OUTDOOR
GUIDE
July/August 2020
MAGAZINE
The Big Woods......... Page 5
Beaver’s lesson........ Page 8
Missouri wildlife......Page 12
Coyote language......Page 20
30 CELEBRATING
Kayak fishing..........Page 21
Devil’s Lake............Page 24
YEARS
HUNTING • FISHING • CAMPING • BOATING • SHOOTING • TRAVEL Missouri - Illinois - And Other Exciting Outdoor Destinations
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Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
Nice trails at a newer state park
People love their state parks. They show overwhelming support for the resources through their utilization and hard-earned money. In Missouri, a parks, soils and water tax was approved at the ballot box in 1984 and has been authorized four times since with more than two-thirds voter approval. One of the newest state parks shows how good those places can be, once given a chance to welcome area residents and tourists from beyond state borders. Established in 2012, 818-acre Don Robinson State Park has become one of my new favorite public places to walk in the woods in Jefferson County. Unfortunately, it meets its maximum capacity on many pleasant weekends, forcing the gates to close when all the parking spaces are filled. Park Manager Erik Otto said there are 59 parking spots, including seven marked for ADA use. Limiting the number of vehicles and visitors protects the people and the park from too much traffic. Parking along the winding road or in unmarked areas presents unnecessary dangers. Park rangers assist with crowd control on busy weekends, and the middle of the day seems to be the most active time. Late afternoons or early mornings are usually the safest bet to make sure there is room for you. CHECK ONLINE FIRST One of the park’s few drawbacks is the chance that you could get to the entrance and find the gate closed. Since it is on the outskirts of Cedar Hill, that’s a pretty long drive to find out there’s no room to get in.
“When the park is temporarily closed, it is posted online for people to see, hopefully before they make the drive,” Otto said. Remoteness is the nature of unspoiled places, and most of Don Robinson’s former property fits that bill. It’s what attracted him to the space. The story of the park is well documented. An inventor and businessman, Robinson began buying real estate he described as “wild and wooly with lots of canyons.” Upon his death, he donated 811 acres and a trust fund to the Missouri State Park system. An additional seven acres was purchased to improve the entrance from Byrnesville Road. The wilderness and uniqueness of the place are its best features, and the trail system is designed to offer something for everyone. More than half a mile of one trail is paved, allowing people of every ability to get a taste of nature. Both picnic shelters are handicapped accessible. FOUR-MILE TRAIL At four miles long, the Sandstone Canyon Trail offers a challenge for hearty hikers. The 270 feet of elevation change is significant, and the entire loop includes several ups and downs, including a few steep stretches. The trail has a short cut-off/connector trail that allows hikers to reduce the route by half but still experience the unique landscape. The trail follows the edge of sandstone canyons, which are unique features of the LaBarque Creek watershed. In addition to the canyons, the walk traverses lush bottomland along the stream, as well as high and dry forests. The park’s other hiking trail spends a little time at creek level, but as you might expect, the 2.4-mile LaBarque Hills Trail is primarily a walk in the upland woods. The elevation change is just over 200 feet, but the grades are never significantly difficult. While it may not have all the unique features of its companion, this trail offers a lot to behold. The overlook spur does not provide much of a panorama with all the tree leaves this time of year, but in the winter, the view of the valley is vast. Combining all of the trails in one trip would make for almost seven miles of hiking through woods recognized for their volume and variety of plants and animals. In combination with the LaBarque Creek, Hilda Young and Glasberg Family conservation areas in northwest Jefferson County, the public properties protect the watershed of an unspoiled, high-quality stream that supports 42 species of fish before entering the Meramec River.
Don Robinson State Park manager Erik Otto leads a firstday hike on the Sandstone Canyon Trail on Jan. 1, 2020. – JohnWinkelmanphoto
WATCH YOUR STEP The trails are pretty well worn and well-marked with red or blue blaze markers. The surfaces are mostly dirt and rock, so they can be slippery. Roots and other trip hazards are common, so in addition to enjoying the scenery, hikers have to watch their steps as well. Small stream crossings and bluff-edge areas offer extra hazards but not real danger for those who stay on the trail. Among the park’s few blemishes are old and unauthorized trails that lead to fragile natural areas that have been damaged by pedestrian traffic. They are more common on the Sandstone Canyon Trail, and the unmarked, unofficial routes can lead hikers astray. Because I am always on the lookout for invasive species like honeysuckle bushes, I was glad to see very little in the natural area, but Otto told me about a different but similar pest called Tree of Heaven. The invasive exotic plant re-sprouts when cut, produces a large number of seeds, emits chemicals that suppress growth of nearby plants and can become thickets that crowd out native trees and flowers. Eradication efforts are always on his to-do list. The majority of the park’s operational budget comes from the state Parks, Soils and Water sales tax. Construction of the trails was funded by the Missouri State Parks Foundation. Learn more about the non-profit organization that was founded in 2001 at missouristateparksfoundation.org. Don Robinson State Park is at 9275 Byrnesville Road. Take Missouri 30 west from I-270 and then to S. Byrnesville Road. For more information call (636) 257-3788. Additional details can be found at mostateparks.com. John Winkelman is associate editor of Outdoor Guide Magazine. If you have story ideas to share, e-mail ogmjohnw@aol. com, and you can follow John on Twitter at @johnjwink99.
