November 2017

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VOL. 45, NO. 5

NOVEMBER 2017

Cranking for fall slab crappie

T

By Chuck Smick he rod loaded up and started to bounce… a big reservoir crappie had taken Kathy’s crankbait and she had the pleasure of enjoying catching our first fish of the day.

This was s special trip for us. I was giving my wife, Kathy, a guided fishing trip to celebrate her 60th birthday.

Kathy and I are both avid anglers, and this trip was a special occasion for both of us. We had both had

Catch big slabs under adverse conditions

hectic work schedules all year, and this was to be our first fishing trip for the 2017 season.

We were fishing with our good friend and guide, Capt. Doug Wynn, owner of Crappie-Gills-nMore Guide Service. We’ve known Doug for many years and were both

www.riverhillstraveler.com

anxious to take a fishing trip with him. Doug is an outstanding, knowledgeable guide, and a renowned taxidermist.

The morning broke with a brilliant sunrise, and a brisk east wind.

The ride across the lake was chilly and choppy! Kathy and I both wished we’d brought our jackets.

We warmed up as the sun rose and had a great time, despite the early chill.

Adverse conditions can really

Please see CRAPPIE, 18

Bait shop caters to catfishermen I

By Bill Wakefield n visiting the various bait shops throughout the River Hills country I have come to the conclusion that these independent small business owners seem to fall into two categories.

The first group are individuals who have retired from their careers and are looking for something that they can do to keep them active but is fun, interesting, and offers the opportunity to meet people.

The second group is much younger and are still working fulltime but are looking for something to build for their retirement plan that also has the same requirements which are fun, interesting, and the opportunity to meet people.

Sam Sykes and his wife, Betsy, and their business partner, Drew Crow, fall into the second category.

The Sykes and Crow own and operate Betsy Boy’s Bait Shop located

Please see BETSY, 19

Hospital has an interesting history

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By Bill O’Donnell ver the years, Ozark springs have been used as campsites, power supplies for grist mills, tourist resorts and even hospitals.

Hospitals? Yes, hospitals.

Back in 1913, an Illinois doctor named C.H. Diehl bought Welch Spring for eight hundred dollars. Dr. Diehl believed that the spring water had healing properties and that cool, pollen-free air coming from the adjacent cave would be beneficial for people with asthma, emphysema, and tuberculosis, which

together were called “consumption” at the time.

He said that it worked for him, helping him with a chronic case of hay fever. To tap this clean air resource, Dr. Diehl built a hospital over the mouth of the cave.

Welch Spring, which flowed from the cave, was dammed up so that water would close off the entrance. This was to force more air out through the cave opening into the hospital.

In today’s terms, it might be better called a “health spa” since there wasn’t

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much in the way of formal medical treatment, just an invitation to breathe the fresh air of the cave.

Dr. Diehl was not blind to the scenic values of the region, either. He hoped to run a thriving campground resort to supplement his medical fees with tourist dollars.

In time his healing resort expanded to a few small cabins, a campground, a show cave and he even had an electric generator running off the spring. Visitors came from the local area and from

Please see WELCH, 18

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 2 • November 2017

Take advantage of those beautiful fall weekends

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ord knows I can rough it. Tent camping or a barebones camper cabin doesn’t faze me at all. He also knows that I like to be selective in how I spend my dollars.

With that said, one of my splurges can be found in Lesterville, Missouri.

From Highway 21, turn south at Lenny’s onto Peola Road. About one mile after you cross the Black River bridge is a place that has become a fall tradition for my daughter, Karlene, and me.

Wilderness Lodge Resort is far from roughing it despite the idyllic forest setting. From threecourse meals to a game room filled with distractions from the hustle and bustle of life, this place has become what Karlene and I lovingly call our “Lesterville Home.”

While this is a Michelle Turner popular spot in the ———— summer, it has become our autumn retreat. We typically book our visit at the end of the first quarter of school, just before it’s time to set our clocks back an hour, and while fall is showing us her finest colors.

I wish I could say someone recommended this fanciful spot to me, but how I came upon it is an all-too-typical modern tale. It was Google that led me to this gem.

When Karlene was in the second grade, we were both WORN OUT and ready for a break. I literally Googled “cabins for rent” because it was chilly that weekend and I didn’t want to camp.

When Wilderness Lodge Resort popped up, I initially passed it by when I saw it was not “roughing it.”

However, after a few more additional days of online research, I returned to their website. For some reason, the idea of staying at this resort instead of a barebones cabin, sounded more and more appealing by the minute.

I finally got over my cold feet and fear of the unknown. I booked a standard room in the “Hilltops” for one night. They let me break their twonight minimum requirement because it was my first visit and it was off-season.

Clearly it did not disappoint us. We have returned for a fall getaway five out of the past six years and have stayed two consecutive nights on the past three trips.

Yes, Wilderness Lodge Resort has great food, accommodations, and amenities. We could easily spend our whole weekend on the grounds of the resort doing anything from playing pool in the game room to enjoying a campfire or a book from the lending libraries.

Yet, there have been times we have taken side trips to the beautiful sights located nearby. Johnson’s Shut-Ins is only 13 miles away, while Taum Sauk Mountain is 20 miles from the resort.

Besides those destinations, my

daughter and I have just enjoyed driving the backcountry roads that follow along the Black River.

In an ideal world, we could find the time and funds to spend a full week there. I feel instantly at home when I sit on the screened in porch of the “Hilltops” sipping my coffee and watching the morning fog over the Black River.

My daughter and I are able to slow

down and enjoy each other’s company without worrying about homework, chores, or the daily to-do lists that seem never-ending.

However, I am a practical person and not currently living a life that can supply both the time and money for a full seven-day retreat.

So, I will take those weekends in the fall every chance I can get.

If you want to learn more about Wilderness Lodge Resort, visit them at www.wildernesslodgeresortltd.com/ and consider following them on Facebook.

(Michelle Turner lives in Union, Mo.)

RiverHillsTraveler.com

November 2017 • Page 3

Bootheel parks rise from the waters

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By Tom Uhlenbrock he welcome sign is back up at Big Oak Tree State Park in the far southeast corner of Missouri.

The sign was toppled in early May when the Army Corps of Engineers blew holes in a levee and let the overflowing Mississippi rush into the New Madrid Floodway.

Big Oak Tree, and the nearby Towosahgy State Historic Site, are within the 130,000-acre floodway.

Floodwaters reached 16 feet deep at the park’s visitor center.

Big Oak Tree was closed temporarily, but has re-opened.

Park employees spent the summer removing debris washed in by floodwaters and making other repairs, including putting up a new welcome sign.

“The park fared really well, as far as the bottomland forest ecosystem is concerned,” said Chris Crabtree, the natural resource steward at the park. “We did have some tree die-off, and lost some animals, but that would have happened somewhat on a regular basis prior to the levee system. The main resource is intact, luckily.”

The centerpiece of the park is a threequarter-mile walkway built of steel grating to withstand high water. The walkway, the main public use area and the Bottomland Trail are open, although some areas of the park remain closed.

A hike along the walkway revealed that great egrets have returned to their roosts in the snags, warblers are in the tree canopy and the forest floor bears the tracks of raccoons, deer and other animals.

Crabtree had feared the loss of the park’s swamp rabbits, which are larger than your average backyard bunny, but reports two have been spotted in the park.

“Animal populations will take time to rebound,” he said.

Crabtree and two full-time park maintenance workers, Chadd Thomas and Jeff Williamson, were aided in the cleanup by an inmate crew of six workers from Trails of Tears State Park, two interns from Southeast Missouri State University and seven employees of the Workforce Investment Board of Southeast Missouri.

“The flood debris included at least eight big tanks, dozens of tires, road signs and three sheds, one of ours and two that washed in from somewhere else,” Crabtree said. “You could have built a shotgun shack out of everything we found.”

While the flood damaged farm homes and buildings within the floodway, Crabtree said many of the farmers were able to get in a crop.

“Some of the beans inside the spillway looked better than what’s growing outside,” he said.

The park’s playground has been restored, with a new layer of mulch. The visitor center will remain closed and may be replaced because the current small facility is on stilts with a stairway not accessible to the disabled.

The visitor center contains a cross-section of the giant bur oak that inspired creation of the park. The display was not damaged by the floodwaters.

Weathering the floods The park is an oasis of tall trees surrounded by farm fields, and for a time in the 1960s was home to some 20 state or national champion trees.

Many of those have died, but the park

now claims the national champion pumpkin ash, the state champion persimmon and the state co-champ bald cypress.

The big bald cypress is not currently marked on the boardwalk, and Crabtree said he hopes to create signage directing visitors to the giant tree.

“It’s hard to estimate its age,” Crabtree said. “But you can bet it’s been home to ivory-billed woodpeckers and Carolina parakeets.”

The Carolina parakeet is now extinct, and the ivory-billed believed to be, but Crabtree noted that John James Audubon traveled through the area in November of 1820: “He wrote about nothing but hearing the ivory-billed woodpeckers calling in the forests all along the way.”

Those forests are long gone. By demand of local residents anxious to save a piece of their natural heritage, the 1,023 acres of Big Oak Tree State Park

were preserved in 1937 as one of the state’s last remnants of the bottomland forests that lined the Mississippi River Valley.

Ironically, 1937 also was the last year that the Corps inundated the floodway.

The forest of Big Oak Tree State Park survived that manmade flood, and appears to have weathered another.

mounds in the floodplain have been bulldozed for agriculture.

“This was a fortified village with a wood wall on three sides and a moat,” Crabtree said. “An estimated 250 to 300 dwellings were within the village. The tallest mound is called Temple Mound because it was used in ceremonies to elevate the leader above everybody else.”

Only the two tallest mounds were above the floodwaters, and they provided a dry haven for animals. In an unlikely gathering of predators and prey, dozens of turkey and deer sought refuge on the mounds, along with several coyote and what may have been two bobcat cubs.

The site has re-opened and the public is invited to climb atop the highest mound to view the blanket of stars from the same vantage point as Native Americans did more than 1,000 years ago.

(Tom Uhlenbrock is a writer for Missouri State Parks.)

A spot for star-gazing The scene was the same a few miles away at the Towosahgy State Historic Site, which sits along a gravel road winding back through the farm fields.

Debris has been removed, and a mowed path leads to the seven mounds, which survived the flooding intact.

Towosahgy is an Osage word for “old village,” and the site was a thriving community between about A.D. 800 to 1400.

It is the only Mississippian Culture site preserved by the state; the majority of

AROUND the WORLD with the River Hills Traveler

Dana Sturgeon recently visited Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah, where they have the speed races in August and in October. "A motorcycle rider from Canada happened to be there, so I took his picture and he took mine," she said. She took a friend along with her.

——— If you're going on a trip or vacation, please take the River Hills Traveler with you and have someone photograph you and the magazine in front of a landmark or particular setting. Then email the picture to us at jimmy@riverhillstraveler.com and we will publish it an upcoming issue. You can also text photos & info to (417) 451-3798 or send them to us via our Facebook page.

Thank you very much and we look forward to seeing your family’s adventures!

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 4 • November 2017

Here’s what to do if you run into a black bear

A

s summer turns to fall, Missouri's estimated 350 native black bears enter a phase called!hyperphagiain which they eat heavily, accumulating a layer of fat that results in a 30 percent weight gain preparing them for hibernation.

