.com/.
§ Katfish Katy Campground, phone 573-447-3939, e-mail Linda@katfishkaty-campground.com.
The trip is insured and sanctioned by the U.S. Canoe Association. Sponsors of the event include the Missouri departments of Conservation and Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Big Muddy Fish and Wildlife Refuge and the U.S. Geological Survey.
For more information about the Lewis and Clark Water Trail, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/water-trail/index.html.
-Jim Low-
Missouri hunters check 41,830 turkeys
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The harvest in the regular spring turkey season was less than last year but more than predicted.
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| Hunters checked 41,830 turkeys during the three-week regular hunting season and 2,883 during the youth season for a spring harvest total of 44,713. That is fewer than last year’s harvest of 46,314, but more than predicted by the Conservation Department. (Missouri Department of Conservation photo) |
Top harvest counties for the three-week season were Franklin with 915, Texas with 839 and St. Clair with 678. Regional harvest totals were: Central, 6,311; Southwest, 6,129; Northwest, 5,820; Ozarks, 5,671; Northeast, 5,472; Kansas City, 4,801; Southeast, 4,197; and St. Louis, 3,430.
Hunters 15 and younger checked 2,883 turkeys during the youth spring turkey season April 4 and 5. This, brought the overall spring turkey harvest to 44,713. The record spring turkey harvest, including the youth and regular seasons, occurred in 2004, when hunters checked 60,744 turkeys.
The percentage of juvenile male turkeys, commonly called “jakes,” in this year’s harvest started out low on opening day, but by the end of the season it had increased to 22 percent. That is close to the average in the past 10 years.
Hunters killed more turkeys during the regular spring season than predicted by Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Scientist Tom Dailey. Before the season Dailey said he expected hunters to check approximately 40,000 turkeys.
Looking back on the season, he said one factor in the better-than-expected harvest was strong turkey populations in parts of central, northwest and southwest Missouri. Counties where the harvest during the regular spring turkey season increased by 50 or more included Oregon (79), Franklin (77), Holt (73), Andrew (70), Benton (66), Atchison (61), Camden (53) , and Greene and Jefferson (50).
“Apparently we continue to have surprisingly strong turkey numbers in parts of northwest and southwest Missouri and some parts of the Ozarks,” said Dailey, who supervises Missouri’s wild-turkey management program. “Thirty or so counties posted larger harvests than last year, boosting the statewide harvest above my expectations. I had reports from a number of hunters Missouri who said they heard more gobbling than ever this year.”
Counties where hunters checked more than 500 turkeys included Benton, Bollinger, Callaway, Camden, Cedar, Dent, Douglas, Franklin, Gasconade, Greene, Howell, Jefferson, Johnson, Laclede, Macon, Maries, Miller, Osage, Pettis, Polk, St. Clair, Ste. Genevieve, Texas, Webster and Wright Counties.
“What’s striking about this is that only two of the counties where hunters shot 500 or more turkeys this year were north of the Missouri River,” said Dailey. “Five years ago, northern Missouri had 24 counties in the 500-or-better category. Three years ago, there were still 14. This dramatic drop reflects what people have been telling us for the past year or two. Where they used to see flocks of 150 turkeys in fields they might only be seeing 25 or 50 at a time, even less in some areas.”
Dailey said weather is far and away the most significant factor in the decline in turkey numbers. Last year’s record-breaking rainfall, a severe Easter freeze in 2007 and several cold, wet springs in the past five years have thwarted turkeys’ nesting efforts. Northern Missouri, which had the densest turkey populations, had most to lose.
Even though this year’s harvest is the smallest since 1997, Dailey said he was pleased the harvest was stronger than he expected.
“In spite of the fact that our turkey harvest is down substantially from a few years ago, Missouri still ranks among the top turkey hunting states in the nation,” said Dailey.
He said with normal temperatures and rainfall from now through mid-summer, Missouri’s wild turkeys could recoup some of the losses they have suffered in the past five years.