PULA’ FAST ONE. No filters needed. Just pure, untouched beauty where our gentle rivers leave you longing for more. Take some mental health days and find out if time away in the heart of the Ozarks (and a big plate of our famous barbecue) really is better than a bowl of mom’s chicken soup. Plan your trip at PulaskiCountyUSA.com.
Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
Page 3
3 Things YOU Can Do
to Help Pollinators
1 2 3
Plant Natives Native plants are a food source for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Add the plants shown below to your landscape.
Keep it Blooming Keep something in bloom each season. Some species bloom all year, others only in April and May, still others in July and August. Learn more at mdc.mo.gov/monarch.
Get Involved Protect native grasslands, provide nesting places, and become a wildlife gardener. To learn how, visit GrowNative.org.
Common milkweed
New England aster
Showy goldenrod
Prairie blazing star
Wild bergamot
Outdoor Guide
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July-August 2020
Learning to savor what we have
Photo and Text By BRENT FRAZEE “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not the fish they are after.” – Henry David Thoreau. Never have those words rung truer than they have
this year. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that has swept across the nation, life has slowed to a crawl. Our once-busy lives hit the pause button as governments issued stay-at-home orders in an attempt to keep the highly contagious disease
from spreading. Even peaceful lifetime activities such as fishing were affected, when bass tournaments were canceled and busy boat ramps were temporarily closed. Many bemoaned the temporary loss of youth activities, shows and movies, graduation ceremonies and professional sports. But in the long run, maybe something good will come out of this.
Nature put on a show that day.
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APPRECIATING FISHING If you’re like me, this slowdown has taught us to appreciate things we once took for granted. Fishing is a prime example. Too many times in the past, I was so preoccupied with catching fish that I didn’t really take time to immerse myself in my surroundings. But it has been different this year. When I went fishing the other day on the lake I live on, I was so relieved to be out of the house that I really slowed down to appreciate the environment. Nature put on a show that day. Bluebirds flitted from branch to branch in the timber at the edge of the water. Bright-yellow goldfinches dipped and darted through the trees, and woodpeckers drilled the hardwoods in search of insects. As I pulled into coves, flocks of mallards rose from the calm backwater in a rush of wings, the green heads of the drakes shining in the sun. Canada geese stood guard of their nests along the shore, honking loudly at the sight of a human intruder. A ROW OF TURTLES A row of turtles perched on a log extending into the water, one by one plopping into the water as I approached. And an occasional deer peeked through the woods of a justgreening forest. Make no mistake, I appreciated such scenes before. But never to this extent. I was always too busy plotting to catch fish to really appreciate the environment they live in. This time, it was different. As I cast to a rocky bank in a cove, I took time to once again marvel at this little subdivision lake I call home.
There I was, less than half an hour from downtown Kansas City, and it looked like I was on some secluded body of water in Minnesota or Kansas. Despite the encroachment of city life nearby, our 300acre private lake had stubbornly resisted the imprints of man. The water is still crystal clear, the lake is full of bass and crappies, and the shoreline is still wild, the result of the developer’s policy of prohibiting landowners from clear-cutting timber along the banks and building their own docks. A PART OF THE SCENE I caught fish that day, including bass up to 18 inches long. But that’s not what I will remember. This was a day when I slowed down enough to really feel like I was a part of my surroundings instead of being an intruder. The same is true for the new-found appreciation my wife and I have for the six birdfeeders we have in our backyard. Before the virus became a concern, we were too busy to sit and watch our winged visitors. But since life has slowed down, we often sit on the couch in our kitchen and enjoy the diversity of birds in our backyard. We even watched a hawk perch in one of our trees and swoop down to pounce on a small snake in our neighbors’ yard. So how long will this last? Once life returns to normal and my wife and I return to our busy ways, maybe our appreciation of nature’s fine points will fade. I hope not. If anything, this pandemic has taught me and others to slow down and appreciate the natural world that is right in front of us. More of Brent Frazee’s writing can be found at brentfrazee.com.