In preparation for hibernation, bears eat a wide variety of food including grasses and forbs, berries, ants, bees and wasps, beetles, crickets, fish, frogs, small rodents and other small animals.

Remember to be "bear aware" and the phrase, "A fed bear is a dead bear."

Leaving food or garbage cans outside attracts bears, and thus feeding them makes them Jimmy Sexton more comfortable ———— being around huJourney On mans.

Trust me, you don't want that.

In recent years bears are being spotted in all kinds of places around the state, not just rural areas, including parking lots, cemeteries, crossing major highways, stairwells of apartment buildings, etc.

So, it's entirely possible you could see a bear today, wherever you go. If you do, here are some tips offered by the MDC: • Make noise while walking or hiking to prevent surprising a bear. Clap, sing, or talk loudly.

• Travel in a group, if possible.

• Pay attention to the surroundings and watch for bear sign, such as tracks or claw or bite marks on trees.

• Keep dogs leashed.

• Leave a bear alone! Do not approach it. Make sure it has an escape route.

I

• If encountering a bear up close, back away slowly with arms raised to look larger. Speak in a calm, loud voice. Do not turn away from the bear.

Back away slowly. Do not run.

• Report bear sightings by calling the MDC at (573) 522-4115, ext. 3080.

• Also, please call the River Hills Traveler at (800) 874-8423, ext. 1, and report your sighting. We will inform our readers about it in our next issue.

And if you were able to take any photos, without putting yourself in harm's way, please text them to (417) 4513798 or email jimmy@riverhillstraveler.com.

A native of Missouri, black bears were abundant throughout the state until the late 1800s when they were nearly wiped out from unregulated killing and from habitat loss when Ozark forests were logged.

MDC research shows that a small

number of native black bears survived and others from Arkansas moved north into Missouri. Over time, their numbers increased and continue to do so.

Results of ongoing black-bear research by MDC staff and others show that the animals have been sighted in about half the counties in Missouri, primarily south of the Missouri River, with most bears located in the southern third of the state in the Missouri Ozarks.

——— The MDC, Back Country Horsemen of Missouri (BCHMO), and the Summersville Saddle Club have opened nearly 12 miles of multi-use trails located on the Gist Ranch Conservation Area.!!

Gist Ranch!is located in Texas County just northwest of Summersville off Highway 17.

Travis Mills, resource forester with MDC, and his work team spent time the past year enhancing an existing trail network as multi-use trails.!

“We are happy to provide this recreational opportunity to a wide group of

Talkin’ about deer and such

was telling someone the other day that Missouri’s state conservation program really does seem to be top notch.

This rings especially true when one considers how Missouri has rebuilt its whitetailed deer population from critical status to one where there are now generous bag limits.

In 1925, Missouri’s deer population was estimated to be as low as only 400 in the entire state!

I’ve heard stories passed down in my neck of the woods about how in those days it used to be Wes Franklin remarkable when ———— someone would acNative Ozarker tually see a deer, and would be the subject of conversation at the local general store.

“Did you hear about ol’ so-and-so?

Said he saw a buck deer the other day.”

“No kidding? Where at?”

Today the state’s deer population tops 1.4 million due to responsible management, and we’ve had an official deer season since 1944. Hats off to Missouri!

As you hit the deer woods this season, keep in mind some old Ozark tips, as recorded by the late, great folklorist

Vance Randolph in his wonderful book “Ozark Superstitions,” first published in 1947.

First of all, it’s bad luck to hunt on a Sunday. Venturing out on the Lord’s Day, when you ought to be at rest as commanded by Scripture, won’t get you anything but trouble.

When I say it’s bad luck to hunt on Sunday, I don’t mean you won’t see a deer. The chances of seeing a whitetail on a Sunday are just as good as any other day.

However, if you shoot that deer on a Sunday you won’t get another one for another seven weeks, and by then your season is probably ruined anyway, unless you’re a bowhunter.

This one is very important: If you should ever be one of the few souls to spot an albino deer out in the wild, by no means shoot it. It is considered very bad luck to even SEE an all-white deer, much less kill it.

The old-timers used to consider an albino deer a bad sign in general, and maybe even connected to witchcraft.

No, sir. If you see an albino deer, you best just hope it leaves – or perhaps you should.

While you’re in deer camp this fall, if your campfire spits and sputters it means a rain or snowfall is coming.

Pay attention to how the deer react after it snows. If you see a deer lie down in the snow, without pawing it out first, or you find evidence of such,

it means another good snowfall is coming soon, according to the old Ozark folk wisdom.

But if the deer paw out the snow, and make a bed for themselves, it means there won’t be anymore snow for at least a week or two.

Going back to the subject of campfires, don’t ever use sassafras wood or it could bring about the death of your mother (hey, I don’t make the rules). If she has already gone to Heaven it is OK. Peach tree wood is very bad luck to burn as well. Of course, never burn the wood of a tree that has been struck by lightning.

Also, never look directly into the flames of a campfire as you are lighting it. If you do, you’ll have trouble with the fire for the rest of the evening.

It could also bring other bad luck as well, such as a quarrel with a friend.

And nobody wants bad blood on a hunting trip!

Best of luck out there!

(Wes Franklin can be reached at 417658-8443 or cato.uticensis46@gmail .com.)

On the Cover

Steve Lewis, Mike Roux, and Mike Hamski really DO NOT hate deer season. Really.

(Full story on page 6)

the public, including horseback riders, bicyclists, and hikers,” Mills said.

MDC welcomes volunteer help to maintain the trails on an ongoing basis.

A partnership has been developed between the Summersville Saddle Club and MDC for ongoing maintenance of the trails.!

Ronnie Harper, president of the Saddle Club, said the club is looking forward to a lasting relationship with MDC and that they will appreciate the opportunity to have trails close to home.

“I’m pleased to see these multi-use trails developed, and to have played a part with getting these organizations together to create a long-term partnership,” said John Turner, a representative of BCHMO. ——— The 25th annual Let's Go Fishing Show is scheduled for Jan. 5-7, 2018, at the Gateway Center in Collinsville, Ill. This fishing show attracts fishing enthusiasts from near and far.

Visitors to the show not only find a "fishing tackle super-store" but attend seminars and see exhibits (boats, fishing gear, resorts and destinations to visit & fish) of interest. We'll have more on the show in our December issue.

Put the dates on your calendar and plan to attend. You won't be disappointed, plus it's a great way to help get over the post-holiday season blues.

(Jimmy Sexton is owner and publisher of the River Hills Traveler. He can be reached at (800) 874-8423, ext.

1, or jimmy@riverhillstraveler.com.)

River Hills Traveler 212 E. Main St., Neosho, MO 64850 Phone & Fax: 800-874-8423

www.riverhillstraveler.com Email: jimmy@riverhillstraveler. com Owner & Publisher Jimmy Sexton Managing Editor Madeleine Link Circulation Manager Amanda Harvel Staff Writers Chuck Smick, Wes Franklin, Mike Roux, Bill Wakefield, Bill Oder, Bill Cooper, Michelle Turner & Dana Sturgeon Advertising All of us River Hills Traveler, established in 1973, is published monthly by Sexton Media Group and Traveler Publishing Company at 212 E. Main St., Neosho, MO 64850. Postmaster: Send change of address notices to: River Hills Traveler, 212 E. Main St., Neosho, MO 64850. Subscription prices: $22 per year; 2 years, $40. Back issues available up to one year from publication, $5 plus sales tax & shipping.

COPYRIGHT © 2017 No part of this publication may be reproduced without the express written permission of the publisher of the River Hills Traveler or his duly appointed agent. The publisher reserves the right to reject any advertising or editorial submission for any reason.

RiverHillsTraveler.com

November 2017 • Page 5

VINTAGE OZARKS:

Congressman Dewey Short & government officials survey Table Rock dam site

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ongressman Dewey Short and unidentified colleagues look at a potential White River dam site in 1941. On the back of this Townsend Godsey photograph is written, “Table Rock Dam site 9-14-41.”

Dewey appears to be pointing out the location where the long-delayed dam would be built. Only a month earlier, the President had signed the Flood Control Act of 1941, which included both Table Rock and Bull Shoals. The headline of the October 11, 1952, Kansas City Times announced: “Start A Big Dam Barbecue And Music At

REMEMBER WHEN

From the November archives of the River Hills Traveler: 5 years ago • About 3:30 p.m. I was sitting in my ground blind, some 100 yards from the farmhouse we use as a junking cabin these days. As I watched a doe feed across the hillside in front of me, my phone rang.

I had heard a shot a minute earlier from the direction of my son's tree stand on the other side of the property. Even though he'd hunted by himself since age 15, I still asked that he call me when he killed a deer so I could share in his good fortune.

"I just shot a small buck within sight of my stand, it isn't moving," he reported. I replied by telling him I was watching two small bucks trail a doe across the hillside through a tangle of some downed trees.

"Do you need me to come help you take care of it," I asked.

"No," he said, "I'll take care of it. Go ahead and hunt." (Doug Smith) • Every year around July and August, I began looking for new places to hunt, trying to find those particular spots that will produce areas, old rubs and pinch points — any kind of sign that will help determine the best location for seeing deer.

All of this, along with game camera pictures, help me determine where to hang a stand. I try to hang multiple stands in different areas.

Multiple stands allow me not to overhang an area.

This creates to much pressure on bucks, and will make them leave a particular area. (Health Wood) 10 years ago • Deer hunting one of southern Missouri's vast wilderness areas has long been on my list of outdoor adventures to do. Last season I scratched that one off of my list.

However, I added that adventure to the list again.

Deer hunting in the Irish Wilderness proved to be an adventure that my wife, Dian, and I will long remember.

At a foreboding 16,500 acres, the Irish Wilderness is the largest in Missouri. It is a forlorn place where an individual can still get lost if attention is not paid to detail. (Bill Cooper) • It was still dark and there was no moon. That made it even darker. I was taking my time because I wasn't familiar with the terrain, but I knew that there were some bodacious gullies in the area and I had no desire to slip into one of them, or worse yet fall into one of the ones with steeper sides.

That could lead to a broken leg or possibly something worse, then I would probably miss out on a deer hunt. There were four of us who had been invited to hunt on 160 acres of prime Missouri Ozark land, and the Ozarks are famous for being up one steep hill and down another.

They are also famous for the quantity and quality of their whitetail deer. (Fred Ohrazda) 15 years ago • Joe Blattel advertises that there are 50,000 acres of pubic land to hunt, available at his Holliday Landing Resort. Joe is being modest.

With somewhat over 40,000 acres of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land on Lake Wappapello and nearly 160,000 acres of the Poplar Bluff District of Mark Twain National Forest at hand, Joe could reasonably claim much more.

This story is about the 160,000 acres of Mark Twain Forest in the Popular Bluff District.

Besides Joe and others at Lake Wappapello, it can also be claimed by Poplar Bluff, Piedmont, Ellsimore, Greenville and Clearwater Lake.

It is near or includes all of the above. It occupies an area pretty much bounded by those locations. Actual land ownership amounts to about 46 percent of the 335,000 acres authorized by the National Forest boundaries. (Bob Todd) • Son Bo likes to quote the old TV show adventure line where the hero says, "I love it when a plan comes together." Well, it did for him on opening weekend last deer season and for me later in the week.

