October 2017

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VOL. 45, NO. 4

OCTOBER 2017

www.riverhillstraveler.com

5 fabulous fall floats in Missouri

F

When traveling cross-country, Melvin Johnson uses his trusty camper but prefers sleeping out under the starts.

50 states & counting Springfield man accomplishes goal of hiking in every state

By MATTIE LINK

V

mattie@sextonmediagroup.com _____________

isiting all 50 American states is a pretty good feat, but hiking in all 50 states is quite an accomplishment.

Melvin Johnson, 67, of Springfield, has recently accomplished his goal of traveling to all 50 states to hike.

“When I was 16 and in Boy Scouts, we went on a threeweek backpacking trip in New Mexico and I thought then that when I was old enough, I wanted to travel,” said Johnson.

Johnson is a retired environmental education and environmental recreation leader for the Leonard Wood Youth Program in Springfield, but is originally from Indiana.

Johnson has several degrees from different universities in the recreational field and has been living in Springfield for 20 years now.

“I love doing anything outdoors. Hiking, camping, floating, kayaking and I’m lucky I was paid to do all the things I love to do,” said Johnson.

When Johnson was in college he lead a couple trips to different states and really decided he wanted to explore and travel North America in the late 80’s.

“I had several friends that wanted me to go with them

Please see STATES, 18

Please see FLOATS, 19

Washington group tours MTNF for flood recovery

M

Melvin at Philmont Scout Ranch with the Tooth of Time in the background, 50 years after backpacking there, near Cimarron, New Mexico.

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By Tom Uhlenbrock all is the best time for a float trip in the Missouri Ozarks. Summer crowds are gone, and the sparkling streams reflect the autumn colors.

“It’s also the prettiest time of the year for wildflowers – you have all the yellow and red, even some purple blooms,” said Gene Maggard, who owns Akers Ferry Canoe Rental on the Current River.

He said fall colors start showing in early October.

“You’ll have your peak anywhere from the 14th! through the 21st,” he said.

“You’ve got the rivers to yourself; the hustle and bustle of summer is over. It’s a good time of year for solitude.”

Here are five fabulous floats, all of which will take four or five hours, depending on the time spent fishing and picnicking on gravel bars.

Most of these stretches are spring fed, which means there’s enough water for year-round floating. All are perfect for

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ark Twain National Forest hosted a flood recovery field visit on Aug. 28-30 with government officials from Washington.

Visitors included U.S. Forest Service Deputy Chief Leslie Weldon, Emilee Blount (engineering, technology and geospatial services), Rachael Thurston (assistant transportation program manager), Michiko Martin (acting director, recreation, heritage & volunteer resources and director, conservation education), and Josiah Kim, (Region 9 director of engineering and acting director for recreation, wilderness, heritage and volunteer services).

Weldon and her national engineering and recreation directors traveled from Washington, D.C., to view some of the Please see FLOOD, 19

Page 2 • October 2017

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Fishing remains good on the White River

E

By Bill Cooper pic floods have been the norm in 2017. Several 500-year floods rocked the Midwest and the Ozarks last spring and Texas recently faced the ravages of a 1,000-year flood.

The White River Basin in Arkansas faced heavy flooding in April and May. Flood records which stood for over 100 years toppled.

The North Fork of the White at Tecumseh, Missouri, reached the highest levels since August 1, 1915. Bull Shoals Lake is still well above normal pool as a result.

Damon Spurgeon and I recently traveled to Cotter, Arkansas, to fly fish the fabled White River for monster Brown trout.

The renowned trout stream still ran high as a result of the heavy spring rains and is expected to do so until mid-October, according to local fly fishing guide Larry Babin.

“This is the longest stretch of high water I’ve experienced on the White,” the manager of the Natural State Fly Shop in downtown Cotter said.

Despite the higher than normal river flows for the summer season, Babin has continued to put his clients on fish.

“The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission stocks roughly one-and-a-half million trout in the White River each year,” he said. “That is a lot of fish and they are still there despite the high water conditions.”

As we walked onto the deck of White River Trout Lodge, Damon and I paused, before placing our bags inside, to look at the river.

“This place is mesmerizing,” Damon said. “Look there are trout feeding just off that weed line. There is a really nice Brown, too.”

“Calm down,” I said. “You are going to tire yourself out getting so excited.

We have three days coming up with the best fly fishing guides on the river.

You’ll see lots of trout over the course of those three days.”

After visiting with White River Trout Lodge owners Bill and JoAnna Smith, Damon and I headed to downtown Cotter to Natural State Fly Shop, which is located within sight of the famous Rainbow Bridge, which spans the White.

We immediately struck up a conversation with renowned fly tier Ron McQuay. He is well known in fly fishing circles and Damon immediately began quizzing him about fly patterns best for the White River and how to fish them.

I saw an opportunity. Minutes later I began filming the conversations between McQuay and Damon. McQuay proved to be a wealth of information.

Clips from those discussions may be seen on www.Facebook.com/Outsideal-

ways.

Shortly, the fly shop manager, Larry Babin, walked into the store. Introductions were short. Conversations took off like a fire doused with gasoline. We had walked into a fly fisherman’s dream come true.

Babin proved to be a virtual encyclopedia of trout fishing information and we intended to glean all of it we could in a short amount of time.

We planned to hook up with Larry of www.hogsonthefly.com, Matt Millner of Rising River Guides, and Taylor Wooten of www.flippinflyguides.com the following afternoon. Larry, Matt and Damon would float in Larry’s drift boat with Larry at the helm, while the other two guys fly-fished. Taylor and I would follow in a second boat. I would film the action.

Damon and I spent the next morning filming pieces with Larry and Matt, and intermittently discussing what we could expect for the afternoon of fishing to come. We were primed by the time fishing time arrived.

Everyone chattered nonstop as we readied the drift boats, tied on flies and double-checked the camera gear. The consensus among the fishermen in our party was to tie on a hopper in hopes of catching a big brown of ten pounds plus.

I inhaled the fresh air fragrant with river smells as we pushed into the current. I made my last-second checks for light and power on my video camera.

Seconds later, Larry, Matt and Damon yelled in excitement.

“Did you see that fish blow up on

that hopper?” Damon had a fish on less than 75 feet from the boat ramp. It looked to be a good afternoon on the water.

They all posed for photos with the beautifully-colored Brown trout. It provided a great start to the trip, but was not what we were looking for. Damon and I were on assignment for www.southerntrout.com and hoped for a monster Brown trout of 20 pounds or more.

Larry had informed us that the bite had been tougher with the high water conditions. It would be a gamble to target larger fish, but Damon knew he was facing the possibility of catching a lifetime fish. He elected to cast big hoppers and even larger streamers in hopes of hooking that one monster Brown.

Respectable Browns up to 22 inches continued to fall prey to the big hoppers, but the monsters weren’t playing.

Damon managed one explosive strike from a much larger fish before nightfall approached.

“I saw several huge Browns that will haunt me for a long time,” Damon said.

“One had to be well over 20 pounds. It is just phenomenal to be on waters that house such huge fish.

“I know every cast I make has the potential to turn one of the big ones.

I’ll fish until my arms fall off for that one fish.”

Damon made thousands of casts over the next two days and caught plenty of trout, but no monsters.

“I knew the chances of catching a really big Brown were slim, with the current water conditions, but I’d fish it every single day if I could. The big ones are there.”

We were sent to the White River to gather material for a wintertime trout fishing article. With it still being summer, we relied on the guides for information and photos about wintertime trout fishing.

Therefore, it proved a great adventure to gamble on catching a big Brown. Big Browns one, us zero.

We shall return soon!

RiverHillsTraveler.com

October 2017 • Page 3

Schools impacting Missouri’s summer tourism

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icture it: an unseasonably cool mid-August day at a popular Missouri State Park. The campground is NOT full and the few campers present are from out of state.

For a state with a passion for the outdoors and summertime fun, this seems odd, doesn’t it? Welcome to the new normal in Missouri thanks to many schools starting in early August.!

Gussie Schmitz is a mother of two in Union. She has noticed this trend as well.!

“Our school has gradually started earlier during the eight years I have had kids in school.

It adds up to about one week earlier than when my oldest started kindergarten,” Schmitz shared.!

Michelle Turner While a one-week ———— shift in eight years may not seem like much, the consequences of an earlier start date has been felt by Schmitz and her family. It has specifically had an impact upon their Missouri State Fair experience.!

“When I was a kid, we went to stay with my grandparents the week before school to attend the state fair every day.

Great memories! With my children, we have to make the state fair a one-day thing. Anyone who has been to the state fair knows you can’t see it all in one day,” Schmitz added.

“We couldn’t go to all the events we would have liked to because of school starting.”

Schmitz is not alone. Kim Siem and her husband, Bruce, operate Siem Farms in Augusta. The school district they reside in has also pushed back their start date, which conflicts with the state fair.!

“As far as the kids with their 4-H and FFA projects, I know of several families that were unable to go and take their projects even though they had been county-level winners because the kids were already back in school,” Siem said.

As more and more schools across Missouri are pushing for Project Based Learning and obtaining real-world 21st century skills, Siem feels the Missouri State Fair experience is just as educational as the classroom setting.!

“Getting up in front of a panel of judges and giving a demonstration, showing an animal, or presenting a project is a huge boost for their confidence and helps them with their ability to speak with others down the road into adulthood,” Siem explained. “These kind of experiences should be encouraged. It certainly helps build a more well-rounded adult.”

When schools start earlier, it doesn’t just conflict with the Missouri State Fair; it has an impact upon summer tourism in Missouri.

Meramec Caverns has a rich history and often hits the record books as Missouri’s “most-visited” cave. Meramec Caverns president Lester Turilli said he has felt the side effects of the shift in the school year.!

“The schools starting back earlier is having a negative impact on business,” Turilli said. “We used to have from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but schools are getting out later and starting earlier each year, which shortens

our season.”

Another area touched by early school start dates is Missouri’s float trip industry. Franklin Floats is located in Lesterville and is one of the oldest canoe outfitters on the Upper Black River.

Owner Bob Franklin has been in business for 40 years and enjoys seeing the grandchildren of some of his first customers return. However, he doesn’t enjoy the change in what many Missouri schools call “summer” these

days.!

“They say that tourism is king in Missouri, but they keep pushing back the start of school. The little restaurants in Lesterville can’t pay their electric bills during the off-season with people drinking coffee daily. They depend on the tourism season, just like all the other businesses in our community,” Franklin explained.!

While there are people who feel that starting school earlier in August has benefits for working parents and individuals who prefer to vacation in lateMay or early-June, the economic impact felt in communities like Lesterville is nearly palpable.!