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Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
A fine morning in the ‘Big Woods’ By CHARLIE SLOVENSKY I don’t know why we call them “the Big Woods.” The woodlot is only about 20 acres. It butts up to a ridgetop field of fescue, bordered on the east and west sides by fence-line strips of cedars and hardwoods only 20 to 80 yards wide, so I guess it feels like a real forest by comparison. Sixty yards into the big woods is where our deer stand is, 20 feet up a gnarly oak. The view is fabulous. You can look south to the edge of the field, see the fence line to the west, and visualize where the ridges drop off to the creek on the east and north sides. The deer trails are atypically obscure, because the woods are so open that whitetails simply wander among the big oaks as they please, looking for acorns, checking out rubs, or heading for one of the funnels on either side of the fescue. The evening before, my son Josh had hunted from the stand while I had taken shelter from the winds and diminishing rains in the “Fat Shack,” a large box stand Josh built in the northwest corner of the field, where a crossing power line made for a shooting lane at the end of the west strip. IN THE SHACK The Fat Shack is within sight of the “Big Woods Stand,” and Josh had informed me that a decent 8-point buck had been headed my way, but that I had spooked him by rotating my lawn chair at the wrong moment. I had also seen two other deer crossing the power line, with no chance for a quick shot. I still had two of the three tags I had purchased, an Any Deer tag and an Antlerless tag, as I climbed into the Big Woods Stand before dawn on the third day of the firearms season. Daylight came and no deer were in sight, but I wasn’t concerned. The deer hadn’t been pressured much. Josh hunts very carefully during archery season, and the hunting pressure from neighboring properties tends to make deer regard the Big Woods as a sanctuary. Around 8 a.m., some sixth sense told me to look to the northwest, where a deep hol-
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MISSOUR I
low climbs up from the creek and fades into the hillside just below the Fat Shack. I spotted a deer walking down the hill from the west fence line, headed into the hollow. Two more whitetails were approaching from behind. I twisted around in my seat to get into a shooting position, moving the safety forward and propping my elbows on my knees. The range was about 80 yards. My nerves hadn’t settled down before the first deer reached an opening in the bottom of the hollow and paused broadside. FIRST SHOT As my first shot cracked, all three deer ran – the first one down the hollow and up on the point behind the Big Woods Stand, and the other two back up the adjacent ridge. I had apparently missed, but I stood up for a better view and leaned against the trunk of the tree. Only the first deer paused to offer me a second shot. I touched it off, and the deer disappeared. I didn’t know whether I had connected, but I decided to wait before checking out the results. Since I had two tags, I could still shoot another deer, even if I had one down. However, any antlered buck would have to meet the four-points-on-aside restriction applicable to the Any Deer tag. Sure enough, less than a half-hour later, a six-pointer came up behind me from the northeast. He passed me by in an arc that would have made for an easy shot with a bow, then headed towards the unoccupied Fat Shack and the power line. Minutes later, a mature doe followed the same arc. I shot her at 25 yards. She ran to the west, finally slowing to a walk and toppling over just a short distance behind the Fat Shack. So now it was time to check things out, do some fielddressing, and give Josh a call on my cell phone so he could bring his ATV. With boots back on the ground, I decided to check out the first deer I had shot at. I went down into the hollow to try to determine whether my first shot had connected, but found no sign. BLOOD SIGHTING Then I followed the deer’s path to the brushy point where the deer had given me a second shot. I found some blood, then the deer just a
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few feet further. When a deer disappears abruptly like that, it often means it has dropped in its tracks. The first deer turned out to be a button buck, meaning I would have to use my Any Deer tag on one of the two deer I had killed. I could go to town and buy more Antlerless Tags, but with three antlerless deer in hand, I had plenty of butchering to do, and plenty of venison to get through the winter, spring and summer. I gave Josh a call, but he had heard my shots, and was already on the ATV.
The six-pointer passed by but was soon followed by a mature doe.
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Outdoor Guide
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July-August 2020
The mountain lion got there first By GERALD J. SCOTT My daughter Susan and I spent opening morning of the firearms deer season in stands about 400 yards apart on opposite sides of a field of corn stubble. We didn’t know it until we got back together, but both of us saw the same buck, working its way along the outer edge of a weedy wet-weather creek. We’ll never know if it was fortunate or unfortunate, but neither of us fired a shot, because we couldn’t tell for sure if the buck had a fourth point to go with its easily visible main beams. That evening we moved to another property, where soybean stubble was bordered by a block of bottomland timber. I spent the evening wishing I had my squirrel rifle. Susan would have said the same thing until she spotted a doe out in the soybean field only a few minutes before it would become both practically and legally too dark to shoot. She missed the deer twice. Sunday morning found us back at the cornfield, “enjoying” sitting in the rain. We didn’t see any deer, but at least we didn’t get stuck. A temporary wind shift allowed us to spend the evening at a farm with limited, but real possibilities. Between us we
could have filled a tote sack with squirrels, but the only deer I saw got past both of us unscathed. BACK TO IT First light Monday morning found Susan in the same stand she’d occupied Saturday evening. She didn’t say so, but I figured it was a safe bet she hoped to “redeem” herself. (Me telling her that everyone, very much including deer old Dad, missed shots hadn’t done much to take the sting out of it.) I, on the other hand, don’t have a clue why I chose to spend the last morning of our hunt in a stand I’m not sure I’d ever used. I do know for an absolute certainty that the instant I settled onto its platform, I asked myself, “What idiot set this stand facing in this direction?” The answer, of course, was me, but it was too close to shooting time to move. Less than 30 minutes later, I saw a doe angling across the stubble field in my general direction. I confess I thought about shooting it, but my goal for the weekend was to get Susan a chance at a deer. As I hoped it would, the deer went into the timber on a trail that passed her stand. About a year later – it might have been closer to three minutes
– I heard her brand-new .243 bark once. We met at her stand and then made the 100-yard hike to take a look at her prize. I assumed she’d wait while I went to get my truck, trailer and allimportant deer-dragging sled. DRAGGING IT But when I returned, she’d dragged the deer through the timber, across a 10-foot deep ditch and almost to the edge of the stubble field without first field-dressing it, because she wanted to keep the body cavity clean. I vaguely remembered when I could have done that. She field-dressed the deer herself with only a modicum of advice from me and then loaded it onto the sled. Wanting to do my share of the work, I hooked the sled to the trailer’s electric winch cable and loaded the deer myself, despite having to hold the winch’s remote switch down with my thumb. What can I say? If you’ve got the right client, guiding isn’t a bad gig. THE MONSTER BUCK I thought the exciting part of our hunt was over, but then Susan showed me a phone camera photo of a monster buck she’d found dead while she was dragging her deer. This I had to see.