His plan was to bag a buck Saturday morning, freeing himself to go duck hunting Sunday. He's got four and six point deer to his credit and was looking for an eight. What he got was a two-pointer, a spike buck. It was a fairly big deer regardless of the skimpy headgear, and delivered the variety he sought, albeit in a different direction. (Bob Todd) 20 years ago • If you deer hunt on public lands and are looking for something different, consider the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. It is the national park that covers nearly 150 miles of the Current and Jacks Fork rivers,

Launching of 76-Million-Dollar Reservoir.”

Mayor Claude Binkley, of Branson, remarked he had "hurried to the Ozarks twenty-six years ago" to be here for the construction start.

(This feature is courtesy of Leland and Crystal Payton at Lens & Pen Press, publishers of all-color books on the Ozarks. Their new book, James Fork of the White, is available from the publisher at www.beautifulozarks.com.

Their earlier river book, Damming the Osage, can be at seen www.damming theosage.com)

through much of Dent, Shannon and Carter counties.

Southern Missouri is rich in places to hunt deer, including all the major national forest units, plus the state conservation areas, and U.S. Corps of Engineers lands around the two major reservoirs — a tremendous amount of land. (Bob Todd) • The sun is just coming up behind me as I turn onto the westbound ramp of I-44 heading out of St. Louis. After several months of planning and preparation, it's finally time to hit the road.

If I've forgotten something, it's too late now. If anything, I know I've packed my rifle and ammunition and my deer tag is in my wallet, and I can see my sleeping bag inside the camper shell through the back window. At least I've got the bare necessities covered.

(Howard Helgenberg) 30 years ago • They say you should learn something every time you hunt. I learned one thing for sure. I am going to have one of those Gore-Tex rain suits. I don't care how much they cost!

The rain meant even more to those of us who hunted with muzzleloaders. It's very humbling to have a Boone and Crockett buck walk away after your damp powder has failed to go off. (Guy W. Berry) • The biggest hunting season of the year in Missouri is the firearms deer season, open Nov. 14-22 this year. Basically it is a buck's only season with a season limit of one unless you were drawn for an any deer tag, and/or a tag for a second deer.

If you didn't apply, you didn't have a chance. If you did apply, you should know how you fared by early November. (Bob Todd) 40 years ago • When the Gasconade County farm I'd deer-hunted for 15 years changed hands, I felt like a fledgling leaving the nest. I'd learned enough about whitetails to take them consistently in that utopian mixture of hardwood ridges, creek bottom fields, and cedar thickets, but I was apprehensive about having to hunt a new territory. (Charlie Slovensky) • It was a hot July day and a crowd had gathered on the riverfront anxiously watching downstairs. Men loosened their collars and ladies waved their fans in the oppressive heat.

Barefoot boys ran to the river's edge, leaning as far over the water as possible hoping to be the first to see the miracle that was expected. (Emma Dunn) (compiled by MyraGale Sexton)

OUTDOOR FINES & SUSPENSIONS The Missouri Conservation Commission met on Oct. 19-20 at The River Centre at The Landing, in Van Buren. Commissioners suspended or revoked several hunting, fishing, or trapping privileges of 22 people for cause: • James R. Barker, Jefferson City, Hunting, additional three years.

• Mark J. Bax, Jefferson City, all sport, one year.

• Zachary N. Berry, Bois D’Arc, hunting and fishing, three years.

• James D. Bradbury, II, Craig, all sport, one year.

• Jeremiah C. Cline, Republic, hunting, six years.

• Bryson W. Dean, Canton, all sport, two years.

• Jeffery W. Dibben, Long Lane, hunting and fishing, one year.

• Travis J. Eacret, Kearney, hunting, three years.

• Andy J. Fitzwater, Bismarck, all sport, three years.

• Tyler L. Goodale, Poplar Bluff, all sport, one year.

• Codie Hudson, Camden (AR), hunting, five years.

• Thang V. Lam, Columbia, fishing, one year.

• Jonathan McGowan, Bernie, all sport, one year.

• Dalton A. McSwain, Sparta, hunting, three years.

• Brian A. Parker, Wheatland, fishing, one year.

• Scott A. Perkins, Fulton, hunting, one year.

• Andrey V. Rotar, Springfield, fishing, three years.

• Bradley R. Smith, Florence, hunting, 15 years.

• Anthony K. Stacy, Arcadia, hunting and fishing, additional five years.

• John O. Summerville, Carrollton (MS), all sport, additional 2.5 years.

• Matthew A. Winter, Springfield, hunting and fishing, three years.

• Jeffrey T. Young, Versailles, hunting, six years.

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 6 • November 2017

These things drive me crazy about deer season!

N

o, I really do not hate deer season. Anyone who knows me and/or reads this column knows that deer hunting is a large part of my life and of my family’s heritage and tradition.

In fact, I am right in the middle of one of my best seasons in a long time.

However, having spent over 100 hours in the deer woods over the past few weeks, there are a few observations I would like to make about the frustrations, aggravations and consternations of deer season.

Mike Roux Many of the ———— things I am about to describe are shared by all of us who enjoy spending time in the woods. Some are unavoidable, while others are self-inflicted.

Either way, these things tend to test my patience while chasing venison for the table.

First, let’s look at some of the things that Mother Nature throws at us.

Weather is an obvious foe. I hate deer hunting in 70-degree temps. Perspiration and deer hunting just do not mix.

So, I complain about warm weather… until it gets cold. Then a whole new list of complaints emerges, including numb toes, fogged glasses and frozen canteens.

And there are so many distractions in the timber. I hate those long stems with three or four leaves at the very top.

Every time the wind blows, I reach for the safety. Even after doing this countless times, each time the leaves blow in the breeze it looks like deer movement.

What I call ragweed does the same thing. And how about that single leaf that is attached to its branch with a rubber band? It just hangs there and spins, endlessly. I hate that!

There are few things that can wake you up from a deer season nap quicker than falling hedge apples. The bitterly cold temperatures this month, combined with some very windy days, caused hedge apples to fall on a regular basis. I reached for my gun on an equally regular basis.

How about squirrels? I can never find them when I am carrying a .22, but give me a bow or a muzzleloader and they come to me like bees to a bloom. I can never figure out if the two that seem to always live in the same tree as my stand love each other or hate each other. It is hard to tell by the endless chasing.

There are other forest creatures that can hamper a good deer hunt. I am sure you will agree with me when I mention things like woodpeckers, crows, turkeys and the occasional skunk that can really stink up your hunt.

Deer hunters should just see deer.

That is just the way it should be.

Equipment issues are often huge distractions, as well. Most of these fall under the above-mentioned heading of “self-inflicted.” Little things like forgetting your gloves at the truck or worse, remembering your rain gear is at home as the sky opens up.

Try making & using a reflector oven next time you go camping

M

any of us have used reflector ovens throughout our camping lives and have had great experiences with them.

You have to have the proper fire, set the oven up close enough, and experiment with many recipes.

The first experience I had using a reflector oven was on one of my first Boy Scout campouts at Lion’s Den Boy Scout Camp off Lion’s Den Road in Jefferson County Mo. The Boy Scout camp is now closed but there are many great memories, es- Bob Brennecke ———— pecially the smell of the trading post that had just been built. The building was made of cedar wood and was located across from the spring on the property, but back to the reflector oven.

The scouts had a blazing fire that night and I remember the reflector oven being set up and brownies being baked in front of the fire. Since I was a new scout I was amazed at the way the oven was so hot when I put my hand in front of it.

I stared at the oven and fire for such a long time I even got a slight burn on my face. Ever since then I have tried to use reflector ovens whenever possible.

There are many manufacturers that make the ovens available and YouTube has quite a lot of information on the DIY (do it yourself) of making your

own reflector oven.

It is hard to believe how much heat from a fire is reflected back to the fire from a wall, a vehicle, or even a stack of logs.

When I went camping unprepared for cold weather, I found out how warm you could be with the reflection from a wood fire.

One night after not being able to sleep because of the cold, I crept out of my tent, stoked the fire and leaned against a large patrol box about six feet from the fire, which was used for seating around the fire after supper.

The box was painted with aluminum paint and I could feel the heat on my back and sides as I sat on the tarp on the ground warming up. The box had a plywood lid that opened and had a chain that would keep it from falling all the way to the ground.

I am glad that the box was turned with the opening away from the fire because when I opened the lid and let the lid lean on the back of my head, I truly became warm, “like a brownie.”

I was so comfortable I laid down in front of the box on the tarp and fell asleep only waking when the fire burned down enough to stop the reflecting heat.

Lessons like these stay with you all your life.

We should get out more with our children and grandchildren so as to expose them to these wonderful experiences in life and science.

(Bob Brennecke lives in Ballwin, Mo., and can be reached at robertbrennecke@hotmail.com.)

Or not having a knife with you after a kill. Or grabbing your .30-06 and your son’s .30-.30 shells. Sound familiar?

I remember an opening day walking to my stand. There was this annoying rattle as I walked. Several times I stopped and put my rifle against a tree and checked everything on me. I could not find the source of the noise.

Later that morning, as a nice buck appeared, I raised my rifle and looked through the scope. Instead of seeing crosshairs, I saw an X. The scope ring screws had backed off and my scope was rolling around in its rings.

That was causing the annoying rattle.

No shot was taken. Frustrating!

Other hunters can also aggravate you as you hunt. Trespassers are the worst, but innocent events can mess you up, too. Like one of your own group who cannot sit still and walks around “checking” on everyone.

I remember the one-and-only time my dad and I took my brother-in-law deer hunting. To keep him from getting into trouble, we put him on a stand right in the middle of an 800-acre farm.

His only instruction was to stay in the stand.

Dad saw him walking in the woods on one end of the farm at 8:30 the first morning and I saw him go by me, at the other end of the property, at 9:15.

Enough said.

Even with all of this, I look forward to deer season like a kid waiting for Christmas. The very first season that causes me no excitement and no anticipation will be the season I have a sporting goods sale at my house of Biblical

proportion.

I truly appreciate this Blessing and I thank the Lord for this resource.

(Mike Roux is the Midwest Regional Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Outdoor Ministry.!To become a Home Team Member of this new ministry, call him at 217257-7895.)

Share your deer photos!

Send us your deer season photos and we will publish them in our next issue.

Text them to us at (417) 451-3798, along with the pertinent info, or email them to

jimmy@riverhillstraveler.com

RiverHillsTraveler.com

November 2017 • Page 7

Little Niagara is Missouri’s best trout stream

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any, many years ago I bought a 12-year collection of old Forest & Stream outdoor magazines, from 1910 through 1922. Occasionally I read through some of them, always finding something new.

In the June 27th issue of 1914 (magazines were published weekly until 1915), I came across a fishing article written by an Edward Cochran about southern Missouri’s best trout stream, the Little Niagara River.

The following is part of that article, there’s not room for all of it. Where do you suppose the Little Niagara is? If the Irish Wilderness were not mentioned, I would figure it was the Niangua, rather than Niagara.

Does it have another name today or is it buried beneath an Ozark reservoir? Regardless, you may enjoy reading this account of a fishing trip to the Ozarks that took place over 100 years ago.

Excerpt…

“Hidden among the gigantic elm, poplar and oak trees of the “Irish Wilderness,” a remote and Larry sparsely settled region of the low Dablemont and ragged Ozark Mountains in ———— south Missouri, flows the “Little Lightnin’ Niagara River.”

Ridge It was this stream, far from anyone except a scattering few of the poor, ignorant natives of that section, and filled with fish of all sorts and a goodly number of rainbow trout, that our party sought at the outset of the open season for trout in the “show me” state.