“August should be one of our peak months, but the decline starts during the back-to-school tax-free holiday.

Then, as soon as schools go back, that’s when the weekday tourism dollars disappear,” Franklin added.

“Those are the dollars that carry us through the rest of the year. Now, you see more and more places pushing fall weekend specials trying to recoup lost tourism dollars, thanks to the legislature in Missouri allowing schools to start too early.”

According to the Missouri Department of Secondary and Elementary Education (DESE), for schools to start

more than ten days prior to the first Monday in September, there are requirements the school district must meet.!

“The local school board must first give public notice of a public meeting to discuss the proposal of having an opening of school on a date more than ten days prior to the first Monday in September and the majority of the board votes to allow an earlier opening date. Public notice should specifically state the intent of the district to have an opening date that is more than ten days prior to the first Monday in September.” This information is stated in the Missouri DESE School Calendar Requirements document.!

More and more individuals are speaking out against the shift in many school calendars across our state and the impact it is having.

If you are one of those individuals, the big question to ask is this: Is your local school district following the above policy?

Consider contacting school board members to express your concerns. If they are unwilling to examine your school district’s compliance, or lack thereof, consider contacting the Missouri Department of Education or your state representative.

(Michelle Turner lives in Union, Mo.)

AROUND the WORLD with the River Hills Traveler

Karlene Hoch, 12, of Union, Mo., traveled to North Point Lighthouse in Milwaukee, Wisc., over the summer. 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 • October 2017

ONSR announces proposed fee increases for 2018

O

zark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR) is proposing an increase in cave tour fees for the Round Spring Cave and camping fees for the rustic backcountry campgrounds within the park.!

Additionally, the Jerktail rustic backcountry camping area is proposed to be added as a fee area.

ONSR officials say the proposed rate increases are necessary in order for park camping fees to remain comparable with local privately owned businesses.!The current camping fees have not been raised in the backcountry sites since 2008.!

In addition, cave tour fees have not been increased since Jimmy Sexton ———— 2003 and are signifJourney On icantly lower than other area caves.

The new rates would take effect April 15, 2018.

“Under the current rate structure, the camping fees and cave tour fees at Ozark Riverways are lower than some privately operated campgrounds and show caves, and we do not want to undercut these local business owners,” said ONSR Superintendent Larry Johnson.

“This rate increase will help us avoid that, and will also help provide additional funding that will be used for ongoing improvements. The installation of the new concrete shower house at Alley Spring campground in July 2017 is just one example of the types of projects that can be accomplished with recreation fee revenue.”

The proposed camping fees are: • Basic family backcountry campsites (limit 6 people) will go from $5 to $10 a night.

• Cluster backcountry campsite at Big Tree (7-20 people) will go from $15 to $20 a night.

• Round Spring Cave tours (adults) will go from $5 to $10.

• Round Spring Cave tours (children 12 and under) will go from $2 to $5.

The existing rustic backcountry campgrounds are located at Big Tree, Grubb, Gooseneck, Bay Creek, Blue Spring, Rymers, Shawnee Creek, Two Rivers Primitive, Logyard, Sinking Creek, Cedar Grove, and Dee Murray.

This rate increase does not apply to front country campgrounds at Alley Spring, Round Spring, Pulltite, Two Rivers and Big Spring, which will remain the same.

Johnson said ONSR is able to keep the fees collected from its campgrounds and cave tours to use for improvements to visitor facilities and services such as upgrading restroom and shower facilities, maintaining trails, improving campgrounds, and educational programs for students.!

To comment on the proposed rate increase, please respond by Nov. 20 to Lisa Figge at lisa_figge@nps.gov or (573) 323-8144.

——— Congratulations to the Traveler’s very own Bill Cooper, who was inducted into the 2018 Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame back in August.

Cooper was born in 1949 along the banks of the Black Bayou in the Mississippi River Delta of southeast Missouri.

He has experienced fishing at its finest across much of the globe.

In the process he has educated and entertained countless thousands of anglers and helped them dream of those far away fishing destinations.

Above all, he taught them the personal values of fishing and how to preserve the resources. As an outdoor communicator Cooper has published

over 1,500 fishing articles. He has hosted television programs and been a radio show host.

In 2016, Cooper was recognized on the floor of the Missouri House of Representatives for a long and productive career of promoting hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation through his outdoor communication efforts.

Cooper has been writing for the Traveler for over 20 years, and I get comments often from people who’ve read something he’s written for us.

I know I speak for our readers when I say thanks, Bill, for being part of the Traveler team.

——— Fall floaters and anglers are reminded to check on the status of Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) river accesses before heading out on a canoe trip or an evening of gigging.

More than 184 MDC accesses and conservation areas were damaged in historic spring flooding. MDC staff has been working to prioritize repairs across southern Missouri. Currently, only four river accesses remain closed due to extensive flood damage.

One of the accesses still not open is the Jerome Access in Phelps County.

This site remains closed while MDC discusses future options for this popular Gasconade River access that has been in the bull’s eye of several recent flooding events.

Most recently, the site was the victim of flooding in April. The damage report included an entrance road washed out by a deep scour hole, a parking lot surface washed away entirely, a privy’s concrete apron flipped over and moved by floodwater, a boat ramp buried under deposited gravel, and multiple scour holes at the site.

Though the cause of this particular damage was a weather event the National Center for Environmental Infor-

Wishmaking hints from the old Ozarks

M

ost of us are familiar with wish-making. As children we pulled apart turkey “wishbones” or pinned our hopes upon a falling star.

Kids in the Ozarks used to do the same sort of stuff, but might have been even more creative with it.

Thanks to the late great folklorist Vance Randolph, those old wish-making ways haven’t been forgotten, even if nobody practices them anymore.

Here are a few: Wes Franklin • When you see a ———— cardinal, “throw a Native Ozarker kiss and make a wish.” If you can do that three times before the bird flies off, your wish will come true. But if you see the same bird again, it cancels it out.

• If you see a cardinal in a tree, make a wish and then throw a rock toward, but not AT, the bird. If the redbird flies upward, the wish will be granted. If it flies downward, you’re out of luck.

• If you see a snake trail in the dust, make a wish and spit in the track.

• When you hear the first turtledove in the spring, make a wish and spin

three times on your left heel. Then take the shoe off and look for a hair inside it. If it’s the same color as your significant other’s hair, your wish will come true.

• When you see a buzzard up in the sky, make a wish. If it soars out of sight without flapping its wings, your wish will be realized.

• A simpler method is to make a wish and spit in your hand when you see a newborn colt. That’s all you have to do.

The little colt doesn’t even have to do anything.

• Also, always make a wish when you see a spotted horse, but then don’t look at the horse again, and tell someone about the wish as soon as you can.

• When you see a star before dark, close your eyes, spit over your left shoulder, and make a wish.

• When you’re passing train tracks and there is a yellow boxcar halted upon the tracks, make a wish. If it’s moving it won’t work, though.

• If you make a wish at the bottom of a steep hill and don’t stop or look back until you walk to the top, your wish will come true.

• If you’re walking somewhere you have never been before, make a wish.

• When you see a woman wearing a man’s hat, make a wish.

• When a wife or sweetheart is sewing a button on a man’s shirt, she

should make a wish about that man’s future and it will come true.

• If you drop a comb by accident, immediately put your foot on it and make a wish.

• Next time your shoelace comes untied, ask a friend to tie it for you and make a wish while they are doing it.

• If you find one of your eyelashes, put it on your thumb, make a wish, and blow it away.

• The first louse you ever find on a child’s head, pop it on the family Bible while making a wish about the child’s future. That’s what my mother did to me, except I think she must have mumbled. I’m just kidding about that.

You can find more wish-making hints in Randolph’s great compilation, “Ozark Magic and Folklore.”

He wrote many other books about the Ozarks he lived and died in, but that book is the best of his works, in my opinion.

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

On the Cover

Mike Roux says decoy placement is important on opening day and becomes even more critical as the season progresses.

(photo courtesy of Mike Roux)

mation termed a “once in a millennium rainfall,” Jerome Access’ flood troubles have been much more frequent.

There have been multiple closings of the site due to flooding in the past decade, the most notable being in 2013 and 2015 when the site was shut down for extended periods while significant damage was repaired.

While Jerome Access is closed, the nearest MDC accesses on the Gasconade are Bell Chute Access in Maries County, near Vienna, and Riddle Bridge Access in Pulaski County, near St. Robert.

Accesses currently closed for repairs due to flood damage include: • Paydown Access on the Gasconade River (Maries County). !

• Warren Bridge Access on the North Fork of the White River (Ozark County).

• Cook (Flo ) Access on Bryant Creek (Ozark County).

• Mrytle Access (Oregon County) on Eleven Point River (only boat ramp is closed).

Mitschele Access on the Gasconade River in Pulaski County is also closed, but this closure is due to construction on Missouri Highway 7, not flood damage.

——— As always, if you have any story suggestions or something you’d like to read about in the Traveler, please call or email me. I’d love to hear from you!

(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 Heath Wood, 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

October 2017 • Page 5

VINTAGE OZARKS: Table Rock Bluff in the 1940s, before the dam

T

able Rock Dam was not built at Table Rock, but about two miles upstream, a site the Corps of Engineers considered would be better from an engineering standpoint.!

Empire District Electric had announced soon after the completion of Powersite Dam, creating Lake Taneycomo, that they would build a larger dam at Table Rock.

Shown here is a photo from Table Rock Bluff in the 1940s. Still no dam.

The federal government ultimately took dam building away from private compa-

nies in the late 1930s. World War II and then Korea delayed construction of many projects.

Again, local dam advocates became nervous that the feds would repeat the stalling tactics of Empire District Electric.

(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.

Some pages from this book can be seen

From the October archives of the River Hills Traveler: 5 years ago • Do you believe in ghosts? Do I? Maybe I do and maybe I don't. My husband, Howard, believes — as is dad and grandpa before him. All were of English and American Indian ancestry and were of the opinion that deceased spirits roamed the earth.

Let me remind you how different families spent their evenings in that long, long ago. After supper, men and boys retired to their private world while women and girls cleaned up the table. Howard often recalled stories his elders told. (Verna Simms) • It's not your normal hunting club. The clients have far more stalking and marksmanship skills than most of the guides. Everyone shares a common bond of former military service. And, oh yeah, all who hunt, fish or simply enjoy wandering the property have experienced a traumatic, life-threatening injury to assure our freedom to enjoy such pastimes. (Doug Smith) 10 years ago • On a lark, I turned right instead of left to take a different path to work. It was winter and sunny, and a nice day for a drive. My mind was roaming from one thought to another as I looked up and down the street.