OUTDOOR
GUIDE
July-August 2020
MAGAZINE
HUNTING • FISHING • CAMPING • BOATING • SHOOTING • TRAVEL Volume 28, No. 4 • Published six times a year Office: 505 S. Ewing, St. Louis, MO 63103 News department — 618-972-3744
www.outdoorguidemagazine.com e-mail: news@outdoor-guide.com COVER created by Kathy Crowe, graphic designer.
Carl Green, editor – carl@labortribune.com John Winkelman, associate editor — ogmjohnw@aol.com Bob Whitehead, editor emer. – ogmbobw@aol.com Lynn Fowler, circulation manager Kathy Crowe, graphic designer — Account executives — Dan Braun, marketing director 314-256-4136 Lauren Marshall 314-256-4141 — Regional and specialty editors — Joel Vance Darrell Taylor Ray Eye Brent Frazee Brandon Butler
Curt Hicken Bill Cooper Thayne Smith Steve Jones
Bill Seibel John Neporadny Jr. Rick Story T. J. Mullin
Ron Henry Strait Larry Whiteley Ted Nugent Ron Bice
– In Memoriam —
Jared Billings • Charlie Farmer • Richard Engelke • Mark Hubbard • Spence Turner • Hank Reifeiss Bill Harmon • Barbara Perry Lawton • Danny Hicks • Ron Kruger • TJ Stallings • John Sloan
Scott Pauley Tim Huffman John Meacham Bob Holzhei Jeannie Farmer Kay Hively Tyler Mahoney
— Staff writers —
Claudette Roper Brad Wiegmann Mike Roux Craig Alderman Randall Davis Jerry Pabst Ryan Miloshewski
Kenneth Kieser Gerald Scott Russell Hively Roxanne Wilson Gretchen Steele Jo Schaper Jed Nadler
Don Gasaway Terry Wilson Bill Keaton Charlie Slovensky Michael Wardlaw Larry Potterfield Tom Watson
Mountain lions, such as this one, have been seen in Missouri recently.
If she’d found the buck anywhere west of the front range of the Rocky Mountains, even a cursory examination of the carcass would have led anyone with a basic understanding of how North America’s various predators kill and feed to declare it to have been a mountain lion kill. But we weren’t in some mountain wilderness, we were in Pettis County, Mo. So what made me sure some other animal, with neither a rifle nor the telephone number of a taxidermist, killed a buck bigger than my best?
WAS IT A LION? Visual evidence indicated that the buck had died from puncture wounds to its spine, just behind the head while on its knees. The mountain lion is the only predator found north of the Mexican border large and agile enough to use a pounce-and-bite killing strategy on an animal the size of a mature whitetail buck. The hide had been pulled away from the meat, nearly all of which had been consumed, despite the fact that the kill was very fresh. This is typical mountain lion feeding
– MDC photo
behavior. All four legs were present. This is atypical behavior for coyotes or domestic dogs. Finally, human poachers can be eliminated, because no poacher would leave a trophy rack behind. It’s extremely unlikely I’ll ever see another mountain lion kill in Missouri. But even though mountain lions are and always will be a rarity in Missouri, I think knowing that a few 150-pound pussy cats are roaming just beyond the light of the campfire is a good thing.
Missouri frog season has begun
It’s frogging season again in Missouri. Beginning June 30 at sunset through Oct. 31, those with a fishing permit or smallgame hunting permit may frog for bullfrogs and green frogs. The daily limit is eight frogs of both species combined, and the possession limit is 16 frogs of both species combined. Only the daily limit may be possessed on waters and bank of waters where frogging occurs. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) notes that daily limits end at midnight. Froggers who catch their daily limits before midnight and want to return for more frogging after midnight must
remove the daily limit of previously caught frogs from the waters or banks before returning. The public can go frogging with a fishing permit or small-game hunting permit, but children 15 and under and residents 65 and older are not required to have a permit. Those using a fishing permit may take frogs by hand, hand
net, atlatl, gig, bow, trotline, throwline, limb line, bank line, jug line, snagging, snaring, grabbing, or pole and line. With a small-game hunting permit, frogs may be harvested using a .22-caliber or smaller rimfire rifle or pistol, pellet gun, atlatl, bow, crossbow, or by hand or hand net. The use of artificial light is permitted. Buy Missouri hunting and fishing permits from vendors around the state, online at https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/ permits, or through MDC’s free mobile apps, MO Hunting and MO Fishing, available for download through Google Play or the App Store.
Illinois waterfowl drawings canceled
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) will cancel all waterfowl blind drawings for 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing blind holders can maintain their blinds through the 2020-2021 waterfowl season. “Waterfowl blind drawings are a treasured and timehonored tradition here in
Illinois, with waterfowl hunters looking forward to these in-person events annually,” said Colleen Callahan, IDNR director. “Understanding that, and coupled with the duty we have to safeguard the health and safety of our sportsmen and women, as well as our staff, we know cancelling this year’s events is the right decision.”
According to the Illinois Wildlife Code, hunters must be physically present to claim their blind if their name is drawn. The drawings, typically held in June and July, frequently draw attendance in the hundreds or thousands, which has the potential to violate social distancing and crowd size requirements.