The bad mountain roads, which are more like trails, made by the natives, no bridges, and poor method of travel, make it possibly the most difficult stream to reach in all the great southwest.

It is a region of poverty, the natives being the most shiftless and unprogressive of any in the southern states, which accounts for the bad roads and other things of the sort that must be fought on such a journey. This also accounts for the abundance of good fishing.

Upon arrival by train, we found a lumber wagon, of the rough mountain type, loaded with our provisions, tackle, a camp stove, tent, etc., A drive of thirty-two miles over rough mountain roads and trails put us at our destination.

From sunrise to sunset we traveled up and down these low, rocky hills, where is laid the scene of the famous novel, “The Shepard (sic) of the Hills,” and then we pitched camp for the night.

We retired early, and at daybreak we were aroused again for the remainder of the journey, which was

seven miles of the roughest going on the entire trip.

Before noon we reached the bank of the beautiful stream and found a level spot of green grass, resembling an oasis in the desert. Here we pitched our camp and gave orders to the driver to return for us in two weeks.

The “Little Niagara” wends its crooked way through these scraggly mountains and roars over solid rock most of its course. The water is perfectly clear and cold, being fed by springs from the mountains, and the stream averages about twenty feet in width.

There are many deep pools where the rainbow trout abound, and black bass and other finny inhabitants are not scarce.

It always has been more or less of a mystery to those who have caught large rainbows out of the “Little Niagara,” how this variety came to be there. The natives claim that a New York banker and a few friends once sought to establish a camp in the wildest part of the Ozark Mountains, where they could spend one or two months every year far away from civilization.

They wanted to fish where there was plenty, and hunt where big game could be found in abundance.

This was an ideal spot for both some years ago.

They found a large spring flowing out of the rocks about half a mile from the “Little Niagara.” They

built a dam near the river and made an artificial lake.

Into this they put thousands of rainbow trout and hired a watchman to take care of the grounds and see that no one caught the trout.

The trout multiplied rapidly in the cold spring water, but the Easteners soon gave up the camp and the dam was allowed to wash away and the trout went into the “Little Niagara,” where for many years they have multiplied, with no one cutting down the supply.

As the result the stream is well stocked. To substantiate their claim the natives took our party to the lake and there we found what remained of the dam, and the ruins of the log club-house.

The natives are not skilled fishermen. They use nets a great deal, and a croppie (sic) or a perch is as good to them as a trout.

The first day in camp we landed a good catch of trout. One in the party is a lover of bass fishing, and he came in with some of the black boys that are right next to trout when it comes to eating.

We waded the cool waters day after day for the two weeks we were in camp, often going far as ten miles upstream and our invasion against these prize beauties was successful each day. (Dablemont note — This writer is full of baloney about wading upstream ten miles and back in any Ozark river, now or then.)

It will be a century before the gamey trout is extinct in this region, because of the difficulty anglers encounter and the time required to reach this river.

It is not likely that the time will come in the next half century when travel in the “Irish Wilderness” of the Ozarks will be made easier, because railroad experts have stated that the cost of reducing the hardships of travel in that section is so great that it will not pay, the fertility of the soil being of a very low grade; and there is no other source of wealth in that country.”

(Larry Dablemont lives in southwest Missouri. He can be reached by email at lightninridge@windstream.net, or by phone at 417-777-5227.)

MO FALL HUNTING DATES

2017-2018 FALL TURKEY HUNTING DATES • Archery Season: Sept. 15 through Nov. 10, and Nov. 22 through Jan. 15, 2018.

2017 – 2018 FALL DEER HUNTING DATES • Archery Deer: Sept. 15 through Nov. 10, and Nov. 22 through Jan. 15, 2018.

• Firearms Deer Early Youth Portion: Oct. 28-29.

• Firearms Deer November Portion: Nov. 11- 21.

• Firearms Deer Late Youth Portion: Nov. 24-26.

• Firearms Deer Antlerless Portion: Dec. 1-3.

• Firearms Deer Alternative Methods Portion: Dec. 23 through Jan. 2, 2018.

A mother from the hills writes a letter to her son

J

ust a quick note… I am writing this very slowly cause I know you can’t read very fast. We don’t live where we did when you left.

Your Dad read in the paper that most car accidents happen within twenty miles of home, so we moved away from there. I can’t send you the address as the last Yooper family that lived here took the numbers with them for the next house so they wouldn’t have to change addresses.

This place has a washing machine, but the first day I used it, I put in four shirts and pulled the chain, and haven’t seen them since. It only snowed twice last week, three days the first time and four days the next time.

About the coat you wanted me to send you, Aunt Sue said it would be too heavy to send it by mail with the buttons on so we cut them off and put them in the pockets.

We got a bill from the funeral home and it said if we didn’t make the last payment on Grandma’s funeral by Saturday, up she comes!

About your sister, she had a baby this morning. I haven’t found out yet if it is

a boy or girl, so I don’t know whether you are an aunt or uncle.

Your Uncle John fell in the whiskey vat and drowned. Some of the men tried to pull him out, but he fought them off. We had him cremated and he burned for three days.

Three of your friends went off the bridge in a pickup truck, one was driving and two were in the back. The driver got out OK he rolled down the window and swam to safety, but the other two drowned, they couldn’t get the tailgate open.

Aunt Hazel is knitting you a new pair of socks. She would have sent them by now, but I told her that you had grown another foot since the last time she saw you, so she is knitting you another one.

Not much more news to tell you this time, nothing much has happened lately.

Your brother locked his keys in the car and it took him three days to get the family out and then he had to put the top up on account of it started to rain while he was working on it.

Love, Yur Mom

CATCH A SMILE

(If you have an amusing story, a funny joke or a quotation or saying that you have enjoyed and would like to

share, please send it to: Bill Wakefield, Traveler St. Louis Branch, 9707 Pauline Place, Affton MO 63123; or email me at w3@charter.net.)

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 8 • November 2017

History abounds all along the Eleven Point River

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nagalia Norma Krause was born July 25, 1920, near Alton, Mo. Her family owned a house next to Ross Cemetery above the Eleven Point River. She was married to Anthony Krause.

Krause and her family built by hand 103 concrete steps going down from the road to the river. Each step was built by hand. That is why that fork of the river is called the “Stair Step” hole.

After several years of moving away and working in a shoe factory up north, Anthony and Norma came back to live above the river again. They both worked for the Denning family that owned the 120 acres by Greer Spring.

After a few years, Anthony ended up passing away. Norma took over as caretaker for the family for 35 years.

Then, the Forest Service took it Dana back into ownership and she became a volunteer to watch over Sturgeon the Greer Mill. She was a quiet, ———— hard working, tough, and tenderEleven hearted woman. She loved aniPoint River mals. She owned 3 dogs and a cat.

They were very well fed.

She passed away on Jan. 26, 2015. She is buried in Baileys Cemetery between her parents and her husband.

Today, the Greer Spring branch, trail and mill are kept clean as if she is still watching over it. She loved the Eleven Point River and the Greer Spring. It was home to her.

There are so many families that long ago came, settled, and now are gone.

There is history everywhere you go along the Eleven Point River.

So, when you come to enjoy this beautiful river, remember, someone else came before you.

(Dana Sturgeon lives in southern Missouri. She can be reached at mo_dana@hotmail.com.)

, S R E T HUN

!

S U P L E H

2 1 – 1 1 R E B M E V your deer NO to a sampling

G N I L P M A S D W C MANDATORY MS R A OF DEER S IN 25 COUNTIE

Get information on Chronic Wasting Disease and sampling locations at MDC.MO.GOV/CWD, or in the 20177 Fall a Deer & Turkey ke Hunting Reg e ulations and Information booklet available where permits are sold.

station near you.

The 25 mandatory CWD sampling counties are: Adair, Barry, Benton, CCedar, Cole, Crawford, DDade, Franklin, Hickory, Jefferson, Knox, Linn, M Macon, Moniteau, Ozark, Polk, St. Charles, St. Clair, St Francois,s Ste. St. Ste Genevieve,e S ne, Sullivan, Taney, Sto W rren, and Washington.

Wa

RiverHillsTraveler.com

November 2017 • Page 9

Fall’s the perfect time to visit Elephant Rocks

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s a kid, the first time that I visited Elephant Rocks State Park, I was very disappointed because I was expecting the rocks to actually look like elephants and upon arrival at the park, discovered that they looked nothing like elephants at all.

However, my disappointment quickly vanished when I was told that I was free to climb all over these giant monstrosities of granite.

They reminded me of all those rocks I was seeing in those western cowboy movies that always had the famous gunfights where Roy Rogers or the Durango Kid always took care of the bad guys.

At that age, I was a big cowboy movie fan so these stones were just the thing to stoke my imagination and make me extremely reluctant to leave this fascinating place.

Even though there is no camping alBill Oder lowed at this park, it ———— is a perfect place to spend the day for a family outing. Picnic sites are scattered throughout the park and don’t forget the gorgeous fall colors at this time of year.

It is a great place to really enjoy the outdoors. There are two short trails both rated “easy.” The Braille Trail is a mile long and is paved, providing access for both strollers and wheelchairs.

It has signs written in Braille text along the way.

The Engine House Ruins Trail, which branches off the Braille Trail, is only one-quarter mile in length and takes the hiker by the ruins of the Engine House that provided repairs to trains that carried granite from the nearby quarries.

I always thought these granite “elephants” were dragged to this area by glaciers during the Ice Age but I was very wrong in that assumption. Erosion over the years has left the stones that we know as the “elephants.”

Scientists say that formation of these stones began 1.5 billion years ago. The “elephants” are what is left after years of erosion by the elements; namely, rain, ice and snow and freezing temperatures. They have always been at this location but have been exposed after years and years of erosion.

Even today the stones are being affected by the elements. Water gets down in some of the cracks and freezes and causes further changes in the appearance of the stones. Even the lichens that grow on the stones produce a kind of weak chemical that eats away at them.

north of the Arcadia area.

To get detailed directions from your home, just click on the website for the park. It is a very interesting place and kids love it.

And like I’ve already said, and I can’t overemphasize, that this time of year with all the fall colors would be a great time for a visit.

(Bill Oder can be reached at oderbill@yahoo.com.)

The largest of the stones is named “Dumbo” and boasts dimensions of 27 feet tall, 34 feet long and 17 feet wide.

Its weight is calculated to be 680 tons.

The red granite that is prevalent in this area was formed from molten rock called magma. There have been rock quarries in the area for years and some of the granite from this area was used in the construction of the Eads Bridge spanning the Mississippi in St. Louis and some of the downtown St. Louis streets.

The Governor’s Mansion in Jefferson City also used granite from this area.

There are several small lakes that were formed from quarry operations that offer fishing in designated areas.

The lakes aren’t stocked but I understand that panfish such as bluegill can be caught.

I didn’t sample the fishing on our trip there so I can’t confirm this claim. I understand that rappelling and serious rock climbing is also allowed in the park during the winter season but is governed by strict regulations and if you are interested, you should contact the park for further information.

I didn’t look into this very deeply since rappelling and rock climbing aren’t actually hobbies of my wife and I. During the summer, from April to

October, the park is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the winter. It is easy to find as it is right on Highway 21 just a few miles

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 10 • November 2017

RiverHillsTraveler.com

November 2017 • Page 11

Fishing • Kayaking • RV camping • Cabins • And more!