Suddenly, I saw her. She looked like what I was wanting and she looked cheap, too.

She was standing in front of Three Amigos Cycle, Ski and Boat Shop. A 14-foot john boat; an older model with a nice trailer and an older 10-horse motor. I watched her in the mirror as I sped down the street to work. I couldn't get my mind off her. I had been thinking of getting a boat for some time now.

As I paddled around in my canoe exile duck hunting, I would see other hunters, nice and cozy, sitting on their cushy seats with cam netting draped around them, sipping their coffee and warming their hands over small propane heaters. (Zenon Duda) • The Friends of Marble Creek Campground have

on www.beautifulozarks.com. Their earlier river book, Damming the Osage, can

REMEMBER WHEN

done an outstanding job in keeping this wonderful Forest Service campground open this past summer. This new group has a number of outstanding volunteers cleaning and maintaining the area.

The dry, hot summer did not keep the campers away.

Although never close to capacity and without any potable water or electric, the campers were able to have a great time enjoying the park, the adjoining Ozark Trail and, of course, the cool water of Marble Creek for swimming, wading and small stream fishing.

(Robert E. Sliger) 15 years ago • I'm not a bad fisherman, but I didn't hook a single bass on Saturday night of Labor Day Weekend. Larry Umfleet, fishing with me, caught about 20. Larry has Piedmont Meat Processing and he works hard. Well, he fishes hard, too, for he gets out pretty regularly to challenge Clearwater Lake's bass at night. (Bob Todd) • Josh was brimming with confidence when he came to get me from my deer stand. Earlier that morning, he had borrowed my climber to bow hunt over a fresh scrape on a nearby ridge. A gimme shot at an eightpoint buck was the source of his giddiness.

He was so sure of his shot, he elected to leave his bowhunting gear behind rather than carry it back out the ridge. The morning was warming quickly, and he said he didn't want to be burdened with gear once we found his buck. (Charlie Slovensky) 20 years ago • Climbing over, under and between jumbo geological formations is an unforgettable hands-on history lesson. Worn granite bedrock in the Ozark heritage region

be at seen www.dammingtheosage. com.)

of Missouri, now shaped into impressive boulders, affords a keyhole's view to nature's and man's past.

(Kathy-Jo Facteau) 30 years ago • A year ago, I publicly voiced skepticism that many hunters would apply themselves sufficiently to be able to take two turkeys during Missouri's first two-bird fall season. I based my prediction on my own experiences in hunting fall turkeys. My success rate hadn't been much over fifty per cent during the two-week, one-bird seasons, so I didn't figure I'd get two birds without a lot of hard hunting and some fabulous good fortune.

(Bob Todd) 35 years ago • We could write a book about what to do when it rains, following our experiences this season. We had planned a float on the St. Francois River but as we headed to our put-in, it was apparent we'd have to do something else. Second-terrance fields are the high ones in a river valley that never flood. Deep water in them tells you there's been another cloudburst and that water will soon be going down the river as another flood. (Bod Todd) 40 years ago • We started out on the hike with the objective of gathering some fine, scenic views and to report to you on the features of the new hiking trail at Crane Lake.

But frequent rains during September soon diverted our attention. For rains had produced a bloom of mushrooms, toadstools and other fungi that commanded our attention. (Bob Todd) • By a treaty of questionable validity, the Osage sold nearly all of southern Missouri to the U.S. government in 1808. It was supposed to be a permanent settlement, and for a little while, it appeared to be just that.

It was working to the satisfaction of both the Osage and the new U.S. government. (Bob Todd) (compiled by MyraGale Sexton)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Plenty of uses for hickory nuts

I

To the Editor, received this question from a gentleman in Neosho, Mo., in response to one of my columns in this publication, and thought I would share it with you, along with my answer.

• Question: Just wanted to ask you a question about hickory nuts. I have several hickory nut trees in my yard and I was wondering if there’s anything useful that I can do with the nuts, whether it’s as bait for squirrel hunting or whatever.

Or, maybe I should just rake them up and dispose of them in the burn pile?

It is something I’ve been wondering

about for a while and I thought you would be the person to ask. I don’t like having possible resources going to waste.

• Answer: It is good to hear someone say that. Today’s generation wastes so much. For instance, there were 14 male cousins in my family and we would save all hickory nuts, and when we got together for Thanksgiving at my grandparents farm, we would divide up into two or three groups and have hickory nut fights, throwing them at each other!

We also used persimmons, rotten apples, etc.

Here on Lightnin’ Ridge you could never have a good hickory nut fight at

Thanksgiving because the darn squirrels have decimated them by then.

Back during my boyhood, Grandpa harvested squirrels enough to save some hickory nuts somewhat and we often ate “hickory grove chicken” for dinner, except on Sundays when we ate real chicken.

Go to a computer somewhere, (many neighbors will have one) and look up “hickory nut harvesting and use” and you won’t believe what you find. It is amazing. There is even a hickory nut

pie recipe.

They give all kinds of uses for the meat and the shells both. It’s pages and pages of great hickory information.

But I am not sure that the best thing a hickory tree offers isn’t the squirrels it attracts.

I would like to forget the uses my Grandma made of small-diameter hickory limbs she referred to as switches!

Larry Dablemont, Southwest Missouri

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 6 • October 2017

Bowhunting whitetail deer... the most common questions

T

By Bob Fratzke his is a partial list of the questions most commonly asked over the years at the conclusion of my deer scouting and bowhunting seminars.

Q: Can you move at all on a treestand?

A: Definitely, but it has to be controlled. This is the only way you can remain on stand several hours without getting tired muscles.

If you need/want to move, first check the area all around you.!Turn your head from side to side, moving slowly, checking where you think the animals will approach That’s another benefit from scouting – you get practice at seeing bits and pieces of animals, even when they aren’t moving.!You pick out ears, a backline, an antler beam and tine, an ear, the flicker of a tail, the movement of a leg.!

You’d be surprised – or maybe you wouldn’t – at the number of times you spot deer when you’re slowly turning your head.

This is a good reason to have a seat on your stand, especially if you’ll be there several hours.!Sitting for a short interval gives your hips, legs, feet and back a rest.

Q: What about standing up and sitting down?

A: Basically, for all shooting, standing is best.!Sitting down is a hard way to shoot.!It seems tougher to come to full draw, and it definitely reduces your flexibility.!

You need as much body flexibility as practical, simply because deer don’t always approach where you expect them to.!This is a time to be wearing a good safety harness.

Standing might help you stay alert, too.!When you sit, it’s too easy to doze and miss deer.!A safety harness is very important here.!

Q: What do you do with your bow?!Can you hang it up without hurting your chances?

A: Many stands come equipped with brackets to hold your bow, but I’d rather hang it in the tree on an overhanging branch so it is within easy reach at the right height to reach with little movement when I’m standing.!

Then I can just reach out a little bit, unhook the bow and begin coming to full draw.!This seems to be mostly a downward movement, which is much

How much do you want the buck? If you want it enough, you’ll keep yourself and your clothes clean, and you’ll forget about smoking in the woods.

Rubber boots will shed scent and contain human odors. Put your pants cuffs inside your boots for even better scent control and heat retention in cold weather.

Another thing you definitely want – small pockets on the fronts of your pants legs, just above the knee.!Rest the lower limb tip in one of them.!This takes the weight off your arms and shoulders, and it keeps the bow in almost a ready position.

An early season buck fell to Fratzke’s arrow in a brushy, vine-clad staging area as it checked a scrape along a rub line. The deer was looking for its competition.

less noticeable in the woods than an upward movement.!An upward movement usually is an indication of alarm, such as a bird taking flight or a squirrel dashing up a tree.

When I’m scouting and clearing stands, I’ll often nail a Y branch horizontally to a main branch, nailing through both tips of the Y.!I’ll fasten it in a position that will let me turn without the bow, then pick it up and draw.!

Turning just your body is much less noticeable, if noticed at all, than turning with bow in hand.

For instance, rather than try to move the bow out around a tree or through a big crotch, I’ll hang the bow on the back side, then lean around or through with my body, pick up the bow and draw.

The best position to hang your stand dictates, to a large degree, where you hang your bow.!I don’t make much movement that can be detected.!Seems like the bow with a quiverful of arrows gets unconsciously waved around a lot, and that can be easy to see.!

Q: How high should a tree stand be positioned?

A: As a rule, I like it 15 feet off the ground.!I’d rather be a little bit lower than too high. If it’s too high, you’re starting to have too many overhanging branches in the way.!Also, the higher you are, the poorer the shot angle and the smaller the target area.!

The deer’s spine will look nearly in the middle of the target area because you’re also seeing much of the off-side rib cage.!It also will be more difficult, maybe even impossible, to get a double-lung hit.!A deer can go a long distance with only one lung hit.

Q: Are there some things you ALWAYS do?

A: I always scout an area before I hunt it.!(90% of my time in the woods is scouting; only 10% is spent hunting.)!

I always shower before I go into the woods and make sure my clothes are clean.!

I always wear rubber boots.!

I always am dressed right so I can stand comfortably and be well camouflaged.

Q: Does noise in the distance bother deer?

A: No.!Those are natural sounds; deer hear them every day and are accustomed to them. They seem to know when they’re threatened.!If the noise is from something coming toward them, then they will pay attention until they either take off or dismiss it.!

Gunshots don’t bother them, other than maybe getting their attention a moment.!The noise is made and then it is gone; no movement occurs.

Q: When during the season do you usually see and kill your trophy bucks?

A: During the rut and the late (December) season.!They are more active and visible then.

Q: Does smoking bother deer in the woods?

A: I think it does.!It’s a foreign odor that carries a long distance and has staying power.!Smell your clothes some morning after you spent a couple of hours in a bar the night before.!They reek!!

That said, I think your arm motion with cigarette in hand, to and from your mouth, is more noticeable and thus potentially more alarming than the smoke.

Leaves camouflage the bottom of a tree stand well. Clumps of leaves are nothing unusual in the woods.

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RiverHillsTraveler.com

October 2017 • Page 7

Kinda feeling bad about this boyhood prank

(Note: I first want to congratulate all the writers that contribute to River Hills Traveler for all the good stories and entertainment I have gotten from them in the past. Thank you.)

B

ack when I was a kid we were outdoors and camped a lot. Jack Lilly was an integral part of my growing up.

Jack and his dad, Chuck, belonged to the same Boy Scout troop my brother and I did and we all went together.

One weekend the troop camped near a quarry; you know, it is always more fun as a kid to be near water.