“Turkeys have a remarkable ability to bounce back,” he said. “With hundreds of thousands of hens out there, if they just raised an average of two poults per year, it would only take two or three years for turkeys to bounce back. That is the key to more turkeys. Reducing the season length or bag limit from two to one has much less of an effect on turkey abundance than does reproduction.”
Missouri’s spring turkey harvest has little effect on the population, since only male birds are taken. The fall season takes place before winter, when many young turkeys are lost to predators and severe weather.
The Conservation Department recorded four firearms-related turkey hunting incidents during the regular turkey season. One was fatal and involved a 56-year-old man pulling a loaded shotgun from his vehicle by the barrel. He was struck in the chest when the trigger caught on an object, causing the gun to discharge. The other three incidents involved shooters who either mistook victims for game or fired at movement.
-Jim Low-
State yellow perch record falls after less than two months
Monday, May 11, 2009
A fish from Bull Shoals Lake topped the previous mark by a quarter pound.
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| Vince G. Elfrink, of Walnut Shade, landed this 1-pound, 11-ounce yellow perch May 3 while bankfishing for white bass below Powersite Dam on Bull Shoals Lake. It topped the previous record, set less than two months earlier, by 4 ounces. (Photo courtesy of Megan Cummings) |
BULL SHOALS LAKE, Mo.–Some things are made to last, and then there is Brian Clapp’s fishing record.
Clapp, of Butler, captured the Missouri state record for yellow perch March 18 when he caught a 1-pound, 7-ounce fish measuring 13 inches. His fame was short-lived, however, because on May 3 Vince G. Elfrink, of Walnut Shade, landed a 1-pound, 11-ounce yellow perch measuring just a shade over 14 inches.
Elfrink hooked the fish around 2 p.m. while fishing for white bass near the upper end of Bull Shoals Lake, just about a mile from Lake Taneycomo’s Powersite Dam. Conservation Agent Charles T. Nofsinger verified the fish’s species and weight.
Elfrink said he has caught several yellow perch while fishing for white bass at Bull Shoals. He said they usually bite on minnows or jigs.
The Missouri Department of Conservation recognizes fishing records in two categories, pole-and-line and alternative methods. Elfrink’s yellow perch is a pole-and-line record. No one has ever registered a state yellow perch record for alternative methods, which include gigging, bowfishing and the use of trotlines, pole and bank lines and other set lines.
A list of Missouri fishing records, rules and entry forms are available online at www.missouriconservation.org. Click on keywords “Fishing” and “Browse Fishing by Subject.” The site also has information about the Conservation Department’s Master Angler program, which recognizes notable catches that fall short of records. For qualifying weights, visit http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Documents/71.pdf.
-Jim Low-
Women Invited to Discover Nature through MDC Workshop June 12-14
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Discover Nature-Women Summer Workshop gives women a fun, safe way to learn outdoor skills.
JEFFERSON CITY -- The Missouri Department of Conservation invites women to get hands-on outdoor skills training at its Discover Nature–Women Summer Workshop, June 12–14, at the Windermere Conference Center in Roach, Missouri. Formerly known as Missouri Outdoor Women (MOW), the Discover Nature–Women Summer Workshop continues the tradition of helping women learn popular outdoor activities in a safe and friendly environment. Workshops include: archery, basic hunting, canoeing, outdoor cooking, an introduction to firearms, camping, fishing fundamentals, fly tying, map/compass/GPS reading and shotgun shooting.
The special weekend is targeted to women 18 years and older, along with young women age 14-17 when accompanied by a woman 18 years or older. The registration deadline is May 23. A $20 deposit is required at the time of registration.
For more information, contact Tracy Tomson at Tracy.Tomson@mdc.mo.gov or 573-522-4115 x3808. Download registration information at www.mdc.mo.gov/programs/mow/weekend.htm.
Participants are responsible for making room and meal reservations directly with Windermere by calling 573-346-5200 or 800-346-2215. Various lodging options are available including: the Lakeview Lodge, motel, cabins, RV camping and tent camping. The Department of Conservation will provide dinner on Saturday.