84 Cat Hollow Trail, Lebanon, MO • (417) 532-4377 www.FORTNIANGUA.com

Missouri’s berry treasure is healthy & tasty: Enjoy berry harvest salad

S

ummer in Missouri means an abundance of berries like strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, currants, blueberries, huckleberries, and more.

“Different varieties of these fruits can be harvested from mid-May through October in Missouri, offering us a spectacular opportunity to enjoy these delightful seasonal treasures,” said Dr. Pam Duitsman, nutrition and health education specialist, University of Missouri Extension.

Berries, including their seeds, are good sources of fiber and are full of protective phytonutrients such as polyphenols along with high proportions of flavonoids including anthocyanins and ellagitannins.

Berries contain natural antioxidants and are high in vitamin C; micronutrients such as folic acid and selenium; and are good sources of carotenoids.

In epidemiological and clinical studies, these phytonutrients within berries have been associated with prevention of cardiovascular risks and protection of cells from diseasecausing free radicals.

“Some researchers suggest that a diet rich in these phytonutrients may help to fight cancer development, help to reduce blood cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation, and lower the risk of developing cardiovascular disease,” said Duitsman.

Additional studies have shown protective effects of eating various berries on age-re-

lated neurodegenerative diseases, and cognitive aging.

“While research continues to investigate all of these relationships between berries and better health, we enjoy excellent access to many of these sweet, juicy and refreshing natural treats right here in Missouri,” said Duitsman.

APP, PICKING & GROWING Consider taking a family outing to one of

the many you-pick berry farms in Missouri.

Use the University of Missouri Extensions Seasonal and Simple App to help find locations, dates and hours of operation and contact information.

The App is free, and can be downloaded for iPhone and Android in your App store, or more information can be found at missourifamilies.org/features/nutritionarticles/nut435. htm.

The App provides an excellent guide to

finding, selecting, preparing and storing all sorts of Missouri’s fresh fruits and vegetables right from the palm of your hand.

“If you decide to pick some of Missouri’s wild edible berries, be sure to identify the berries before eating. Picking with someone experienced with wild edibles is a good idea, because they will be familiar with identification of safe berries, and locations to find them,” said Duitsman.

Keep children close and educate them on what safe plants and berries look like. Duitsman said it is equally important to teach them the importance of not picking or eating fruits or berries from plants they do not know.

Discover ways to grow your own berries by visiting University of Missouri Extension’s website at extension.missouri.edu.

Type the fruit you are interested in into the search bar to discover tips on site selection, soil health, and soil testing, growing tips, pest management, advice on how much fruit can be harvested per plant under typical Missouri conditions.

“Berries can be easy to grow, and offer us the opportunity for a natural, delicious, whole-foods approach to better health,” said Duitsman.

BERRY HARVEST SALAD Ingredients: • 5 cups leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces

• 2 one-half cups spinach leaves • 1 one-half cup sliced strawberries • 1 cup fresh blueberries • One-half cup thinly sliced green onions or - medium red onion, sliced • One-quarter cup feta cheese crumbles • One-half cup slivered almonds or chopped walnuts (toasted optional)

Dressing: • 4 teaspoons lemon juice • 2 one-half tablespoons extra virgin olive oil • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar • 1 one-half teaspoons Dijon mustard • 2 teaspoons honey or date syrup • One-half teaspoon salt 1. Combine leaf lettuce and spinach leaves with sliced strawberries, blueberries and green onion in a large salad bowl.

2. Prepare dressing by whisking together the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey and salt; pour over lettuce mixture and toss to coat.

3. Sprinkle salad with feta cheese and sliced almonds.

4. Serve immediately.

• Yield: 8 1-cup servings.

• Nutrition Analysis: 130 calories, 9g fat, 1.5g sat fat, 240mg sodium, 12g carbohydrates, 3g fiber, 7g sugar, 3g protein.

Critter of the Month: Short-eared owl

• Species: Short-eared owl.

• Scientific name: Assio flammeus.

• Nicknames: None.

• Claim to fame: Short-eared owls have significance in Missouri and elsewhere for several reasons. Locally, this bird that has a preference for open, grassland areas has become one of the symbols of this region’s vanishing prairie habitat.

An ironic detail of their local scarcity is the fact that short-eared owls are one of the most wide-spread owl species in the world; residing on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.

Unlike most other owls, short-eared owls are also known for being diurnal – active during the day. Short-eared owls are seasonal visitors to most grassland areas in southern Missouri. Their summer range extends from northern Missouri up into Canada.

• Species status: Although short-eared owls are secure in the northern parts of their

range, the same can’t be said in Missouri.

They have state endangerment ranking of S2, which places them on the more-imperiled end of the state’s endangerment scale. Missouri’s degrees of endangerment range from S1, critically imperiled; to S5, secure.

It’s presumed the short-eared owl’s troubled situation in Missouri stems from a disappearance of prairie habitat.

• First discovered: The first scientific description of the short-eared owl was written in 1763 by the Danish author, naturalist, historian and theologian Erik Pontoppidan.

• Family matters: Short-eared owls belong to the bird family Strigidae, a group of around 200 species worldwide that are commonly known as the “true” owls.

• Length: 15 inches, wingspan of 38 inches.

• Diet: Like several other species of owls, short-eared owls provide a beneficial service to humans by consuming mice, voles, small

rats and other rodents that cause problems for people.

• Weight: 12 ounces.

• Distinguishing characteristics: Their feather coloring is a mottled combination of varying shades of brown and white. Parts of the head, as well as the legs and flanks, are usually white. It’s often not easy to tell males and females apart, but females are usually larger. These owls often have small feather tufts on their head resembling ears (hence their name.) These tufts aren’t always visible. Like most owls, a short-eared owl’s actual ears are located within its facial disc.

Like other owls, short-eared owls have excellent hearing and vision. Their calls may resemble barks, screams or whines. While raising young, they feign injured wing movements to draw predators away from the nest.

• Life span: Around four years.

• Habitat: As stated above, short-eared owls are creatures of open country. In some

parts of their range, they have a preference for bogs or marshy areas. In Missouri, they can be found most frequently in grasslands and native prairie areas.

• Life cycle: Studies have shown that these birds’ highly solitary natures occasionally pose problems during courtship and mating.

Males use unique aerial displays and wing movements to alert females of their presence and gender. They also frequently offer food to females. This is thought to be a gesture intended to show females that the courting male is a potential mate, not a food item.

Nesting usually occurs in spring. Each nest contains four to seven eggs. The average incubation period of the eggs is 21 days.

Nestlings have been known to prey on their small nest mates. The young usually disperse from the nest 14 to 17 days after hatching.

They are completely independent one to two weeks after this. (source: MDC)

Washington State Park Thunderbird Lodge 13041 St. Hwy. 104 (south of DeSoto on MO 21)

(636) 586-2995

3 & 7 mile floats • Cabins • Camping Swimming pool • Kayaking/Tubing open April thru November!

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 12 • November 2017

Food & fun served up at Bucksnort food stand

E

By Bob Frakes arly on in my five decades of a fire lookout hobby, I learned this leads to that and that to this... and you can end up far from where your search began.

Such is the case with “Bucksnort food stand.” As deer season begins, it might be a good time to relive a great deer hunt/fire tower story from the past.

My trip to Bucksnort began many years ago. I was reading some papers donated to me by Conservationist Jim Lyon and one noted – “on January 7, 1983, Mr. Carl ‘Everett’ Chaney of Birch Tree had purchased the Tram Tower south of Winona and planned to reassemble the cab at his place.”

Then, during a conversation with John Strange, retired USFS, it was noted that several “cabs” from towers were located here and there even though the tower was gone.

Several years later I did a tower series for the Current Wave newspaper, in Eminence. Following the publication on High Hill Tower, I received a call from Marguerite Barkley, whose family had lived at High Hill when her father, John Scoville, was the towerman there.

She mentioned the “Bucksnort food stand” just east of there where the top of the old Tram Tower had been used for part of a food stand. She said Everett and Betty Chaney had lived there and one of the daughters might still.

She had a number for the daughter, Dana, and she gave me the contact for her sister, Shari, who lived there with her husband, Bill Wolford. I called and they were loaded with information and pictures.

Now, as I gathered information on the food stand, it became clear a story as big as the food stand was Everett Chaney. He quickly emerged as a legend in the area.

Everyone remembered Everett and everyone smiled when they talked about him. He had worked the High Hill Tower and his family had lived there. He was described as a fellow who could do anything and was constantly working at something.

He had worked with the USFS, worked with Tom Aley on some of the early hydrology tracings, and was recognized by the MDC for 47 years of volunteer work with turkey brood surveys.

To Tom he was not Everett, but “never rest” and Jim Voyles recalls there was nothing Everett could not do.!A cave discovered by Everett’s children and some friends would be named the Everett Chaney Cave by the USFS. Shari Wolford recalls it was “everyone’s idea” to start serving food to the deer hunters – real or intended. You see, it seems the food and fun at the food stand was such some never actually made it to the woods.

The name “Bucksnort” was used for several locations in the area. It seems a deer camp nearby used the name. The original service had patrons sitting on stumps or in their cars and receiving orders out the kitchen window.

The stand began around 1974 and after Tram was purchased, the cab was used and a three-sided structure was built next to it facing south. The floor was soil, pine needles, and wood shavings and a it had a fire ring for heat.

Everett’s wife, Betty, made hundreds of pies a season and at times the food orders were twelve deep. The menu was coffee, chili, chili dogs, hash browns, sausage and cheese on a bun, and hamburgers.

The first year they were open nine days and they made $5 apiece. Visitors signed the “guest book” which was names, messages, and points of origin left on the walls. Neighbors helped in the effort.

For almost half a century, the cab for Tram Tower sat atop the lookout or housed the kitchen for Bucksnort food stand. They must have made things to last back then.

With the closing of the stand it was left to finally rest and reflect on many decades of service and fun. It is a very peaceful spot today with the smell and whisper of the pines.

I hope this story brought back a few smiles in memory to match the smiles when the stand was open.

(Bob Frakes can be reached by email at frakes2@mvn.net or by phone at 618-244-1642.)

RiverHillsTraveler.com

November 2017 • Page 13

Planning a successful duck hunt piece by piece

O

ver the past few decades I have had the good fortune of hunting waterfowl in dozens of states and many locations.

I have studied the layouts, observed the techniques and learned what it takes to build a high-quality duck hunting haven.

The basic principles to creating such a spot are pretty obvious in retrospect, however, there are very few waterfowl set-ups that incorporate all of these factors.

And that is the key. Build all of the following pieces into your project and it will be successful.

• FOOD AND WATER — Most waterfowl hunters will agree that a top duck blind must be built on water. This theory is very relevant but water is NOT the most important part of attracting ducks and geese. Food is.

I have been in some incredible duck blinds on lakes, rivers, ponds, sloughs and potholes. These places looked to be perfect, but no ducks used them.

The fact is that no amount of water Mike Roux will make up for a ———— lack of available food. A food source is the key to success in attracting waterfowl.

I have personal, local experience of what happens when all the grain fields in the bottom get chisel-plowed before duck season opens. Our pothole is virtually perfect in its construction and concealment. This makes little difference when no ducks get close enough to see our decoys.

From the altitude that ducks fly they can see thousands of acres. They are looking for what I call “yellow ground.” Harvested grain fields appear yellow from the air.