One afternoon I was walking on the bluff above the quarry lake and it was a long drop to the swimming dock below.

There was Jack, standing on the dock looking into the clear water.

Bob Brennecke Well, since there ———— was water and there were rocks, and there was one of my friends near the water, I had to see if I could startle him by throwing a rock into the water.

I must say I did a perfect job of aiming and throwing that rock. After I let go of the rock I could tell it would come close to the dock.

Now, if you have ever heard a rock enter the water from falling a distance, gravity acting on it the whole way, you would know that it doesn’t make just a splash, it’s kind of like a whoosh.

The rock entered the water perfectly about fifteen feet from the dock that Jack was standing on.

Jack was actually looking in the opposite direction when the rock whooshed into the water and it made

him flinch and snap his neck around.

As Jack whirled around in surprise I could hardly contain myself. Even though I was a great distance above the dock and about one hundred feet from the edge of the water, I was afraid that Jack would hear me laughing and snorting with excitement.

Jack stayed and looked at the water where the rings were emanating from then walked to the other side of the dock where he was standing before. I just could not contain myself; I had to throw another rock.

Even though these rocks were about an inch in diameter, they flew great and entered with a perfect whoosh. I pitched another rock over the bluff and watched it enter almost exactly in the same place.

Jack spun and rushed over to the sound and found more wave rings and nothing else. By this time I knew Jack could hear my cackling above on the bluff, but he continued peering into the clear blue quarry water.

Jack looked in that same spot for such a long time and even stretched out on his stomach, put his chin on his hands and was going to stay there until that noise would happen again.

I guess I could have thrown another rock while he was watching, because he would not have been able to see the rock before it entered the water, but I waited.

It seemed like forever before Jack got

up and started walking off the dock.

I just wanted one more throw to keep him there and then I would go down and ask him what he was doing on the dock.

As Jack took his second step away from the edge of the dock, he spun around as I threw the third rock. The instant the rock left my hand, and Jack had turned to go back to the edge of the dock, I had a bad feeling about the trajectory of that third rock.

As the rock made its parabolic path I could see that the rock might hit the dock. Now Jack was walking toward the edge of the dock, and the rock looked like it might clear the end of the dock, but Jack intercepted the long arch and the rock made a bad sound as it bounced off his head.

Jack fell to the wooden dock holding his head. I know it had to hurt even though he was wearing a cap Boy, did I feel bad after whacking Jack in the head with that rock.

After all, Jack was the friend my brother volunteered to lower into a deep pit cave. Jack was with me on the Huzzah River when we got lost in that cave. Jack was one our friends that rode bikes down to the Mississippi River and went swimming.

One of my best friends was hurt because of me and all I could say was man, that’s quite a knot on your head when I got back to camp. He walked around with a chunk of ice for a while and then it looked like he forgot about it.

Now, as a Boy Scout, there are a multitude of ways a guy could get a knot on his head, and I knew it. I just walked away and planned how to tell Jack I threw the stone.

This secret bothered me for more than 37 years, until Jack came back from California for his father’s funeral.

The evening of visitation Jack was

reminiscing about all the camping trips we went on and all the trouble we got into.

This, I thought, would be a good time to clear my mind of the terrible travesty that was done to Jack many years earlier.

I started by asking Jack if he remembered that cool quarry we camped at when we were growing up, and Jack said he remembered.

I continued by asking if he remembered that he got hit in the head with a rock while standing on a dock that same camping trip? The time passed so very slowly while he stood in front of me, staring at me, thinking back at that event.

Jack finally knew that I was the one who bounced that rock off his head many years earlier.

I started to sweat. I could feel myself flush and get hot. Was Jack going to finally get revenge and punch me? It was out! I was glad! After 37 years the truth was out and I felt better! If he punched me I deserved it.

Then, Jack said, “I was wondering what happened that morning on the dock,” as a smile came over his face.

As I stood in front of Jack, he said, “I ought to get even with you for that move, but I won’t, thanks for telling me.”

Jack has since passed, as well as many of my Scouting and camping friends but I still have the memories.

The truth did set me free and after all those many years, I can think back on that accident and memories positively instead of getting a lump in my stomach.

Some lessons are hard when growing up, and even to this day I remember that stupid move on my part.

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

Jim Owen is a pretty famous guy in the Ozark hills

T

he Ozark hills have produced many famous and legendary people. There are people of science, business, outlaws, environmentalists, musicians and authors.

Wes Franklin often quotes Vance Randolph, the folklorist, in his articles. Larry Dablemont, who has written columns for the Traveler, has published several interesting and entertaining books about life in the Ozarks.

Another interesting and legendary person of the Ozark hills is Jim Owen.

James Mason “Jim” Owen!(Nov. 11, 1903-July 12, 1972) served as mayor of!Branson, Missouri,!for 12 years. Jim was an advertising manager for a Jefferson City newspaper before he came to the Ozarks in 1933 on a visit to Branson.

He never left.

Before he died in 1972, he had owned a drug store, a movie theater, and an auto dealership.

He was president of a bank and wrote a fishing column for the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock, Ark. In addition, he owned champion fox hounds and bird dogs, produced his own brand of dog food, and owned a large dairy.

But Jim Owen became best known for his other business venture — he set up the largest and most successful Ozark float fishing operation of that day.

His success sparked national attention, giving area tourism a big boost.

CATCH A SMILE His float service was being described in the pages of Life, Look, Outdoor Life, and Sports Afield plus dozens of large newspapers.

Owen is credited with Branson’s first theater, the Owens’ Theater, which proved to be a beginning of things to come. Owens’ Theater, on historic Commercial Street in downtown Branson, was called the “Hillbilly Theater” when it was initially built in 1936.

Owen built a movie theater in 1934 and then expanded it in 1936 to a live stage theater to provide additional entertainment for the fishermen he took out for float trips on the White River and other tourists to the area.

Jim Owen also authored a book entitled “Jim Owen’s Hillbilly Humor,” and some of these stories were published in!Look,!Life, and!The Saturday Evening Post where Jim shared his hilarious and heartwarming stories of life in the Ozarks.

I have taken the liberty to share some of the sayings and stories from this book with the readers of the River Hills Traveler.

Here goes: Hillbilly philosophy A man might not know where his children are, but he keeps an expensive hunting dog penned up.

A genuine hillbilly is a person who is shrewd enough and lazy enough to do it right the first time.

Whenever I get to feeling indispensable, I take another look at the old saddle hanging in the garage.

Things ain’t changed much. Folks still like the front of the bus, the middle of the road and the back of the church.

Thoughts age The years are beginning to add up when it takes you longer to rest than it did to get tired.

I’m finding out that by the time a man finds greener pastures, he can’t climb the fence.

Stories A young mother asked an old hill woman how to care for her young baby.

The many-times hill mother replied, “Honey, there hain’t nothin’ to hit — just keep one end full and the other end dry.”

——— The other day I noticed two of my neighbors coming down the road carrying a long pole. When they got about even with my barn, they stopped and stood the pole on end.

While one of them held it steady in this upright position, the other one started to climb it with a tape measure in his hand.

I yelled and asked them why they didn’t lay the pole down if they wanted to measure it.

The spokesman of the two yelled back to me, “Jim, we don’t give a dern how long it is; we just want to know how tall it is.”

——— A native preacher phoned the Board of Health to have a dead mule removed from his front yard. The young clerk who answered thought he would be smart.

“I thought you preachers took care of the dead,” he said.

“We do,” the preacher answered kindly, “but first we always get in touch with the relatives.”

(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 • October 2017

Eleven Point River experience is engraved in my soul

A

s the fog lifted from the journey I was about to take, it came to mind that I was alone on the river. The water divided and smoothly allowed me passage down the river.

Each chute, each ripple, each fork, each section had its own characteristic.

Not just any river, the Eleven Point River. The purist river in Missouri.

It has numerous springs coming to join in the journey and in the history of the moment. If the big cottonwoods or sycamores could talk, what would they say? If you Dana asked the rocks beSturgeon neath the clear blue ———— waters, what words Eleven would they say?

Point River Words gave birth to the river, and words will bring it home. Actually, I wasn’t really alone after all.

As I flowed along the river in my kayak, I noticed turtles and snakes getting warm under the sun on fallen trees in the water. I felt the cold temperature of the water underneath my kayak.

It was fall weather here. I saw blue and green herons trying to get a taste of food out of the water. Muskrats diving underneath my kayak to go to their nest by the bank.

As the journey goes on, time doesn’t seem to matter. The history cries out on each corner and bluff.

If you listen closely, you can hear Native Americans crossing the river riding bareback on horses; loggers

dropping cut logs into the river from the Boom Hole Bluff; logs hitting the rocks at Mary Decker Shoals where the old-timers would retrieve them out of the water; fishermen casting out their lines to catch food for their families; and small communities living, striving along the river.

You can almost here children swimming and laughing in the cold water; crayfish hiding under rocks; deer walking through the timber along the banks; sounds of hunting dogs treeing a coon or chasing a coyote; horseback riders traveling along the Ozark Trail; eagles soaring through the air above; turtles diving into the river after sunning themselves on the rocks or fallen trees; and the sound of the river itself while it flows over rocks and on down the trail.

Flowing through life and living as one.

Greer Spring flows out 220,000,000 gallons literally racing down a mile stretch to join the river. How colder the water feels underneath my kayak as I pass by where it enters into the river.

How thunderous the sound of all that water coming to join the pure river to journey along with it.

As I turn in at the end of this wonderful journey, I feel refreshed, but sad.

Reality sets in and time is remembered.

The history, the companionship of wildlife, the people, and the river will always be remembered.

The experience of flowing with the Eleven Point River is engraved into my heart and soul for good. A person has improved oneself when you experience the river and yourself becoming one.

Flowing together as one. Living together, and respecting each other.

For we all journey together in this life, we may not all end up together in the end, but we need to appreciate each other along the way and make time for what really matters in our lives.

For the love of nature, families and the river will forever be with us, even to the next journey.

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

Join Director Sara Parker Pauley, the Conservation Commissioners, and local leaders to celebrate our history and share your ideas about Missouri’s conservation future.

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Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center

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OCT. 26 Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center 4750 Troost Ave in Kansas City

RiverHillsTraveler.com

October 2017 • Page 9

Now is a great time to visit Millstream Gardens

M

issouri is full of scenic spots that are available for anybody who loves the outdoors and enjoys getting outside and seeing things.

A place by the name of Millstream Gardens Conservation Area happens to be one of those scenic spots that makes me proud of being a Missourian, mostly because our state is by no means lacking in such wonderful spots.