Trappers Rendezvous is Sept. 18-20
The Missouri Trappers Association (MTA) will hold its 2020 Fall Rendezvous Sept. 18-20 in St. Robert, Mo. at the Pulaski County Fairgrounds and St. Robert Community Center. The educational and fun convention will feature demon-
strations from the best trappers in the state. Vendors will be on hand to supply all trapping needs. Events will include hourly demos, trap-setting contests, plus a skillet toss and washer tournament on Friday night. A fish fry is scheduled for Friday
and a pork lunch on Saturday. The event is free and open to the public. To register as a vendor, reserve camping or ask questions about the event, contact Kelly Turner at (573) 778-6358. For more information, go online to www.missouritrappers.com.
July-August 2020
Outdoor Guide
Page 7
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We’re not ready for cyber-disaster By DAVID HOSKING The panic-buying spree that began in March at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates that most people were not prepared for such a widespread national crisis. Grocery stores quickly sold out of basic items, snatched up by panic buyers and hoarders, leaving many folks unable to buy necessities like toilet paper and certain foods. Thus far, the pandemic has caused the deaths of more than 100,000 Americans, disrupted our national economy, and precipitated the loss of employment to an extent not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. While the federal government’s short-term economic stimulus efforts have helped many individuals and small businesses, hard times will likely continue for the foreseeable future. The COVID-19 virus has not been defeated, as evidenced by increasing infection rates in some parts of the country; experts anticipate a second wave of infections later this year. IT COULD BE WORSE Although our current situation is gloomy, we should reflect on some positive aspects. We have had no interruptions to basic services, including electricity in our homes and businesses, water and sewage services, telephone and internet communications, a functioning transportation system, food and grocery services, access to hospitals and healthcare facilities, and the banks and credit card services continue to operate. What if all of these amenities suddenly ceased to operate? What could possibly cause these essential services to stop, and what is the likelihood of such a frightening catastrophe? Regrettably, grave risks to our American way of life are very real. There are two main events that could result in the cessation of all basic services: an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), or a cyberattack by a rogue country or terrorist group. • EMP – An EMP is a short burst of electromagnetic energy triggered by a natural occurrence, such as a massive solar flare, or the deliberate detonation of a single nuclear device in the atmosphere high above the earth.
Preppers’ Guide
SURVIVAL SUPPLIES • One gallon of water per person per day. • Canned food, dry mixes, rice, beans • Flashlights, candles, matches, camp stove • Emergency cash • Secure documents in a safe place • Backup supply of medicine
Humans are not directly affected by an EMP. However, the high-energy pulse would destroy the semiconductor circuits that control virtually our entire critical infrastructure. Every electronic device would suddenly stop working. Cell phones, electric power grids, cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, traffic control systems, water purification plants, sewage plants, computers, hospital equipment and refrigeration systems would immediately stop working, and the recovery time could take up to 10 years, according to experts. In 2008, the bipartisan Electromagnetic Pulse Commission testified before Congress that without electricity, the country does not have the means to provide for the needs of nearly 300 million Americans. If our electrical power systems are lost for any substantial period of time, the consequences are likely to be catastrophic to society, including potential casualties estimated between 60 percent and 90 percent of the population. Sadly, since the 2008 report, Congress has done almost nothing to implement measures that would harden our infrastructure. • CYBER-ATTACK – The other chief threat to our country is a cyber-attack on critical infrastructure such as electrical grids, drinking water and wastewater systems. The U.S. has nearly 70,000 water and wastewater utilities that are constantly experiencing cyber-attacks intended to damage or manipulate computerbased control systems. America’s adversaries constantly probe the internet firewalls of utilities looking for weaknesses in order to insert malware that would disrupt operations. In 2019 a utility industry report noted that 25 percent of electric utilities experienced mega-attacks from adversarial nation-state actors. For example, in March, 2019, hackers used firewall vulnerabilities to cause periodic “blind spots” for grid operators in the western U.S. for about 10 hours. HOW TO PREPARE? So how does the average person prepare for a catastrophe that would propel American society back into a lifestyle of the 1800s? There is no simple or easy answer. Experts predict that up to 90 percent of the population would perish in the first year. The rioting and looting that we’re experiencing today in our major cities over racial tensions would be mild compared to the widespread anarchy we’d see if food supplies disappeared. Most urban folks have no experience with gardening, raising livestock or selfprotection. Most rural farmers would be hard-pressed to shield their families and properties from a starving population. During a breakdown of society, many police and military personnel would likely disappear in order to protect their own families. In light of this doomsday scenario, Americans would be wise to relearn some of the “old ways” that our parents or grandparents employed in their everyday lives. There are many excellent books, websites and courses available that teach subjects on self-reliance, like home and self-defense, planting a vegetable garden and preserving its harvest, raising rabbits or poultry for food, preserving meat without refrigeration, purifying drinking water, applying medical first-aid, making soap and making candles. Survival will be difficult, so Americans need to prepare by acquiring life-critical knowledge and skills, and by securing critical supplies and staples well before a disaster strikes. Recommended readings include Ted Koppel’s “Lights Out: a Cyberattack, a Nation Unprepared and Surviving the Aftermath,” and the novel “One Second After” by William R. Forstchen.