I have flown in the fall and I have seen exactly what the ducks see. Yellow fields attract their attention to fly low to see if food is available there. If your set-up is in or near these fields you have a chance to get them to work your spread.

If your spot is surrounded by tilled, plowed or cultivated fields your chances drop-off significantly. Waterfowl just do not spend time in “black ground” areas. Black ground will not attract ducks or geese.

Do your best to have fall plowing delayed as long as possible around your blind.

Now for the GOLD STANDARD set-up advice. Put your blind or pit in the lowest spot in a grain field. Pay the farmer NOT to harvest an acre or two around the blind and install a pump and flood the low spot.

Even though this takes some work and is not cheap, it is the BEST way to build a waterfowl hunting set-up that will be the envy of everyone who sees it. There is NO BETTER waterfowl attractant in our area than flooded standing corn.

• CONCEALMENT — This tends to be a bit of a controversial topic when it comes to duck blinds. In my opinion there is only one factor that should be considered when brushing a blind.

That factor is, “What can the ducks see from where they are?” Far too many waterfowl hunters cover their

It takes much planning and preparation to pile up mallards in the fall.

blinds so that they look good from their perspective, from the ground.

All-too-often the top of the blind is covered but not fully inspected for bad spots. Be sure to give special attention to the top of your pit or blind. This is what the waterfowl see.

The material is also very important in your concealment process. The most common mistake is to brush your blind with foliage that is not natural to your location.

I have been in blinds built in the middle of rice fields in Arkansas that actually flared ducks because they were covered with oak limbs.

That is a very unnatural look for ducks. God did not give birds the ability to think and reason. They can only react to stimuli. That ability is called “instinct.” Their instinct tells them if a given situation is good or bad.

Seeing a pile of oak brush in the middle of a rice field is negative stimuli and they will naturally react in a negative fashion.

Use the naturally occurring cover to conceal your blind or pit. Cover your spot completely and take the time to make sure it blends in to its surroundings. If you are lucky enough to have a pit like I described above, in a corn field, then cover your spot with corn stalks.

If you are on a river bank, use willows or cattails. If you are in flooded timber, by all means use oak limbs. Just be smart and try to always imagine what the ducks can see from up there.

• MANAGEMENT — This is, by far, the most difficult factor in building a highly successful waterfowl program.

To get the very most out of your waterfowl set-up, DO NOT hunt the blind every day. In fact, I recommend not hunting it two days in a row.

When ducks are pouring in it is hard to do this and even harder to convince others that this level of management can produce more dead ducks than hammering them relentlessly.

There must be a level of “refuge” that the ducks and geese can count on to keep them coming back to your spot.

Another good idea is to stop shooting at noon on hunting days. This gives the

ducks every afternoon to rest, feed and stay very comfortable around your blind. The analogy I use is like deer herd management. It seems odd that you can grow more and bigger bucks by shooting female deer, but it is a proven fact.

Another proven fact is that you will kill more ducks and geese longer by NOT hunting them every day.

The factors listed above are the magic potion for a successful water-

fowl program. Follow them and you will become a more productive hunter.

Ignore them and continue to wonder where the ducks have gone and why you cannot seem to scratch out a limit more than once a year.

(Mike Roux is the Midwest Regional Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Outdoor Ministry.!To become a Home Team Member of this new ministry, call him at 217257-7895.)

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 14 • November 2017

MTNF selling ‘America the Beautiful’ park passes

A

merica the Beautiful passes connect you with your public lands.!There are several types of America the Beautiful passes – the Annual, the Senior (two options, lifetime or annual), the Access, and the Military Pass.!

A pass-holder is able to gain free entry into most federally managed recreation areas across the nation and even pay 50 percent less in camping fees at many campgrounds.!

Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) for the Mark Twain National Forest sell these interagency passes; and they have sold a record number of passes already this year.

This summer, the America the Beautiful Senior pass rose in price from $10 for a lifetime pass to $80 (with a $20 annual option added). Even at the new price, the pass is still a fantastic deal.!

For anyone planning to travel and visit national parks, national forests, Bureau

Joyce Stufflebean shows off the America the Beautiful park passes.

of Land Management areas, fish and wildlife refuges, or U.S. Army Corps of Engineer recreation sites, the pass will quickly pay for itself.!

Public knowledge that the fee was in-

creasing on Aug. 28 did lead to a significant upswing in demand for the passes.!Mark Twain National Forest sold 528 senior passes in 2016.! This year, CSRs have already sold 2,828 senior passes — more than five times the normal amount.!

Joyce Stufflebean, the CSR for the Mark Twain National Forest supervisor’s office in Rolla, has connected 1,002 people with America the Beautiful senior passes in 2017 to date.

Stufflebean said, although she was very busy, it was well worth it to assist so many people.!

“I helped one woman that was a spry 90-plus years of age,” she said. “It made me happy to help her out, and inspired me that you can still get out and enjoy your national forests and national parks no matter what age you are!”

Stufflebean and other CSRs even implemented a voucher program once passes ran out, so people who made it to

the office to buy a pass at the $10 rate could get one before the price changed, even when passes were out of stock at the office.!

Many employees across the Mark Twain National Forest assisted with processing pass sales to meet the high demand this summer, including mailing out passes to those who were issued vouchers. Mark Twain National Forest’s district offices in Potosi, Salem, Ava, Doniphan, and Houston all sell America the Beautiful passes.!

The annual pass is $80 for the year, and is available for anyone to purchase.!The senior pass is available for anyone 62 years of age or older at a price of $80 for a lifetime pass, or $20 for an annual pass.!

The access pass is available for free to anyone that can show documentation of a permanent disability.!The military pass can be obtained by any active duty military member for free.

Should autumn also be when we begin new things?

C

ome, said the wind, to the leaves one day.

Come o’re the meadows, and we will play!”

This children’s song from the latter part of the 19th century reminds me of just some of the joys of this season called Fall.

French novelist Albert Camus noted that “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf becomes a flower.” Naturalist John Burroughs observed, “How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.”

The above verse recalls the hours spent and the opportunities to come to watch the flight of colors swept about by the cooling Rick Mansfield breezes now so welcome after the ———— heat of summer.

Reflections Crimson shades of sassafras, from the Road dogwood and red oak; yellowed tints of redbud, hickory and cottonwood just a few of the palette Nature puts before us. Often set in front of clear blue skies and greening fields.

There are other memories, just as endearing. The gathering as communities to harvest and mill

sorghum and make molasses. The same shared experience in the production of apple butter.

Typically, the work of individual families, the cutting and splitting of firewood for the coming winter.

The harvesting of corn, to be shucked and stored for winter food for livestock. The collection of acorns for the same; this after the end of open range.

There were pie suppers. The chance, for a mere dime, to walk hand-in-hand with the cute brunette that sometimes smiles at you during lunch. To perchance even be stopped on that magically drawn number when the music ceased; and to allow her to select the cake of her choice. Later, to outbid all comers; and to be served the pie for which you had saved.

All of this while intermittently being entertained by fiddlers and pickers from around the neighborhood.

Play parties with card games and musical chairs.

Taffy pulls and “hoedowns.”

There was also hog scrapings and the firing up the smokehouse. Pulling all the scattered nails from the south-facing barn wall, in preparedness of tacking up new hides. Pouring grease over the daily rations of Blue Ribbon dog feed; this to “slick ‘em up” for hunting season. It has been often declared that for Man, this is a time of gathering and harvest. For Nature, one of “sewing, scattering abroad.” Seeds find

new ground; from grasses and wildflowers to trees and shrubs. Earthen nurseries for fresh life.

Perhaps, autumn should also be when we begin new things. If not the building of structures, at the least design of their foundations. We think of Spring as the time to begin anew, knowing full well the challenges of summer will often detour or delay them.

Maybe this “hush before winter” is time to sew new plans? New goals?

For the majority of us, we are not wading snow to feed livestock or chopping ice so they can water.

Even those still heating with wood typically have furnaces that need fed twice daily. A lucky few use the decreased amount of daylight to practice music and crafts.

I am going to take a page from childhood; when we sat and stared at the backdrop of blue skies and watched leaves blow across our lives. We dreamed of kingdoms we would conquer and worlds to explore.

When we thought about that which was “true... honorable… right… pure… lovely.” I plan to now meditate on such things; better to be acceptable in His sight.

(Rick Mansfield is a seasoned storyteller and writer, and is always looking for new audiences. He can be reached at emansfield2004@yahoo.com.)

Looking for a concessioner for Loggers Lake Campground for 2018

T

By Thomas Haines hree topics for this month’s article are the seasonal closing of Loggers Lake and Suttons Bluff campgrounds (CG), our present fire danger, and our searching for a new concessioner for Loggers Lake campground.

Loggers Lake Campground closed on Oct. 30, and Suttons Bluff Campground will be closing on Nov. 5. Now, please remember that you are still able to camp on the National Forest. It is just that these two developed campgrounds will be closed for the winter.

Many of you have heard of the horrific wildland fires out west. Well, the fire conditions here in Missouri are not much better. This long period of no significant rains in our area have dried out what we call our 100 and 1,000 hour fuels. These are the larger pieces of woody materials that take 100 to 1,000 hours to dry out or get wet, unlike the one hour and 10 hour fuels like dried leaves and small twigs.

So, to change our present fire condition, we will need long significant rains. I am bringing up this subject to remind everyone that as you come out to visit and enjoy the forest to hunt,

hike, camp and ride ATVs, to keep in mind that we are dangerously dry. So, please be careful with any campfires or anything else that can start a fire.

Lastly and sadly, our concessioners at Loggers Lake, Bill and Sharron Aaron, have told us that they will be retiring.

So, this winter we will be sending out a request for bids to become the new concessioners for Loggers Lake.

You may be wondering what is involved in being a concessioner. Think of being a concessioner as your “business opportunity” to manage the dayto-day management of a campground.

In your agreement with the Forest, you propose to us what you are going to do to operate the campground.

For example: • General maintenance such as cleaning of bathrooms, trash pickup and disposal, and the mowing of grass.

• What services you will offer the public/customers, such as selling of fire wood, sales of ice, and rentals of canoes, sales of fishing equipment, etc.

• And what hours you will be available at the campground and what percent of the revenues you will pay the Forest. I would also suggest that you contact the Aarons at Loggers Lake and

ask them about their experience as a campground concessioner.

I would also suggest contacting Steve, at Sutton Bluff Campground, and ask him about his experiences as the concessioner at Sutton Bluff Campground.

If you think this may be the business opportunity you have been looking for, give us a call.

(Thomas Haines is district ranger for the Mark Twain National Forest, Salem Ranger District. He can be reached at 573-729-6656 or tehaines@fs.fed.us.)

RiverHillsTraveler.com

November 2017 â&#x20AC;˘ Page 15

10 major bowhunting mistakes

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By Byron Ferguson ere are some suggestions to help bowhunters from making some simple mistakes this fall.

1. Using wrong approach route to stand â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The most direct route is not always best.

2. Placing stand too high â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The higher the stand, the tougher the shot.

There are more obstructions and tougher angles, less chance of doublelung hits. Rule of thumb â&#x20AC;&#x201C; climb in cover or climb high, but only as high as conditions dictate.

3. Misreading sign â&#x20AC;&#x201D; To avoid hunting a â&#x20AC;&#x153;coldâ&#x20AC;? stand, learn to age the sign deer leave behind. Many times I found areas loaded with old sign, but the deer had either depleted the food or simply moved to a more favored food. Make sure the sign you see is fresh.