The Millstream Gardens area is made up of 916 acres situated in Madison County. The St. Francis River flows through the area and provides some great camera shots that could grace any calendar, especially those shots of the Tiemann Shut-Ins which are located at the site, so don’t forget your camera when you visit here.

The Tiemann Shut-Ins are similar to those at the Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Bill Oder Park. The many ———— boulders in the river provide some challenging whitewater rapids when the river is high, especially in the spring after a lot of rain.

During high water, the rapids can be rated as high as Class 3-4 which can only be managed by expert kayakers.

The Missouri Whitewater Championship is held here every March with the kayak races starting at the Millstream Gardens area and finishing about a mile-and-a-half or so downstream at the Silver Mines Recreation Area. This race has been around for some time now and this past March celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Camping spots are not offered at the Millstream Gardens area, but spots are provided at Silver Mines which I understand fill up pretty quick during the kayak races in March.

I’m not a kayak enthusiast but I’m told that after the spring rains, the whitewater rapids along this stretch of the river rival any of those out west.

Some of the spots have names like the Big Drop, the Cat’s Paw, the Rickety Rack, and Willow Jungle, which gets its name from tree branches that can snare a kayaker.

The St. Francis River offers some good fishing, also. It originates in Iron County and flows some 225 miles to the Missouri-Arkansas border. Some of my favorite memories of fishing when I was a kid was on this river.

It wasn’t on this stretch of the river, though, but over closer to Farmington and I remember the big rocks and boulders similar to those at the Millstream Gardens area.

I remember one night, in particular, when my dad, my grandpa, my brother and I carried out some pretty heavy stringers of catfish.

There is a hiking trail that starts at Millstream Gardens and goes downstream to Silver Mines. Down and back is about three miles. I can’t critique this trail because we didn’t go the full distance but I understand it runs along the river all the way, so I’m sure it probably offers some very good views.

There is another short trail of about a mile near the pavilion that is accessible for the disabled. We didn’t try this trail but I understand it is paved. The pavilion that I mentioned overlooks the river and provides a grill and picnic tables.

For the bowhunters wanting to hone their skills, an archery range is available providing 12 targets at various points along a trail in the range, including one platform stand.

The Millstream Gardens area is situated about half-way between Fredericktown and Arcadia on Highway 72. If you are coming from Fredericktown, you will see the sign directing you to the Silver Mines Recreation Area first, and then a few miles past that to the Millstream Gardens area.

It is seven miles from Fredericktown.

If you are coming from Arcadia, it is about nine miles to the turnoff for the

able to see majestic snow-capped mountains, desert areas with all kinds of cacti and flowers, and a lot of gigantic rocks where you just knew there had to one or two John Wayne or Clint Eastwood or even Roy Rogers westerns filmed there.

However, after seeing all that stuff that I just described, I was tickled to death when on the way back home and the train neared the Missouri border, I was again able to start seeing green trees again, green grass, rolling hills and miles and miles of forested areas and beautiful rivers.

Maybe I’m prejudiced since I was born and raised in Missouri and can boast a long lineage of Missouri ancestors, or maybe it could just be that Missouri is indeed a beautiful state and we are all fortunate to live here and now is a good time to get out and see it.

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

Millstream Gardens. The area is open from 4 a.m.-10 p.m.

Millstream Gardens is part of what is known as the Arcadia Valley area, which offers a lot to see for a day trip on the weekend or even for the whole weekend by taking advantage of hotel and motel accommodations both in Fredericktown and Arcadia, and even in Farmington and also not to forget all the camping spots.

The Arcadia Valley encompasses the Johnson Shut-Ins State Park, the Elephant Rocks State Park, a historic Civil War battle site at Pilot Knob, and plenty of country roads for those just wanting somewhere to take a nice drive especially during this time of year when the leaves start turning.

A great advantage of living in Missouri is never running out of fantastic places to visit and experience. My wife and I made a trip on the train out west a few years back and in doing so were

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Page 10 • October 2017

RiverHillsTraveler.com

October 2017 • Page 11

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Mark Twain National Forest, good things for our neighbors to know

F

By Cody Norris or many people, owning a piece of property adjacent to the Mark Twain National Forest is the fulfillment of a dream.!

Residing next to a National Forest allows a homeowner to enjoy solitude, see abundant wildlife and view spectacular scenery daily.!

It is important for property owners to understand both the benefits and responsibilities of living next door to public lands.

National forests are working forests managed for multiple uses — including wildlife, timber, water quality, and recreation. Opportunities are offered for the public to participate in project planning on Forest Service land and to provide input into the Forest Service project decisions during a process called “scoping.”

Listening to feedback from neighboring landowners is important to the Forest Service personnel who plan these projects.!

Along with the many benefits of being a National Forest neighbor, there are also rules and regulations that need to be followed.!Fences are the responsibility of the landowner, and it is also their responsibility to keep livestock off National Forest System land (unless operating under a special use permit for grazing).!

It is highly recommended that a neighboring landowner has their property surveyed by a licensed land surveyor before constructing anything near their property boundaries.

If someone accidentally constructs a fence or building on the Forest, it will have to be re-

These purple flowers are close to the boat launch at Riverton East in the Mark Twain National Forest.

moved. This costly mistake can be avoided by knowing the exact location of property lines.!

This applies to timber harvesting, as well.!If a landowner decides to harvest timber, they should have their boundaries professionally verified well in advance of the harvest.

Cutting timber across property lines on National Forest land can be a costly mistake.

When in doubt, check if you need a special use permit Many activities on Forest Service land re-

quire a special use permit (SUP).!Permits are necessary for any activity that involves potentially damaging or removing any natural resources.!

Here are some examples of activities that will probably require a SUP to be done on Forest Service lands: • Crossing Forest Service land in a motorized vehicle to get to private property (not served by a county or Forest Service Road).

• Placing a gate, fence, sign or any other construction or barrier.

• Crossing Forest Service land to bring in utilities (e.g., electricity, cable TV, phone line, water lines).

• Hosting a large gathering of 75 or more people on National Forest lands.

• Harvesting or collecting forest products to sell (e.g., pine cones, mushrooms, plants, berries, herbs, rocks, minerals). Note: incidental gathering of Forest products like mushrooms and berries for personal consumption do not require a permit. Collection of ginseng is not allowed.

• Grazing of cattle or other livestock.

• Cutting and bailing of grass/hay.

• Occupying/camping on the forest beyond 14 days.

• Commercial filming operations.

• Special events like road rallies and cross country racing/runs.

• Gathering of firewood. Note: if you are camping on the forest and the wood is for your campfire, you do not need a permit.

• Operating a guiding operation for profit (e.g. leading horse trail rides, guided hunts, guided hikes, canoe rentals).

• Research.

This is not a complete list of all of the activities that require a SUP, so if you have a question, please call one of our offices.

National Forest recreation activities include camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, horseback riding and much more. The public must get landowners’ permission to cross private land to access National Forest land.

The public has the right to recreate on National Forest lands adjacent to private property but not on private land. Trees or fences marked with purple paint are signs of no trespassing.

Road systems within Mark Twain National Forest include state and federal highways, as well as county and township roads. Mark Twain National Forest also maintains some roads.

These roads may serve as access for recreational use, hunting, fishing, fire control and other activities. Motor vehicle maps are available free at forest offices.

Some roads that access the National Forest cross private land on easements acquired from private landowners. When Mark Twain National Forest acquires an easement across private property, the Forest regulates the use of the road. The public has the right to use the road unless the Forest has closed the road to public use.

Access by permit across the Mark Twain National Forest to private lands may be granted under some circumstances, if other access is not available. Contact your local Forest Ranger district office for more information.!

Private uses of the National Forest, such as private road rights-of-way and construction of public utilities, require special use permits.

These permits are issued if the use is compatible with National Forest purposes, and if it is in the public interest.

Payment of an annual special use permit fee would also be required.

Critter of the Month: Black-crowned night heron

• Species: Black-crowned night heron.

• Scientific name: Nycticorax nycticorax.

• Nicknames: Night heron.

• Claim to fame: Although great blue herons are the best known heron species here in the Ozarks, it’s smaller and less-conspicuous cousin – the black-crowned night heron – has a much broader range.

Black-crowned night herons can be found on five continents – making them the most widespread heron species in the world.

However, due to their primarily nocturnal habits and a size that’s smaller than their great blue heron cousins, black-crowned night herons are seen infrequently by much of the nature-viewing public over a large portion of their range – including here in Missouri.

• Species status: Due to its perception as a pest of sportfish populations (a sometimes undeserved reputation), hunting pressure, and wetland habitat degradation; black-

crowned night heron populations experienced decline over parts of their range in the 19th and 20th centuries.

However, recent conservation efforts have stabilized the bird’s population in most parts of its range.

• First discovered: The first scientific description of the black-crowned night heron was written by the famed naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758.

• Family matters: Black-crowned night herons belong to the Ardeidae family of birds; a group more commonly known as the herons.

Most members of this family are wading birds with longer, spear-like beaks used for catching small fish and other aquatic creatures.

• Length: 23 to 28 inches (wingspan, 44 inches).

• Diet: The bulk of a black-crowned night heron’s diet consists of aquatic invertebrates,

fish, amphibians, lizards, snakes and small rodents.

• Weight: Between 1.5 and two pounds.

• Distinguishing characteristics: Blackcrowned night herons have short necks and thick black bills.

They have black caps and backs, gray wings and whitish underbellies.

Black-crowned night herons have been known to live more than to 20 years, but 510 years is probably a much more accurate estimate for the majority of the species.

These birds hunt mainly at night – hence the name “night heron.” They have a coarse, croak-like call.

• Life span: Information not available.

• Habitat: Most colonies of blackcrowned night herons are associated with large wetlands. These wetland habitats usually take the form of swamps, streams, rivers, marshes, mud flats or marshy edges of lakes that have become overgrown with veg-

etation.

• Life cycle: Black-crown night herons are primarily summer residents of Missouri.

Courtship and breeding take place in spring.

Like several other types of herons, blackcrowned night herons nest in colonies; as many as a dozen nests have been found in larger trees.

Nests consist of a platform of sticks and are often used more than one year.

The average clutch contains between three and five eggs. Eggs hatch in 24-26 days.

Both parents brood the young. The young fledge in 42-49 days and the colonies disperse in middle to late summer.

During winter, black-crowned night herons migrate to the Gulf Coast region. (source: MDC) (Editor’s note: If you have a particular critter or species you’d like to see featured in this space in the Traveler, please call us at 800-874-8423, ext. 1.)