July-August 2020
— Random Shots — Beaver a natural history lesson By JOEL M. VANCE It was a dark night, though not stormy, the night where you imagine werewolves are not too far from the tent, sniffing for blood. I was camped in a remote turkey woods, listening to the incessant call of a whippoorwill and the soft but somehow menacing hoot of a great horned owl. Then there was a sound like someone had dropped a rock from a high place into the lake adjacent to the tent. Creature from the Black Lagoon? I swallowed hard and quavered, “Did you hear that?” “Beaver,” said my tentmate. “Go back to sleep.” It had been a beaver slapping its tail in alarm – afraid of my buddy snoring in the tent. The beaver wasn’t a prowling leopard looking to make me a late night snack; to it, I was the threat. I fell asleep. Those who create folklore have been, well, busy as a beaver fashioning a legacy of beaver tales (not tails). In Native American myth, beavers are right up there with coyotes and eagles. Beavers are the most exalted of the rodents, as well as the largest North American rodents. You won’t find cartoons about Ralph Rat like you do Bucky Beaver, and those legends that glorify the beaver are far more numerous than any about rats, mice, squirrels and other rodents. NOT JUST TO KEEP BUSY Castoreum, an oil produced by anal glands, was prized by European cultures because it supposedly was both an aphrodisiac and a headache remedy – you could spend all day creating jokes from that combination. Today the oil is used in expensive perfumes as a fixative for more agreeable scents. My father was a perfume oils salesman and well might have dealt with beaver castoreum, but he had more trouble with the entire beaver. He found that beavers could repair a breached dam faster than he could get rid of it. A dam flooded a low water crossing on our farm, making it impossible for him to get around. He breached the dam with dynamite but it was repaired the next day. He finally gave up explosive remedies and put a drainpipe in the dam. He found the pipe plugged tight the next day with corncobs and mud. That’s when he resorted to trapping. But as much damage as a beaver can do, it has positive value beyond its fur. It also is a water control agent – beaver ponds are magnets for ducks and, in northern areas, moose and deer. The animals don’t build dams to keep busy. They are nature’s urban developers, taking a stream too shallow for them and turning it into a nice, deep beaver pond in which they
can build a condo known as a beaver lodge. The mound of sticks and mud is the most visible sign of the chewers, but felled trees or stumps, surrounded by a scatter of chips puts the stamp on it. Where water levels vary too much for a lodge, beavers burrow into the bank. That can be a real problem if they do it in a pond dam, where a frog choker rain could erode the beaver den and cause the dam to fail. CONSTRUCTION DELUXE A beaver dam is a marvel of wildlife ingenuity. The animals use small brush, hauled to the dam site in their mouths. They place the brush butt ends downstream and then scoop mud with their forepaws, carrying it to the dam (or lodge) to seal the gaps in the brush. Like Gene Kelly singing “Gotta dance!” the beaver has “gotta chew!” A beaver’s teeth grow throughout its life and only by gnawing does it wear them down. So part of the beaver’s legendary industry is a matter of dental necessity. The product of all that chewing is both food and shelter. Beavers are herbivores – they eat nothing but plant material. They eat the bark and cambium layer of small trees and also haul such material into their lodge as a winter food supply. Big trees can be part of a dam while smaller ones get woven into the lodge, which will have an underwater entrance, a common room and an air vent. Once inside, with a food supply, a beaver family can ride out the harshest winter in relative comfort. Beavers are credited with leading early
Was it the Creature from the Black Lagoon?
See RANDOM SHOTS page 10
Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
Page 9
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July-August 2020
Angler lands record paddlefish – on wrong day!
An Oklahoma angler’s recent catch of a 157-pound paddlefish would have shattered the state record had it been caught on just about any other day but Friday. Justin Hamlin landed the odd-looking behemoth while fishing on Keystone Lake, just west of Tulsa, with Capt. Jeremiah Mefford of Reel Good Time Guide Service. The paddlefish tipped a boat scale on that memorable Friday at 157 pounds. But state regulations that protect the fishery require
that all paddlefish caught on Fridays and Mondays must be released. Hamlin, therefore, was not able to have his catch officially weighed nor certified by a state biologist, and the state record still stands at 132 pounds, 8 ounces, for a 2018 catch on the Arkansas River. That did not diminish the experience for the captain or angler. “I think my heart was close to beating out of my chest,” Mefford said in an interview with For the Win Outdoors.
Justin Hamlin with his 157-pound paddlefish – Reel Good Time Guide Service photo.
“I’m an avid deer hunter and it was like seeing a
dream buck come out right in front of you. The difference
was this fish was landed and we did not have to talk about the one that got away,” he said. “It was heartbreaking not to have it official, but Justin had a great attitude about it and appreciation for the laws.” SNAGGING IS BEST Paddlefish are plankton eaters so snagging is the most effective angling method. Oklahoma regulations allow anglers to keep one per day except on Mondays and Fridays, when all fish must be released.
Anglers can use only barbless hooks, which allow for easy releases. Mefford said Hamlin snagged his 5-foot-long paddlefish with a large treble hook attached to 80-pound test line. The fight lasted about 10 minutes. The Keystone Lake record for paddlefish stands at 125.6 pounds, Mefford said. American paddlefish, closely related to sturgeon, are native to the Mississippi River Basin and fossil records date back millions of years.