4. Shooting too soon â&#x20AC;&#x201D; If you shoot the first deer you see, many times you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see the big one that was just behind it.

5. Trying to force a shot â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Because you may be able to place your arrow accurately is no excuse to attempt a low-percentage shot.

Remember that a deer can and will get out of the way of your arrow. Wait for a high percentage angle, i.e. broadside or quartering away, if at all possible.

6. Scouting at the wrong time â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Learn when the deer are the least active and scout then. Since I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like to hunt in the rain, I will use this time to scout. Most scouting should be done before the hunt.

7. Scouting without a plan â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Scouting is NOT walking around in the woods looking for deer tracks. My favorite tactic is to look for food sources, being careful to stay clear of bedding areas.

Once a hot spot has been located, I use a compass to note different stand

Deer movement is governed by their belly most of the year. When you scout, start with food sources and work from there. Just be sure youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re aware of seasonal foods and food sources, and how quickly the deer will move from one to another.

Fergusonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s log-tossing bear, the happy hunter himself, and Santa Claus in a camo suit telling Ferguson that Christmas arrived early this year.

sites for various wind directions.

8. Routine hunting â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Deer will pattern YOU! Break up your routine. Have many more than one or two stands ready, so none are overworked and smelled-up and all remain fresh. Stay on stand longer, sleep in, arrive at your stand when you would normally be leaving.

9. Over-hunting â&#x20AC;&#x201D; As hard as it may be, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hunt the same stand over and over because it seems to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;hot.â&#x20AC;? I have seen many good stands turn cold because of over-hunting. There is too much human scent, too much activity.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another form of over-hunting, too. This is the burn-out type you may encounter if you hunt day after

Fall is the perfect time to gather nuts in the Ozarks

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;To me, the River Hills Traveler is all about creating memories,â&#x20AC;? said Bill Wakefield, who manages the Travelerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s St. Louis office. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shown here is a photo of me taken in 1953 when I was five after a fishing trip with my grandfather. I still have that cane pole that I used. Whenever I gather my fishing equipment for an outing, I see that cane pole hanging on the wall next to my other more modern rods and my mind goes back to the lessons my grandfather taught me. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I always smile when I see this picture and to me it is the essence of what an Ozark kid should look like.â&#x20AC;?

pecans are smaller than papershells, but have a delicious flavor.

Hazelnuts are ready to gather in September. This shrub is also beautiful in home landscapes.

Hickory nuts are also beginning to fall.

Two types of hickory trees in the Ozarks produce the best nuts: shagbark and shellbark.

Hickory nuts are a bit hard to crack out but they do have a delicious flavor, according to Byers.

Chestnuts can also be found in the Ozarks. The nuts are inside a spiny bur.

Freeze the nuts as soon as they are gathered to eliminate weevils.

For more information on landscape plants or nut trees, visit www.extension.missouri.edu/greene.

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ooler temperatures and outdoor and community activities make autumn the favored season for many Ozarkers.

But there is also one more reason to celebrate fall: it is the time to gather nuts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Landowners in the Ozarks are blessed with a variety of nut-growing trees. Each type has its own characteristics, needs and flavor,â&#x20AC;? said Patrick Byers, a horticulture specialist with University of Missouri Extension.

Walnuts are starting to fall now. It is important to remove the hulls as soon as possible after harvest. Store the nuts and crack out the nutmeats.

Pecans start dropping in mid- to lateOctober, according to Byers. Native

day early in the season when your enthusiasm is high.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen bowhunters run out of gas, so to speak, before the best hunting â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the rut â&#x20AC;&#x201D; begins. They have lost enthusiasm, used up all their vacation time, or been gone from home so much that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had to re-establish cordial relations with their family.

10. Broadheads not sharp â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I mean sharp even after you have hunted a couple of days without shooting them.

Check those edges constantly. Weathering and accidental contact with brush can wear them.

Just because theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re covered by a quiver hood doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t guarantee continued sharpness.

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Page 16 • November 2017

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November 2017 • Page 17

How the Forest got its corners, and how to find them

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By Cody Norris ark Twain had many sayings.!One famous saying attributed to him is, “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.”!

Along with water, land ownership has historically been a point of contention.!

Missouri has a long history of land surveying to prevent such feuds; and in recent years, much of this information has been made available digitally to the public through the combined efforts of Mark Twain National Forest and the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

For decades, the Mark Twain National Forest (MTNF) was the sole possessor of Form 874-9 – Revised May, 1918, also known as “yellow sheets.”

These old documents hold information regarding government land corners (the points from which land boundaries were identified) in 29 counties across southern and central Missouri. The history of land boundaries follows closely with the history of the Mark Twain National Forest.!

Here is a timeline of these changes: • Early 1800s — Government Land Office (GLO) contractors set across the unsettled areas of the Missouri Territory, subdividing the frontier into 1-mile sections and marking corners as they went.!

They kept field notes in journals to track their progress. This was rugged work; and it set the foundation for two centuries of land records.

• 1870s — Citizens of southern Missouri began an era of extensive logging of the state’s native oak, hickory, and pine forests. Lumber mills were commonplace.!Land boundaries from GLO surveys were important for business and were only occasionally perpetuated by county surveyors of the era.

• 1920s — Many mills had closed, as much of the state’s native forests had been logged. In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, the people of the state became concerned about the condition of idle and sometimes abandoned lands in the Ozarks region. Much land within the present National Forest boundary had been stripped of timber, burned, and over-used as pasture or tilled until its productivity was seriously impaired.

Abandoned lands contributed nothing to the local economy or tax base. Frequent wildfires and erosion were serious problems and the land needed extensive rehabilitation.

• 1934-1935 — Eight separate purchase units embracing 3,313,705 acres were established in 28 counties to create land that would be managed by the Forest Service for timber and watershed restoration.

• 1939 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed four of the eight purchase units as the Mark Twain National Forest. The purchase units involved were: Gasconade (Rolla, Houston), Pond Fork (Ava), Table Rock (Cassville), and Gardner (Willow Springs).

On the same date, the Clark National Forest was established by Proclamation.

The units involved were: Clark (Potosi, Salem), Fristoe (Winona, Doniphan, Van Buren), LaMotte (Fredericktown), and Wappapello Lake (Poplar Bluff).

• 1930s — At the height of the Great Depression, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) employees set out to verify land boundaries, equipped with just crude maps and typed copies of the original GLO notes.!

Most of the GLO surveys dated from the 1820s, a few even earlier.!The CCC was charged to find, verify, and re-mark any found section corners, quarter corners, and other monuments set by GLO surveyors a century earlier.!

Defining boundaries was very important to the newly formed Forest and its mission of land conservation.

• Late 1930s — The various administrative units that now make up the Mark Twain dispatched personnel to find and catalog the condition of corners in the

Proclamation Boundaries of their respective units. To document this, they used the “yellow sheets.”

• 1940s-2009 — For decades, and through several reorganizations, these “yellow sheets” served as the bridge between modern times and the original efforts of Missouri’s first surveyors.!

The “CCCers” of the Great Depression had the benefit of viewing many of the land corners in a time when much more of the evidence (from the GLO’s notes of the 1800s) was still intact and not disturbed by man nor ravaged by fire or storm.!This helped these hardy workers do such a credible job, that their documentation served the Forest for a very long time.!Many of the location posters or “tree tags” found today are over 80 years old and are well-referenced in the “yellow sheets.”

• 1960s — The Forest added state-licensed land surveyors to the staff to meet legal requirements of Missouri and the agency.!The aging “yellow sheets” remained in what later became District Ranger Stations of today’s Forest.!Sometimes they were discovered in oil houses and old garages of closed offices.

• 1990s — With the advent and spread of the Internet, a need began to arise to have digital records of land corners.!

Although zone surveyors assigned to districts often knew where to access these records, they were not readily available to private surveyors working for the public adjacent to the Forest.!

Unfortunately, this lack of available

information often led to erroneous corners being set even though reliable evidence existed, causing conflicts with adjacent landowners.

• 2000s — Discussion between land management agencies and surveyor groups in Missouri focused on ways to best digitize land corner information and make it available to the public.

Over time, attrition and closures of several administrative sites across the Forest led to the “yellow sheets” and other property records accumulating in the Mark Twain National Forest’s supervisor’s office in Rolla.!

• 2009 — Surveyors Roger Mallott (now on the Superior NF), John Stevens (now retired) and the Mark Twain National Forest’s current surveyor, Chris Ferguson, met with DNR-LSP survey personnel in late 2009 to arrange the transfer of paper documents to DNRLSP for digitization.!

Even after the initial bulk was digitized, old records continued to trickle in after being discovered, packed away in various offices; continuing to strengthen the fidelity of the digitized records.

• 2010-2016 — Cadastral surveyors Terry Throesch and Chris Ferguson delivered nearly 10,000 records to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources - Land Survey Program, now part of the Weights and Measures Division of the MO Department of Agriculture.

This information can now be found online at www.apps.mda.mo.gov/ molandsurveyindex/. !

nic. The attractions include an historic mill, a natural bridge hidden in the forest, and a picturesque covered bridge popular for wedding photos.

At Hawn, nearly two dozen picnic tables with grills are scattered beneath the tall pines. Sparkling Pickle Creek borders the area and a two-mile looping trail heads cross a foot bridge, up along the bluffs and back across the creek to the picnic area.

Hawn is off Highway 32 in Ste. Genevieve County. If heading south on Interstate 55, Route O is a scenic shortcut to 32. A visit to the park can be combined with a stop at the wineries on the Route Du Vin, which is south of the park on Route B off Highway 32.

Here are five other parks or historic sites, located throughout the state, which can be a midway picnic stop in a colorful fall drive: • Sandy!Creek Covered Bridge State Historic Site north of Hillsboro in Jefferson County — Located off Highway 21 south of the Goldman exit, the barn-red

bridge was built in 1884 and restored 100 years later.

Sandy Creek flows leisurely beneath the bridge, and picnic tables with grills are nearby in a grove that includes giant sycamores.

“It’s just a pretty, quiet little spot that gets a lot of wedding use,” said assistant administrator Kevin Johnson. “It’s close to St. Louis, but not too close. You’re out in the country.”

• Bollinger! Mill State Historic Site near Jackson in Cape Girardeau County — The site is named for the stately fourstory brick mill on a stone foundation next to the Whitewater River.

Adjacent to the mill is the Burfordville Covered Bridge, which was built in 1858 and is the oldest of Missouri’s four remaining covered bridges. The bucolic 43-acre setting has picnic tables in a shaded grove along the river.

• The Natural Bridge at Ha Ha Tonka State Park at the Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri — The bridge is a massive arch that remained when the roof of

a cave collapsed. Four picnic tables with grills are scattered nearby in the woods.

Visitors can take the boardwalk down to the spring, or up to the ruins of a stone castle. Highways 42 and 7 roll through the countryside, approaching the park from the east.

• Buzzard’s Roost at Mark Twain State Park in Monroe County — Highway 19 heads from Interstate 70 to the park in northeast Missouri. The park is in the wooded hills above the Salt River, which was dammed to form Mark Twain Lake.

Buzzard’s Roost is a picnic area with an overlook of the lake from a tall bluff, and a historic stone shelter built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

• Wallace!State Park near Cameron in northwest Missouri — Interstate 35 north from Kansas City leads to the park.