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RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 12 • October 2017

Decoy placement is important on opening day

E

ven though the past few duck seasons have been a bit on the meager side, there are still many of us who look forward to opening day and cling to the hopes of an honest-togoodness migration.

It seems as though resident populations of ducks are on the rise and true “flight days,” with large numbers of ducks moving south, get fewer and farther between.

But for the die-hard waterfowlers, opening day is still an annually anticipated event. Whether the ducks are here or not, no doubt countless numbers of us will be brushing blinds and readying decoys in the very near future.

It is your decoys that I would like to discuss today.

Maintaining, preparing and setting several dozen duck decoys is no easy task. Being a successful duck hunter depends, largely, on how we approach these three aspects of decoy use.

After all, ducks see and respond to a decoy spread long before they can hear how good, or bad, Mike Roux your calling is. Let’s ———— take a quick look at all three phases.

Decoys take a beating all year long.

Between the harsh weather conditions they endure and/or being tossed around in large bags, the paint on most decoys more than a year old could use some touch-up.

To keep the price of decoys down, most manufacturers do not use high quality paints to begin with. So spend $10 and get a couple of small bottles of paint and spruce-up the highlights on your decoys.

Be sure to paint the obvious contrast colors on your decoys. If, like most of us, the vast majority of your blocks are mallard decoys, repaint the green heads and the white ring on the drake’s neck.

Use some purple on the hen’s wings.

These small improvements will help a lot when ducks get picky.

Be sure to tie new strings on your decoys. Knots wear and strings unravel.

Check your weights and also check each decoy for pellet holes from last year. Sinking decoys do you no good at all.

When setting decoys for opening day, keep in mind the types of ducks you will most likely be seeing. For most us, we will be using mallard decoys know-

ing full well we may not even see a mallard on opening day.

Teal, pintail, widgeon and maybe an early gadwall will be the ones to come through first. These ducks are not nearly as “decoy picky” as the larger ducks we see later in the season.

For the most part, teal can be decoyed with plastic bottles. Therefore I do not get too fancy with my spread for the first week or so of the season.

I like my blocks in two small bunches, about 15 decoys each, leaving a landing zone between them and right in front of the blind.

This will work just fine for other ducks that have not yet been hammered by hunters for several weeks.

Mike Roux uses decoy placement to bring ducks well into shotgun range.

The longer the season goes and the more suspicious the ducks get, the more elaborate your decoy spread needs to be to stay effective.

(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.)

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October 2017 • Page 13

Crappie Thumpers are the real deal for catching panfish

M

y oldest grandson, Ayden Dietrich, has been fishing with me since he was 5 years old.

He is 13, now, and has caught almost every type and size of fish available to him here in the Midwest.

So it came as quite a surprise last month as were fishing together in a local pond when he started yelling like it was Christmas morning.

It has been a long time since I heard him get THAT excited over a fish he caught.

“Grandpa!” he shouted. “It’s the biggest one I’ve ever seen!”

Mike Roux I had no idea what ———— he had until I got over there and saw one of the biggest bluegill I had ever seen. It was easily in the top 5 sizewise that this 61-year-old angler has ever laid eyes on. I was truly impressed.

A few days later, at the same location, Grandpa Mike caught another monster gill. Two like this in one season was amazing, much less in the same week.

Then, a week later I caught another jurassic bluegill in a lake three counties away. What in the world is going on?

The only common factor in these three catches certainly has nothing to do with the size of these fish; however, it does deserve a mention.

The lure for all three of these amazing fish was the Crappie Thumper jig, from crappielures.com.

I was introduced to these jigs last

year by Central Illinois’ top pan fish guide, Reagan Smith of Reag’s Guide Service. We used these jigs and we put three limits of nice slab-sided crappie in the boat in under three hours.

We then teamed up this summer to hammer big bluegill on them. These Crappie Thumper are the real deal for panfish.

Thumpers are just one type lure offered by David and Wendy Maas on crappielures.com. The folks have been in the lure business for about 30 years and have been very successful in providing their customers with the undisputed best panfish baits available anywhere.

The unique thing that attracted me to these jigs is that they are handmade, individually, in the Midwest. David is a former art teacher who loved to fish.

He began to design lures but was having trouble in the manufacturing process.

He showed his designs to enough people to find and partner with expert lure makers to produce many of his designs. Now, they make and sell over 100,000 jigs a year and I can tell you the results of these jigs are nothing short of amazing.

David and Wendy established DWAZ Lures and “The Crappie Shop” and created an online catalog along with a printed version to better serve their customers.

The Thumpers come in many different variations and other jigs they sell are hand-tied from chenille and marabou on varying weights and colors of lead jig heads.

Besides the hand-tied jigs, DWAZ Lures also has a huge selection of small plastic “add-ons” for some of their

The Crappie Thumper jig is deadly on huge bluegill and crappie.

Ayden Dietrich with his biggest bluegill ever on the Thumper jig.

products.

There is no way for me to go into any depth on the vast variety of their jig offerings. My best recommendation is to check out crappielures.com and be prepared to do two things: make your first order and get the grease hot.

(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.)

Roux was tickled with his jurassic bluegill on a DWAZ jig.

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 14 â&#x20AC;˘ October 2017

Basic information for tracking bears & deer

T

Different trails There are different ways to trail bear and deer that have been shot with different types of equipment.!I have seen hard-hit animals not lose a drop of blood from where they were hit to the recovery.

With this in mind, it is very important to pay attention to everything the animal does after being hit. â&#x20AC;˘ Which direction did it run? â&#x20AC;˘ Was it running with an odd gait? â&#x20AC;˘ Where did it go out of sight exactly, not â&#x20AC;&#x153;over there.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;˘ Did you hear anything unusual after it was out of sight?

This information is important when making a plan to track the animal, es-

only where use of a dog is legal. A trained dog will not get the handler or itself in trouble when confronting a wounded bear.!

A good dog serving its owner well shows everyone that personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to the recovery of a downed animal.

Other tracking aids â&#x20AC;˘ There is a commercially available light that illuminates blood.!This light can point out specks of blood in hardto-see places, such as moss and grass. â&#x20AC;˘ Hydrogen peroxide makes blood foam.!I carry a small bottle of it and squirt a small shot on any spot that looks like blood. â&#x20AC;˘ Pieces of reflective tape are used to mark last blood.!They are easy to see in daylight and with a flashlight on night trailing.!If you lose blood you can look back at the tape to determine the path the animal took.!

When the blood trail dries up, go back to last blood and work in circles, starting small and gradually increasing the size.!Also, at times a bear or deer will abruptly change directions.!You need to find that directional turn. â&#x20AC;˘ An older way that works well is to put aluminum foil in a Coleman lantern, with shiny side forward and foil tight against the glass on the back half of the glass.!

The shiny foil reflects light forward.!Carry the lantern ahead of you, so you are behind the light and wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be blinded by it.

This is where your broadhead or bullet should go with a broadside shot.

pecially a bear.

Fewer trackers are better than many; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s even better if they are experienced.!A group of three seems to work best, with one on the trail and one to each side.!Many times, because of the lack of sign, too many people will do more damage than good by accidentally wiping out sign.

Slow, deliberate movement is the rule on all game, especially on bears.!Bear trails are often invisible in swamps.!Open water and moss disperse or absorb blood.!

Search carefully for every bit of sign.

Tracks, broken brush, crushed grass, and hair may take you to the next sign of blood. Water on reddish fallen leaves often looks like blood.

Archery hits As a general rule, once you hit an animal with an arrow, give it plenty of time before beginning tracking. The exception, of course, is when the animal falls within sight or you hear the bearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death moan.!

That moan is the bearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s last few exhalations with vocal cords involved. It is a sound that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand right up.!Not every bear does this, but once you hear it, you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget it.

Most outfitters I have hunted with wait until morning to track a bear.

Bears generally are black, and at night a black bear can present a problem.

Outfitters normally carry a gun for backup.!

You do not need to be moving around in the dark while someone with a gun

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is simultaneously looking for an animal that can be almost impossible to see and may not be where you hope it is and may still be strong enough to run awayâ&#x20AC;Ś or toward you.

Firearms hits Normally, when you shoot a bear or deer through the shoulders it will drop in its tracks.!However, if the animal runs off, especially a bear, no matter where it was hit wait a couple of hours then proceed cautiously, searching slowly, carefully and patiently.!

There may be little blood even when the bear is shot through the vitals.

Dogsâ&#x20AC;Ś the best tracking aid A trained dog is the best tool for tracking wounded bear and deer, but

A stretcher or cot is the easiest way, by far, to take a bear out of the woods.

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By Bill â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bearcrazyâ&#x20AC;? Wiesner he noise of a gunshot and shock of a bullet or slug has an understandable effect on any big game animal.!

It has been my experience in bear hunting that a bear shot with a gun will bail out of a tree, but a bear hit with an arrow will climb higher.!If a follow-up shot is necessary, take it quickly.

A well-hit bear generally drops quicker than a well-hit whitetail, but a poorly hit bear seemingly can go forever, right into the worst jungle or swamp youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever struggled through.

A wounded black bear is one of the most difficult animals to track, for several reasons: â&#x20AC;˘ Fat thickness can minimize blood loss.!Fat can cover most or all of the bullet or broadhead entry hole, requiring considerable blood loss before thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s enough to drop to the ground.

This can happen with deer, too, but not as often. A wounded bear can go a long way before that happens.! â&#x20AC;˘ Loose-fitting hide also moves the entry hole through the skin off the entry hole through everything under the skin, minimizing or completely blocking external blood loss.!

When an animal puts its near front leg forward, which is what you want, that loose hide is stretched.!Once the animal is hit and runs, that loose hide slips over entrance and exit holes, preventing a blood trail. â&#x20AC;˘ Hair on a bearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coat generally is four inches long.!This, and the thick under-fur, will absorb great amounts of escaping blood before there is enough to allow some to drop to the ground.

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October 2017 • Page 15

Take a hike & explore the Ozarks this fall O ctober is a great month to participate in the many outdoor activities that Missouri has to offer, not just for its residents but also for the many thousands of people who visit each year.

The hot humid weather is replaced with cooler temperatures and gentle breezes. The wildlife seems to become more active. Birds start to gather for their annual migrations. Those that do not migrate are constantly on the search for food.

Many other animals — such as deer, squirrels, rabbits, minks and raccoons — are on the move looking for the new fall harvest of food. Bats, bears, groundhogs skunks and even frogs are looking for food and for hibernation locations in order to wait out the cold winter months.

This is the time of year that many hunters look forward to. Many of Bill Wakefield the numerous hunt———— ing season dates start in October.