• Random Shots explorers farther and farther into what now is our country (among the objectives of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-05 was to gauge the furbearer resources along the way). Beaver pelts were money to the rowdy and rugged trappers and as they ran out of trappable animals, there was only one direction to go – west. Over the Smoky Mountains, into the heartland, intoArkansas and its rivers, ultimately farther west until, finally, there were few beavers left. REVIVAL, FOR GOOD OR BAD Beginning in the 1930s, the dawn of modern wildlife management, conservationists made a determined effort to “bring ‘em back” and it worked so well that now beavers have become both a blessing and a curse. Like all wild animals, beavers have no sense of personal property and the lines that divide humans from each other. Your lake or pond is a young beaver’s starter home, never mind that his industrious work will flood your yard, garden or access road. Never mind that your cherished shade tree to him is a humongous chew toy. North Carolina reported its last native beaver in 1897, and it wasn’t until 1939 that the state tried to restore them with 29 animals live-trapped in Pennsylvania. Four years later the prolific beavers had grown to an estimated 1,000 and spread into seven counties. Today most of the state has resident beavers and there is a trapping season. If you’re a trapper, the beaver’s hide is money in the bank. Historically, beaver pelts were the most valued furs because of their abundance and the demand for them – in fact, beaver pelts literally were money in early colonial times. Beaver pelts, mounted on a hoop, have become a wall decoration worth $200 and up. You can buy the hoops (walnut or oak) for about $100, provide the pelt (either trap it yourself or buy one for about $150-plus), and mount your own rustic accessory.
from page 8
THE BEAVER BUSINESS The West India Company owed its existence to beavers and in turn its existence attracted Dutch colonists to what they called “New Netherland” which today is New York. The barter system flourished and beaver pelts were prized barter items. Beaver fur became felt when stripped from the hides and processed into hats. But long before that, felted hair was in use – the Romans felted wool to use as armor against arrows (lots of luck). It was an eastern European art until the 17th century. Beginning in the early to mid-1600s, beaver hats became the rage. European beavers had become almost extinct, so the seemingly endless supply of North American beavers seemed like a gift from heaven. By the beginning of the 1700s, beaver pelts from the North American colonies were flooding into the European hat trade. The fad for beaver hats lasted through the 1700s and into the 1800s, but by the 19th century, beavers had declined and the time of the beaver hat had just about passed. BEAVER SENSE The average beaver weighs 30 to 40 pounds, but some can top 70 pounds in their average 12 year lifespan. They have a number of natural enemies (man at the top of the heap), but river otters lead the four-footed threats to young beavers. Beavers breed in late winter and birth in early spring, with four kits the usual litter (they have only one a year). A beaver lodge might have a parent pair, several juveniles and the newest litter. The kid beavers stay at home for two or three years, but then the parents essentially tell them to get a job and run them out. Most advice for controlling beaver damage is common sense – the larger the culvert size, the less likely it is to be plugged, and the fewer trees and other beaver-attracting vegetation, the less likely the area is to attract beavers in the first place.
Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
Page 11
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–Spring, summer and early fall is when a cracklin’ campfire feels the best. Bring the family to camp, boat, fish, and unwind on crystal clear Clearwater Lake. This area of the lake is formed where Webb Creek and Logan Creek empty into Clearwater Lake. Water Family Fun It is known for its crappie, catfish and bass fishing with fun for the entire family. Camping is available at Webb Creek Recreation Park; plus a full service marina with boat/wave runner rentals on site. Webb Creek Park features over 40 campsites, swim beach, playground, showers, picnic pavilions, boat launch, and more. Call Webb Creek Marina at 573-461-2344 for marina, boat rental and campsite information or visit www.recreation.gov to make reservations. If you are interested in all the conveniences of home call Webb Creek Cabins for cabin rentals, 573-461-2244.
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Black River and K Bridge Recreation Area- K Hwy –
Float, canoe, fish and explore the beautiful Black River this fall. Enjoy swimming, camping and picnicking right on the banks of the Black River. K Bridge Recreation Area and Campground offers playground, showers, electric and comfort station, visit www.recreation.gov to make reservations. Floats (raft or canoe) can be Black River arranged on site by calling Jeff’s Canoe Rental at 573-598-4555. A small general store is also available on site.
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Current River -Hwy 106 to HH Highway- Fish, swim,
camp and relax on majestic Current River. Great place to explore Current River. Rough camping is available at Log Yard Landing (known to the locals as Cardareva Gravel Bar) and the School Yard. These are available on a first come basis, electric is not available. Bring your tubes, rafts and kayaks; a perfect day float….put in at Powder Mill and float to Log Yard.
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Blue Spring- Hwy 106- This
Current River
spring is the 6th largest spring in Missouri and known for its deep blue color. It has been said that this spring is so deep, if submerged the Statue of Liberty’s torch would not be seen above the water and actually the bottom has never been found. Take your camera! Blue Spring can be accessed by boat, kayak, or a short .25 mile walk from Blue Spring parking area. The spring may also be accessed by an easy hike along the river from Powder Mill Recreation Area, Blue Spring hike approx. 2.2 miles round trip.
5 Rocky Falls
- NN Hwy- A cascading crystal Rocky Creek drops from the Ozark Mountains into a lazy pool which eventually winds through the Ozarks to Current River. A must see if you are in the area and fun for all ages. Wear non-slip shoes and use caution when climbing on the falls. Picnic tables provided.