The interstate currently is blocked by construction, but a detour presents a more colorful route along the back roads. The park is a forested oasis amid the farm fields, with numerous picnic sites in the lovely Deer Creek Valley. !

5 fabulous fall drives you’ll love through the Missouri Ozarks

H

awn State Park has the reputation as being Missouri’s prettiest, especially in fall. Ed Schott can look out the window of his office and see why.

“There are lots of vibrant reds and yellows in the oaks and hickories, and we have one of the largest stands of shortleaf pines in the park system,” said Schott, who is the superintendent of the park in southeast Missouri.

The pines mix with the hardwoods to create a mosaic of color that spreads across the rolling forested hills. Pickle Creek and River Aux Vases have carved through the sandstone bluffs, cutting down to the harder igneous bedrock to form shut-ins.

“With all the pines, a lot of people compare it to being in Colorado,” Schott said.

Hawn leads the way in proposing a six-pack of parks worthy of an autumn visit.

A fall drive to each of the parks ends at a destination that is perfect for a pic-

Page 18 • November 2017

RiverHillsTraveler.com

CRAPPIE from 1 cause the fish (especially crappie) to shut down. An east wind, no current and the crappie were scattered around the bay. The fish were scattered over a large area, with no concentrations of fish on any one piece of cover or structure.

We had to cover a lot of area to pick up the fish that we caught. Current positioned the fish on cover and structure, and the gates were shut, so there was no water movement. We found the fish, but they were located all over the bay, but mostly where we had observed baitfish breaking the surface of the lake.

The fish were suspended in 12-15 feet of water, around structure (points) and brush piles. There were no large groups of fish, but we picked up fish all over the bay while we were trolling.

Trolling crankbaits for crappie was a new method to Kathy and me. I’d read about this method several years ago in a fishing article, but had never tried it myself.

Doug used a remote-controlled trolling motor for this type of trolling method. We zig-zagged across the bay to pick up scattered fish and to target as much structure, and as many brush points, as possible.

This technique allowed us to maximize our catch and place the baits in front of as many fish as possible. This method worked, and Kathy and I caught 30 slab crappie, plus yellow bass, channel catfish and a largemouth bass. This was a great day of fishing for us!

We had six rods set out during the trip. Kathy and I each had two 6-1/2 foot rods directly in back of the boat.

WELCH from 1 as far off as Oklahoma and Illinois, but times were hard and travel to such remote places still difficult.

Unfortunately, the hospital and resort were not a big success. Roads in the Ozarks were rough and unpaved, making it difficult to get into the Current River country.

Few tourists were willing to make the trip. The good doctor died in 1940, and his family did not have much interest in keeping up the resort afterward, which soon fell into ruin.

Was Dr. Diehl just a man ahead of his time? In time, tourists did discover the Current River, over a million come to canoe, camp, hike and fish every year.

As for his medical ideas, he wasn’t out of step with his times.

Doug had also positioned two 14-foot rods, one on each side of the boat.

These rods were equipped with baitcasting reels with line counters on the reels. The line counters allowed us to know how much line was out on each reel.

The reels were loaded with 12 pound test Trilene Big Game line, with a barrel snap swivel on the terminal end of the line. Doug prefers 12 pound test over 10 pound test because he loses less bait with this size line. The larger line doesn’t seem to affect the catch, and this size line can prove to be a great tool if your crankbait is grabbed by a larger game fish!

A barrel snap swivel was attached to the terminal end of the line to allow the baits to attain the most action.

Doug attached a variety of medium and deep running crank baits on each rod, and varied the colors to see which color the fish preferred. These baits mimic the preferred forage for the crappie on Kentucky Lake.

Color can be critical with crappie, Many people at the time believed in the healing qualities of cave air and spring water. It was almost a cliché for people to take a vacation to “take the waters” at one spring-centered resort or another.

This was the heyday of the healing spas at Hot Springs, Ark., among others.

Years earlier a tuberculosis sanitarium had been built in Mammoth Cave, some three hundred feet underground.

The hospital is a ruin today, but still stands next to the beautiful Welch Spring. It is located between Cedar Grove and Akers on the Upper Current.

It is best reached by canoe.

You can drive to it, also. Go north from Akers on Route K. Turn left on the first gravel road past the Akers Group Camp. At the end of the road,

with green being a preferred color on the lake we were fishing. We caught fish on a variety of colors during this trip. It pays to try a variety of colors because crappie can be finicky at times, when it comes to color.

COME PREPARED, with crankbaits in a variety of colors, if you chose to use crankbaits to target crappie. We had baits that were blue/chrome, chartreuse, green with white bellies, and some unique baits that Doug had painted himself.

We had Bandit and PICO crankbaits on our lines on this trip. I observed that crankbaits also catch larger crappie, which makes for bigger filets… something that I was happy about! Kathy and I both love to eat crappie, as well as bluegill and redear filets.

The rods were set with the amount of line out from 40-55 feet. Once we discovered which depth the fish were located, we set the reels at approximately 40-45 feet, which seemed to be the best length of line out during our trip. The line counter reels were a great tool for this type of fishing.

Doug strongly believes in using his electronics to locate fish, especially suspended fish. He also used his electronics to locate baitfish, cover and structure, and to key on these locations.

Doug uses split screen GPS/2D Sonar.

He said, “Electronics will tell you all you need to successfully locate fish and be successful.” His philosophy is to find the baitfish, and you’ll find the fish. This proved to be true during this fishing trip.

Doug is also pretty adamant about not leaving fish to find fish. We did just that early in the day, and violated that principle. We had a slow period with no fish while we were fishing out

closer to the mouth of the bay.

Doug decided to go back to the areas in the back of the bay where we’d caught fish earlier in the morning, and we started catching fish again fast!

Once we got on fish again, we kept Doug busy netting crappie, plus yellow bass, a couple of channel catfish, and Kathy caught one short largemouth bass. Doug said that trolling produces a variety of fish including crappie, white and yellow bass, catfish, sauger, largemouth bass, stripers and occasionally the nemesis of the lake, Asian carp.

Kathy and I caught a couple of decent-sized channel cats, which gave us both some excitement and produced a hard fight.

I discussed this crankbait trolling with Doug, as I was curious when the technique worked. Doug said he trolls for crappie pretty much year-round, but the fishing was best when the water temperature was 60 degrees and above.

Trolling for crappie (and other fish) can be very productive and exciting.

Kathy and I had an enjoyable, funfilled and memorable trip with Doug.

She also received what she wanted for her birthday! That was important to me… to make her happy!

Get out on your favorite lake and try trolling for fall crappie this season, and enjoy those big slabs. Take your Special Someone on a guided fishing trip for a different gift they will appreciate.

NOTE: Capt. Doug Wynn can be reached at his website at www.crappiegills-n-more.com or by phone at (270) 703-7600.

(Chuck Smick is an avid hunter, fisherman, and trapper and enjoys pursuing these activities in Western Kentucky. He can be reached at csmickpaducah@yahoo.com.)

park next to the river and walk a trail north along the river for about a halfmile.

At the end of the trail you will be able to see the hospital, although you will be across the spring from it.

Please do not wade in the spring, metal debris from the hospital period may injure you.

Springs are also delicate biologically, and wading and swimming can cause damage.

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7819 HIGHWA WA AY Y 47 4 SOUTH | UNION, MO 630 084 | 3 rrv v..com 44 W We est – Exit 240 – Go North – 1.5 1 5 Miles On Left

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November 2017 • Page 19

BETSY from 1 at 1773 Landon Road, Bourbon, Mo., 65441 (573-241-5173).

After they completed all of the necessary requirements and paperwork from the State of Missouri and from the Missouri Department of Conservation, they opened the doors to their bait shop in March 2017. The name Betsy Boy came from a nickname that Sam gave his wife.

The reason to open a bait shop was out of necessity. Sam and Drew are avid and serious catfishermen who use primarily live bait. The bait shop where they had purchased bait closed and this made it difficult for them to find and purchase bait for their catfishing expeditions.

Sam is a problem solver (you will see this when you visit the bait shop) and to solve the problem of getting adequate and quality bait for himself and for the many other fishermen in the area, he and Drew opened a bait shop.

The newer building in which the bait shop is located has plenty of room in order to expand its inventory of baits and supplies as the business grows.

You will find two large minnow holding tanks, a cricket storage box, refrigerator, freezer and display racks holding various terminal tackle. The holding tanks contain various sizes of goldfish, chub minnows and sometimes perch.

Sonny’s is the prepared catfish bait sitting on the shelf.In the freezer you will find skipjack, shad, threadfin shad, and shrimp. The refrigerator is designated for either nightcrawlers or red wiggler worms.

Fishing supplies and tackle include minnow buckets, containers for crickets, and fishing lines. There is an assortment of fishing hooks in various sizes and types. Most of the fishing weights on display are weights that

Sam made. You will find the supplies necessary to make equipment for jug fishing, trout lines, and bank and limb fishing.

The baits and supplies are catered more for the cat and crappie fisherman, but the supplies they carry will work for all fishermen.

As previously mentioned, Sam and Drew are serious catfishermen and the bait shop reflects that passion.

The main species they target are flathead catfish, which requires live baits.

That is why they take great care in the quality of the live bait they sell and the holding tanks that they require.

Sam has a great imagination and mechanical skills, and he is using all of these talents in the bait shop.

He has made his own aerators and filter systems for the minnow tanks, which keeps the bait healthy and lively.

He has built the shelves and display racks in the shop. He also makes bank poles, weights and other catfishing equipment for his customers.

Some of the other ideas they are exploring is raising their own nightcrawlers and goldfish. Sam has already started the experiment of raising goldfish in the pond that he has on his property.

They are always looking for ways to save on the overhead of the bait shop and pass these savings on to their customers. Sam said he has the lowest prices on minnows in the area.

Unlike many other bait shop owners, Sam and Drew fish regularly for flathead catfish and sometimes channel catfish. Because of this the bait shop operation is a family operation.

Betsy and their son, Luke, meet and help the customers when Sam is not there.

Sam’s daughter, Emi, even does the commercial on Facebook. The Sykes family would prefer if their customers would call or use Facebook to contact them with their order request before

stopping in.

That way, they can make sure that they have what the customer needs and it is ready to go when they stop in. The family goes out of their way to help all of their customers with their bait requirements.

Sam works full-time in St. Louis and has taken minnows to work with him when someone from work needs some.

Betsy mentioned to me that they are open all the time, you just need to call first.

Everyone at the bait shop enjoys talking to the customers and listening to their stories. Sam will talk for hours when it comes to discussing catfishing.

This is how he gains new knowledge and facts that he can share with his customers and friends.

Facebook is the primary source of advertising, along with word of mouth.

One of the goals Sam has besides raising some of his own bait and expanding merchandise in the shop. is to host a catfish tournament.

There are all sorts of bass and crappie tournaments but not so many catfish tournaments. After the weigh-in and prizes are presented, he then would like to have a fish fry with the tournament’s catch.

If you fish the Missouri, Mississippi, Bourbeuse, Meramec or Gasconade rivers, local farm ponds or heading to the Lake of the Ozarks, stop in and say hello to the Sykes family and buy some bait and share some stories.

Preparing yourself with quality bait and proper tackle will assure that you and your family or friends will have a fun and successful time fishing.

(Bill Wakefield runs the Traveler’s St. Louis office and can be reached at w3@charter.net.)

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