There’s archery season for deer, the fall turkey season, rabbit and squirrel, frogs and several of the waterfowl seasons begin for birds, such as ducks and geese.

Many fishermen look forward to October, also. Many of the sport and panfish species such as crappie, black bass, walleye, sunfish and some trout are aggressively hunting for food preparing for the upcoming cold winter months.

Fishing on lakes and the rivers is less crowded without the rafters, canoeists and pleasure boaters.

For those who do not hunt or fish, this is an excellent way to enjoy the wonders of nature that Missouri has to offer and the month of October would be a good time for this activity called hiking.

The weather will be cooler, the trees will be displaying their marvelous pallet of colors, the wildlife may be more active, and the designated trails may be less crowed.

There has to be hundreds, if not thousands, of places to hike throughout Missouri.

The first place to look for hiking locations is the River Hills Traveler.

Every month writers such as Dana Sturgeon, Bill Oder, Rick Mansfield, Mike Roux, Bill Cooper, Michelle Turner and the many others who contribute stories or articles for the Traveler offer an array of locations to visit.

There are several online websites that I recommend to research and plan a hike adventure, and to me the research and planning is half the fun.

Check out these websites: • State Parks of Missouri (www.mostateparks.com/activity/hiking) • Missouri Department of ConservaGrilling Out? Come See Us

tion (www.nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/activities/hiking) • Missouri Trails/ Hiking and Biking Trails (www.missouri-hiking.com/ index.htm) • Visit USA (www.www.visitusa. com/states/missouri/adventures/hiking) • River Hills Traveler (www.riverhillstraveler.com/category/outdoors/) The places listed on the websites describe a wide variety of hiking trails.

There are easy walking trails, trails that may be more challenging physically, trails designed for people with disabilities, and even trails for children.

There are trails that pass through special natural areas, such as mountains, glades, hardwood forest, shut-in, natural streams, waterholes or waterfalls.

The preparations for any outdoor activity should include researching, comparing and choosing an area that meets both your mental and physical requirements.

For those of you who are not too fond of “The Call of the Wild,” the Ozarks has other alternative locations for hiking enthusiasts. Check out towns like, Eminence, Van Buren, Hermann, Ste. Genevieve, Kimmswick, Carthage and Branson. Exploring everything these towns have to offer would definitely be called hiking.

As you can tell, finding an interesting place to hike and explore will not be a problem. Preparing for your hiking adventure will require certain tools in order for you to have a safe and enjoyable time.

Every sport has its required tools.

The fisherman needs rods, reel, line, hooks, lures and bait. The hunter will need a firearm, shells or cartridges, proper clothing and maybe a game call.

The same holds true for the hiker.

According to my research, a hiker should have the following equipment: • Essential gear — Day pack or fanny pack, compass, map, water, water filter, water purification tablets, water bottle(s), headlamp or flashlight, food, matches/backup fire starter, first aid kit, knife, sunscreen, sunglasses, whistle, and insect repellent.

• Footwear — Boots/shoes adequate for terrain, and hiking socks.

• Clothing — Convertible nylon pants/shorts, fleece jacket, polypropylene underwear!(shirt & pants), widebrimmed hat, long-sleeve shirt, hooded rain jacket and pants, and gloves.

• Accessories — Key and ID, money, 50-foot nylon cord, plastic garbage bags, resealable plastic bags, toilet paper, hiking poles, lip balm!(with sunscreen), repair/sewing kit, pencil and paper, bandanna, and a watch.

• Gadgets & extras — Cell phone, camera, GPS, weather radio, field guides, binoculars, hiking books, and a pocket stove.

This seemed like an extremely long and complicated list, so I found my 1948 Boy Scout Handbook and looked up the hiking equipment that was listed for a Scout to have.

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The book lists these items that a Scout will need: matches in a waterproof case, waterproofed matches pack, water purification tablets, drinking cup, cooking gear, eating utensils, food in food bags, extra socks, knife, compass, map, candle, first aid kit, and toilet paper.

Items that a Scout might need include: 20 feet of cord, fish line hooks, belt axe, fish flies, two bars of chocolate, Scout handbook, pencils and paper, small flashlight, poncho or raincoat, whetstone, and a file.

I find it very interesting that the present day essential hiking equipment has not changed much over what the Boy Scouts said that a hiker should have almost 70 years ago.

Some things are always standard, no matter how old they are.

The most important item on a hiking trip is clothing. If you are too cold or too warm, if you get rained on and become wet or if the clothes you have on binds, and worst of all if your feet hurt, no trip of any kind will be much fun.

In my opinion, hiking shoes or boots is the most import clothing article on the list. There are two basic types of footwear for hiking.

Hiking shoes provide comfort and easy hiking by using light materials, such as nylon and suede reinforced with some leather. They are very flexible and require minimum break-in

time. This style has become popular for normal wear, so there are many shoes that appear to be hiking shoes but have no support — check the specs.

Real hiking shoes have good support for your arches and feet. They should also be designed to keep dirt and pebbles from getting in around the ankle and will preferably have some waterproofing. Their lower ankle cut lessens the support of ankles and provides no protection around the ankle area from brush and other scratches.

The mid-weight hiking boot!is probably the footwear that most hikers will use. They are appropriate for on-trail and off-trail terrain that is not extremely rugged.

Typically mid-weight boots are made of leather or synthetic material with leather reinforcement sections. You should expect to spend a week of walking to break in your boots; some require less time, depending on their stiffness.

If you are not used to above-ankle boots, you’ll need to spend extra time getting comfortable to the feel.

No matter what trails you plan to hike, a mid-weight boot will be a good choice. If you decide to go on extended treks, the extra foot stiffness and ankle support will help out. They also work fine on shorter hikes and give you the option to tackle more difficult routes, if you choose.

Get out and enjoy what the Ozarks has to offer this fall. Explore some offbeat trail that you discovered on your research or visit one of the many historic sites and towns tucked away in the foothills of the Ozarks.

Missouri has more things to offer the outdoor enthusiast than most other states, which includes its fascinating, interesting, and beautiful people.

Do not let these natural resources pass you by or go to waste.

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

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 16 • October 2017

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RiverHillsTraveler.com

October 2017 • Page 17

Fishing knowledge is closer than you might think

I

am sure that many of you who like to go fishing read about this sport in many of the national publications such as Outdoor Life, Field & Stream or In-Fisherman and, of course, the River Hills Traveler.

There are also numerous television programs such as Bill Dance, Fly-Rod Chronicles, In-Fisherman or Jimmy Houston. We read these publications and watch these programs, and even travel to attend seminars that these professional guides and fishermen put on, to try and accumulate as much knowledge about this outdoor activity that we enjoy.

But sometimes the best information is much closer, easier and less expensive to obtain. I found this to be true a few weeks ago.

I work for a remodeling firm called Mosby Building Arts, which is located in Kirkwood, Mo., and like most companies there was a small gathering at the coffee pot, and like good construction people the discussion included hunting, fishing, camping, ATV and trucks.

Keith Becker, who is the controller of the firm, talked about the new boat Bill Wakefield he purchased and ———— the nice mess of crappie he caught.

My wife, Carol, and I happen to enjoy eating crappie accompanied with a side order of hash browns and corn on the cob.

So I asked Keith about his crappie experiences and a whole new world of fishing resources was revealed to me.

Keith has been fishing for over four decades. He owned his first 14 foot jon boat even before he had his driver’s license. For the last nine years or so Keith has been fishing exclusively for crappie and he has concentrated his fishing location to Rend Lake in Southern Illinois.

Keith fished typically before that time for bass and only sought out crappie during the spring spawn. He got to a point where he was spending all day on the water and just catching two or three bass.

Looking for a more fulfilling fishing adventure, Keith sought the service of a local crappie fishing guide for a day of fishing during the month of July. That is when Keith discovered that you can catch crappie any time of the year and not just during the spring spawn period.

More importantly, when you locate the crappie and present the right bait, you can catch a bunch of them and the most important reward for catching crappie is that they are delicious to eat.

Keith agreed to share some of his experiences and knowledge about fishing for crappie with the readers of the River Hills Traveler.

One of the first things that Keith mentioned was attitude. Keith knows that when he goes out fishing for crappie, he will catch crappie. He may not limit out but he seldom gets skunked.

The challenge is to find the locations with the right structure.

Rend Lake is Keith’s primary fishing water. Before he goes out to the lake on the weekend, he reads all of the local fishing reports then he will study the topographic map of Rend Lake looking for new structures, such as standing

timber, stump fields and creek channels that he can investigate when he is on the water.

He also knows that the Corps of Engineers has scattered Christmas trees throughout the lake and they have made these locations available on their website.

Another thing that Keith does to prepare for a day of crappie fishing is to watch a video by Nick Shafer called, “Crappie Fishing Year Round.” To watch this video, Keith goes to The River Hills Traveler website at www.riverhillstraveler.com.

Listed under the Video heading you will find the video by Nick Shafer (the second video listed). In this video Nick explains where to find and how to catch crappie during the various seasons of the year.

Keith will watch the section of the video that pertains to the time of year that he is fishing just as a refresher on the best tactics to use.

Keith’s primary tactic for crappie fishing is jigging. The equipment that he uses is very basic. He has a 12-foot jigging pole (by Lew’s) and an inexpensive baitcaster reel whose main purpose is just to hold the line.

His choice of line is interesting. In the spring Keith fishes the buck brush that Rend Lake is noted for. Because of this he wanted a line that was strong enough to bend the hook when it snagged up but thin enough that it would not affect the lure action or spook the fish.

His selection was a 6# braided line.

The braided line has a smaller diameter than monofilament, it has a much higher breaking point than monofilament, it does not have the loop memory of monofilament so it will not kink up or have those pesky coil loops that sometimes occur when using monofilament.

Braided line does not have the stretch of other types of lines so you are able to detect the delicate bite of a crappie.

Another interesting note about the line on Keith’s crappie rig is that it is yellow in color. The water that Keith fishes in is a little stained so the yellow does not seem to have any effect on the fish, but it helps Keith detect a bite by being able to see the line movement.

Keith typically uses two types of bait. His primary setup bait is a 2-inch soft plastic crappie tube bait. He will use any color combination so long as it is either chartreuse, black or pink.

These crappie tub baits come in all sorts of colors so if you are not getting a bite on a pink & black color combination, try a different color until you find the one that works for you.

He inserts a 1/8 oz. round jig head into the tube bait. This size gets the bait down into the proper water column

depth but still light enough not to impact the action of the lure or scare the fish.

