Events

Welcome Summertime with a guided public tour of the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery! Join a Naturalist to learn the difference between the Rainbow and Brown Trout raised at the hatchery, then visit the raceways and discover the amazing trout-raising process! And for just a quarter, you can feed the fish, too! Tours will meet at the large trout aquarium inside the Conservation Education Center.

Tours will be held four times daily at 10am, 11am, 1pm, and 2pm on Tuesdays through Fridays, beginning May 26th and continuing through Friday, September 4th. (The Hatchery will be closed for state holidays on June 19th and July 4th.)

All ages are invited, and no registration is required. For questions, call us at 417-334-4865 ext. 0, or email Shepherd@mdc.mo.gov.

Look for book pages posted along Runge’s Naturescape trail and enjoy a seasonal children’s book as you walk and explore. Book begins at the trailhead across from the parking lot.

Don’t know where to hunt? Or maybe you just don’t know where to look. Come learn about opportunities that may have been under your radar. This information table will give you the know-how to register for Missouri managed hunts. There are hunts designated for youth, people with disabilities, specific species and seasons and more. During the month of July only, you are able to sign up for hunts on areas including Burr Oak Woods Conservation Area, Blue Springs Lake, Watkins Mill and many more!

Discover what’s for dinner at Burr Oak Woods as the nature center’s amphibians, fish, and turtles enjoy their feast every Tuesday and Friday. The snakes are fed on the second and fourth Wednesday (July 8 & 22).

View Greg Renner's personal collection of antique duck decoys made in Missouri.

Gloria Gaus is a Missouri landscape painter whose plein air and studio oil paintings follow the seasons across the state’s rivers, wetlands, and open prairies. Her collection of Missouri landscapes is on display through August 28. 

Nature printmaking is the art of creating lifelike images on paper or fabric with found objects from nature. MDC Naturalist Pat Whalen exhibits nature prints from his personal work and programs he presents at the Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center. His prints will be on display in the west wing hallway through August. 

Visit Powder Valley's Art Gallery to view the work of our July Featured Artist, Harold Ostergaard. See below for the artist's bio:

Music turned into a profession as both an educator and musician, while sports remained a childhood pastime. Outdoor life, with all its activities, brought life with an appreciation for all things natural.

Photography began as a father and son activity in the darkroom. This is where the magic began. In near dark a ghostly image would begin to form in the developing tray and morph into a startling clear image. Sometimes it even matched the image imagined through the lens when taking the shot.

I squandered much of my youth in that darkroom. Today that magic still exists, and I waste much of my time with a camera in my hands. In self-defense,

photography has become a great vehicle for sharing my other passion, nature.

Concerning my remaining youthful interest, sports! Sadly, the Cardinals lost out on a great right-handed pitcher but found a fair replacement in Bob Gibson.

My photography is currently featured at the Silver Sycamore Gallery of Fine Art in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. My works have appeared in several juried exhibits in The Gallery at the Library in Hermann, Missouri. My solo exhibit “Natural Missouri, A Diary Through the Lens” has been touring Missouri Conservation Nature Centers for the past several years. One photograph received first place in the 2023 MoDNR Photo Contest and another received third place in the MCD Missouri Snapshot Contest. The 2023 MoDNR photo was part of an exhibit at the Missouri State

Capitol. The Snapshot photo was published in the Rural Missouri Magazine and exhibited at the Missouri State Fair. My wife Mary and I share our passion for

photography and are always on the hunt for the next photograph.

See Harold's work beginning July 11th. Gallery will be up through the end of July 31st.

Clay target shooting is a fun and exciting way to further your shotgun shooting knowledge. We will spend time talking about the 5-stand sporting clays. We will be talking about the different birds that are thrown and how to shoot them. We will go over hold points, break points, forward allowance, and many more of the mechanics as it pertains to 5-stand sporting clay shooting. This program is designed for intermediate level shooters who are proficient with shotgunning fundamentals. We will provide shotguns and ammunition for those who do not have one. If you plan to use your own, bring a minimum of 50 rounds of new ammunition for your firearm. Make sure all firearms are unloaded before arriving at the range. There should be no live ammunition, or uncased firearms inside the classroom.

Summer is a time of plenty for people and nature! Discover how to share in the bounty by learning to make jellies and how to pickle summer’s wild harvest.