The Windermere Conference Center is flanked by 1,300 acres of wooded Ozark hills and occupies 3.5 miles of shoreline on the Lake of the Ozarks. For more information, visit www.windermereusa.org.
-JOE JEREK-
Apply now for pond stocking
Thursday, May 07, 2009
The Conservation Department has largemouth bass, bluegill and channel catfish for qualifying pond owners.
JEFFERSON CITY–Landowners who want to turn their ponds into fishing holes have until July 15 to apply for stocking by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Each year hundreds of Missouri pond owners accept nearly a million fingerling fish that add significantly to angling opportunities statewide. To qualify for Conservation Department stocking, they complete written applications. Conservation Department personnel visit each pond to be sure it meets the following requirements:
§ The pond or lake must be at least 8 feet deep.
§ If the pond is smaller than 5 acres, livestock must be excluded from the pond area.
§ Ponds must not have existing fish populations, except for fathead minnows.
§ The dam must be built for permanence and water-tightness.
Pond owners who qualify can receive bluegill, largemouth bass and channel catfish. Sunfish and catfish fingerlings are distributed from a central location in each county in September or October. Largemouth bass are distributed the following June. This gives the other fish time to grow before the hungry, predatory bass arrive.
Anglers can harvest bass in most ponds by the third summer after stocking. Natural reproduction replaces bluegill and bass removed by fishing. Catfish must be restocked periodically.
Pond stocking applications must be in by July 15. To submit an application online visit www.mdc.mo.gov/67. Visit www.mdc.mo.gov/10194 to learn more about the many pond stocking options that are available to you.
Pond owners who accept fish from the Conservation Department retain full rights to control access to their ponds. Accepting the free fish doesn't obligate them to allow fishing or other uses on their land by the public. However, ponds stocked by the Conservation Department are subject to provisions of the Wildlife Code of Missouri. The fish can't be bought or sold, and statewide fishing regulations must be observed. Those restrictions do not apply to pond owners who buy fish from commercial sources.
- Jim Low -
Spring turkey harvest continues to dip
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Western Missouri and some local areas are bucking the trend toward fewer turkeys.
JEFFERSON CITY–Hunters checked 10,890 turkeys during the second week of Missouri’s spring turkey season, trailing the number of birds taken during the same period last year by 14 percent.
The second-week harvest brought the number of turkeys taken during the first two weeks of the season to 32,607. That is 7 percent fewer than last year.
Before the season, Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Scientist Tom Dailey predicted the spring turkey harvest would be down approximately 6,000, or 13 percent, from last year’s figure. He based that prediction on exceptionally poor turkey reproduction in the past two years. Dailey said cool, rainy weather might have played a role in holding down the number of birds taken in the second week of this year’s season, but reduced turkey numbers remained the primary factor, in his opinion.
“We had a pretty strong harvest the first week of the season, considering how many fewer birds we think were out there,” said Dailey. “During the second week, with a lot of the two-year-old gobblers gone, hunting got tougher.”
Dailey said widespread rain during the second week didn’t help hunters, but on the other hand it probably would not have been a serious obstacle if the turkey population had been what it was a few years ago.
“Hunters are going to have to work hard and get good breaks from the weather to top the 40,000-bird harvest I originally predicted,” said Dailey, “The last week can be tough even under normal circumstances.”
Dailey noted that hunters are finding more birds in some parts of the state than in others. Wild turkeys in western Missouri seem to have weathered the past two years’ unfavorable nesting conditions better than many other regions. On the other hand, northern Missouri seems to have been harder hit than most. Even within regions, however, hunters report big differences in turkey numbers and gobbling activity from one locale to another.
“Many turkey hunters are finding a lot of birds and easily harvested two,” said Dailey. “Even where turkey numbers are down many hunters are finding enough to keep them busy all season.”
Top harvest counties during the first two weeks of the season were Franklin, with 728, Texas, with 662, and St. Clair, with 553.
Spring turkey season opened April 20 and runs through May 10.
-Jim Low-