He has several poles all ready to go with this setup. These poles are on standby in case he happens to get hung up and has to break his line. He just reaches for the spare and he is back in action.

The second setup is a jigging pole with a slip bobber and on it he attaches a live minnow. This equipment is not hard to find or expensive to buy. The most expensive item is the jigging pole, but used properly it will put crappie on your dinner plate.

Keith Becker takes his crappie fishing seriously and because of this, he has exchanged the little 14-foot jon boat he bought when he was a beginner fisherman for an 18-foot TC18 Crestliner designed especially for the crappie fisherman.

There is all sorts of optional equipment that a person can select when purchasing a boat. The one item that Keith suggested, and to him the most important accessory for his success in fishing for crappie, is electronics.

The weather could be perfect, you have the correct baits and terminal tackle but if you cannot find the fish, you just have an enjoyable day outdoors. Keith installed a pair of Lowrance HDS7s networked with side & down scan imaging. These units also have GPS marking capabilities.

This is where Keith’s pre-fishing homework comes into play. He reviews the various lake maps and the locations of the sunken fish attractors, points with wood structure, creek channels and ledges with drop-offs so when he is on the water he immediately goes to productive waters.

Good electronics will show what type of structure that is under water, what the temperature of the water is, how deep the water column is and if there are any fish and the size of the fish. With every trip he makes it a point to search out at least one new fishing location that has the appropriate structure that may hold crappie. If it does, he records this location on his GPS. He calls this process “freestyling.”

Listening to Keith talk about his electronics, I could tell that this was very important to him. The one piece of electronics that I think would be very important would be at least a very portable GPS that uses satellite tracking.

A person can still mark good fishing locations off maps, or when he finds them on his own when out on the water. It also could be an excellent safety device in case you have an accident or health issues.

Your family or emergency responders could find you, which may at some

time save your life. This would also give your wife and family a sense of security about your safety.

Keith is looking forward to the fall fishing season. With the shorter daylight hours and cooler water temperatures, the fish put on the feedbag preparing for the upcoming winter months.

Crappie are like bass in the fact that they are predatory fish that ambushes its prey. Checking the areas that he has pre-marked on his GPS, he is looking for structure that has a water temperature between 50 to 60 degrees. This is the temperature range in which the crappie will begin to school.

When the water temperature reaches the 40 degree ranges, the crappie bite becomes intense. This makes late October and November a prime time to be on the water looking for schooled-up fish.

On Rend Lake the crappie will most likely be holding between 10 to 14 feet of water. Crappie school according to size. If he catches a 5- or 6-inch crappie several times at one location, he will try fishing deeper in that same spot to see if there are any larger sizes deeper around that structure.

If he still catches the smaller size, he will leave that spot and look for a different location. When he finds a new spot that he can bring in crappie 10plus inches, he marks that spot on his GPS and also physically marks it with a buoy so he does not float past the spot.

Crappie will stack themselves vertically in a water column and not so much horizontally. If you are off the sweet spot by 5 feet, you could be missing the bite entirely.

The great thing about Keith is that he works about 80 feet from my desk and about 10 feet from the company coffee pot. So this information is readily available when I need it.

There is always someone out there that will be better at something than you are. It could be fishing, hunting, making trout flies or fishing rods, outdoor cooking, or even building a campfire. This could be someone at work, a neighbor, a person in your carpool or even a relative.

The trick is to listen to people. Listen to what they are discussing and try to pick up on their passion or knowledge on a particular subject or item. Engage them in a conversation about that topic and let them talk. Ask questions but let them control the conversation.

You will be amazed on how much knowledge you will gain. Don’t forget to share your knowledge and experiences with others, too.

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

RiverHillsTraveler.com

Page 18 • October 2017

STATES from 1 and travel to other countries, but I decided I wanted to see North America first,” said Johnson.

Once he decided he wanted to explore and hike in every state, Johnson started saving all of his loose change.

“I wanted to drive and camp out everywhere I went, and the biggest expense is getting there (the drive),” said Johnson.

Depending on where Johnson was going, the time it took to save up his loose change would vary. Some trips took longer to save up for than others because of the distance.

“There was only one place that I was not able to drive to and that was Hawaii.

It was the last state that I did with a tour group in March of this year,” said Johnson.

During this trip he was able to do several things on his own, such as hiking outside of the tour group.

“They gave me the flexibility to do whatever I wanted to do, which was great,” said Johnson.

Though he has officially been to all 50 states and hiked, there are two territories in Canada that he has not traveled to that are on his to-do list.

“I haven’t been to the Northwest Territory of Canada and there is also a little territory named Nunavut,” said Johnson.

The Nunavut territory does not have any roads and can only be visited by plane, boat, or sled dogs.

When Johnson travels he is usually on his own, but every now and then his college buddy and his wife go with him.

“I went back to Mexico last year for the 50th anniversary of me being there when I was in college, and they went with me,” said Johnson.

In addition to hiking in every state, Johnson also tries to camp at every state.

“There are only five states that I haven’t been able to camp in, but I was able to hike in — New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, California, and Ore-

Melvin at Mount Rainier, during his Pacific Northwest trip in August 2010.

gon,” said Johnson.

When Johnson camps, he has many options to choose from when it comes to sleeping.

“I drive a Toyota Sienna mini-van and I bring my 16-foot camping trailer, but if it's nice outside, I like to tent camp or sleep under the stars,” said Johnson.

Several of his early trips out west were in September and October, and at night the temperatures were cold so he stayed in a tent.

Out of all the states, Wyoming is Johnson’s favorite state to visit.

“It was easy to get there, you can take a snow bath in September, hike the mountains, and there aren’t a ton of people there,” said Johnson.

Another trip Johnson really enjoyed was his journey to Alaska.

“I was able to drive there and do what I wanted, and I also got to see a few grizzly bears,” said Johnson.

When Johnson was in Alaska, he saw a grizzly bear as he was driving on the road and wanted a picture of it, so the bear walked right up for him.

“His fur was touching the side of the vehicle, it was very awesome,” said

In the Pacific Ocean at Pebble Beach, Olympic National Park, in August 2010.

Johnson.

Johnson’s least favorite state, he said, is a toss-up between Louisiana and Alabama.

“The camping and the beaches were okay on mosquitos, but the grass was awful and I didn’t enjoy the humidity,” said Johnson.

When Johnson was working he had to plan most of his trips, but now he just plans two or three days in advance depending on where he is going.

“I always stay at least one night in

Melvin on the USS Arizona Memorial in March 2017, with the USS Missouri in the background.

every state. Sometimes I have stayed a few days, and others I have stayed a week. It just depends,” said Johnson.

Now that Johnson has been to every state, he plans to repeat some of them and also drive back to Alaska and the two territories in Canada.

“A buddy of mine keeps trying to get me to go out of the country and if I get Canada done, maybe I’ll go to Australia and New Zealand,” said Johnson.

RiverHillsTraveler.com

October 2017 • Page 19

FLOOD from 1 flood damage experienced at Mark Twain National Forest (MTNF) facilities and the work that has been completed to reopen sites.

On Monday, the group toured Red Bluff Recreation Area and Crane Lake.

They witnessed campground damage that resulted from the latest flood in May, and discussed the proposal to move campsites and overnight facilities out of the floodplain at Red Bluff.

At Crane Lake dam, MTNF staff explained the findings of the engineering studies and the need to repair the dam to meet federal regulation.

Both Crane Lake and Red Bluff have involved constant community engagement with their long-term efforts. This public participation has led to a collaborative approach that will help these projects move forward through recovery and improvement efforts.

On Tuesday, the group visited the Eleven Point Ranger District to witness the damage and ongoing recovery efforts at Watercress Recreation Area. After departing Watercress, the tour stopped at a site within the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) area. This site demonstrated the successful results of the Forest’s ecosystem management and the key role in prescribed fire in making the Forest resilient and productive. Many partnerships were involved in the successful implementation of the CFLRP. The group also had a chance to see the karst environment of Missouri in action at the spring at Boze Mill, and to see the historic artifacts left at many of the Forest’s springs from previous landowners harnessing the water flow.

The day ended with a trip to the Greer

FLOATS from 1 family outings.

• The Current River from Cedargrove to Akers. The Current begins in the springs at Montauk State Park, and picks up steam with the input at Welch Spring, which averages some 175 million gallons of cold, clear water a day.

Be sure to take time and visit the stone ruins of the hospital built above the spring cave.

U.S. Forest Service Washington office employees get a tour led by Eleven Point Ranger District employees of the Boze Mill area to see an example of the Karst topography here in Missouri and the historical use of these springs for milling and other uses.

Mill historic building, which has been an ongoing restoration project that has involved HistoriCorps, Conservation Legacy interns, AmeriCorps, Conservative Anabaptist Service Program, and the local group Friends of the Eleven Point.

On the last day of the trip, everyone

was able to take in the extreme damage that flooding can do by visiting North Fork Recreation Area in the Ava/Cassville/Willow Springs Ranger District. The crumpled remains of the Highway CC bridge across from the day use area and downriver from its replace-

ment (under construction) evidenced the magnitude of the event that set new flood records in the area.

Many employees on the MTNF came together to make the tour successful in the hopes that their experiences in shortterm and long-term flood recovery, and in other recreation and ecosystem management challenges, could be shared with the WO and RO delegation.

Three days of travel across Missouri also highlighted the economic relevance of National Forest System land to the communities dependent on outdoor recreation and forest products, and the tour showed the importance of working together with partners, communities, and state and federal agencies to continue to overcome challenges and move toward the future.

• The Jacks Fork from Alley Spring to Eminence. The Current and the Jacks Fork make up the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, the first national park created to protect America’s pristine rivers.

The mill at Alley Spring, across Highway 106 from the access, is one of the most picturesque in the state.

• The upper Black River at Lesterville.

This little jewel is one of the clearest streams in the Ozarks, with plenty of deep swimming holes.

Combine a float with a visit to nearby Johnson Shut-Ins State Park to play in the Black as it flows through the chutes and bowls of the famed shut-ins.

• The Eleven Point River from Greer Access to Turner Mill. Greer Spring pumps 220 million gallons a day of crystalline water into the river, making it a brisk float in all seasons.

Take the mile hike to see the gorgeous spring, and look for the old mill wheel, standing like a giant steel sculpture in

the forest opposite the Turner take-out.

• The North Fork of the White River from Hammond Camp to River of Life Farm resort.

The river is one of the few in Missouri clear and cold enough to support wild trout.

Stretches of the river run over bedrock slabs. Rainbow Springs strengthens the flow along the way.

(Visit!www.riverhillstraveler.com!for a list of outfitters on each river.)

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