6 Current River Conservation Area
–Consists of 28,000 acres of state land. Deer, turkey, eagles, elk and a multitude of wildlife can be seen. UTV’s, ATV’s and vehicle traffic are welcome on miles of gravel roads and trails that wind through some 60+ food plots. Buford Pond, Missouri’s first fire tower, a 1926 log cabin and an earthen Fort Barnesville can all be found here. Buford Pond provides fishing and picnicking and is a favorite location of all. For hunting enthusiasts an unstaffed rifle and archery range are provided. Current River Conservation Area is home to the Missouri Ozark Ecosystem Project, the world’s most comprehensive forest management study. This 100 year project spans over 9,000 acres. Main park entrance located on South Road in Ellington, other entrances located off Hwy 106 and HH highway. Primitive camping is available. Elk viewing and maps of the area are available at the main park entrance.
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Local Flavor – While in town you won’t want to miss the Reynolds County Museum while visiting Ellington. This museum is filled with relicts from days gone by and the rich history of the Ozarks. Volunteers staff the establishment and are happy to answer questions; Open Mar-Nov, T-F 10-4. Call 573-663-3233 for Reynolds Co Museum more information. Need a spot for the kids to play, then visit Brawley Park located on South Road. This park features a playground, basketball courts, picnic pavilions and short hiking trail. Want some nostalgia from a couple decades back; how about a drive in movie? One of only a few drive-ins left in the Midwest is located just south of Ellington on Highway 21., call 573-945-2121 for info.
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Blair Creek- Hwy 106 – This area is a favorite of the local’s spring, summer and fall. For the person who is looking for the unknown, adventure into the wild Ozark hills for the beautiful views, caves, swimming, picnicking. Here riding the back roads in ATV’s, UTV’s and 4-wheel drives is exciting and Blair Creek fun. Entrance located North of Hwy 106 across from Blue Spring entrance.
10 Ozark Trail
- Hwy 106- Blair Creek & Current River section; Hwy 106 – Whether you are looking for a one day hike or want to make a few days of it; hiking these sections of the Ozark Trail is rewarding and adventurous. Such splendid locations as Rocky Falls, Klepzig Mill and Buzzard Mountain Shut-Ins are Klepzig Mill located right on the trail. For the adventurous visitor this is a must!
11 Peck Ranch
- H Highway, Shannon County- Listen for the bugle this fall! Elk are now roaming the hills of the Ozarks and can be seen in Peck Ranch, Current River Conservation Area and the surrounding region. Thanks to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s recent Elk Restoration Program elk were released into the elk zone beginning in the summer of 2011. With the third release the summer of 2013 the elk herd is nearing 200 bulls, cows and calves. Peck Ranch is open from sunrise/sunset daily and offers a driving tour. Bugling occurs in the fall, Sept-Nov. Check the Missouri Dept of Conservation website for Elk park closing details. Maps are available at park entrance.
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Scenic Highway 106- This 26 mile drive between
Ellington and Eminence is known state wide for its scenic views and beauty, and is especially a favorite in the fall. This section of highway is also home to the Trans-America Trail and sees many bicycle travelers from April-October. Bicycle enthusiasts say it’s one of the “toughest sections on the trail” and known for the steep hills & hollers.
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Outdoor Guide
Page 12
July-August 2020
By foot and flight, wildlife finds Missouri By KAY HIVELY
Late one afternoon, a Neosho, MO, man went out to retrieve his garbage can from the curb. He dragged it around to its normal spot beside his house. Turning to go back inside, he had the surprise of a lifetime as a black bear ran, at full speed, across his path. The hustling bear came within three feet of the startled man. In all his years, the man had never seen a black bear in the wild. He certainly never thought he would see one up
close in Neosho, his hometown, which is a community of about 12,000. But there had been reports for years of black bears in and around the town. A dozen years earlier, a black bear was hit by a truck on U.S. 60 a few yards outside the city limits. That caused quite a stir as people witnessed the collision and others saw sheriff’s deputies and highway patrolmen dealing with the dead bear. Some 30 miles north of the Arkansas border, 15 miles from the Oklahoma border and
about 40 miles from the Kansas line, Neosho and nearby Joplin have had unusual animal sightings, mostly animals associated with neighboring states. OUT OF ARKANSAS The black bears, which originally lived in the area but have been gone for many years, are mostly coming out of Arkansas, where industrial growth and urban sprawl are taking over. Wildlife is being forced into Missouri, especially the Huckleberry State
Conservation Area, which lies between Arkansas and Neosho. It is believed these animals migrate into forested areas to escape the rising population which has taken over their habitat. A few black bears are arriving from the west, moving out of northeast Oklahoma. Frank Loncarich, wildlife management biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), notes that another factor in black bear migration is that they are reclaiming their old territory.
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In Arkansas, black bears have done well. That, combined with habitat loss, has created a need for expansion, especially for two-year-old males when they are forced to leave their mothers and find new homes. The black bears seen in Neosho were traveling north, going right through town, crossing lawns and scaring citizens who were simply out retrieving their garbage cans. As the black bear population grows, the state will have to adopt management programs. The MDC says the following on its website: Population Management: MDC estimates there are 540-840 bears in Missouri. Hunting will be the primary tool for managing black bear numbers. MDC plans to begin deliberations relative to a hunting season now that the bear population exceeds the 500-bear benchmark established by the 2008 Black Bear Management Plan. So there may be an opportunity to go bear hunting in Missouri one day. FOXES RETURNING There is another species of wildlife that is showing up in towns. More foxes are now seen in neighborhoods, living in lightly wooded areas or even in drain pipes. Foxes have been driven into town, in part, by the arrival of coyotes taking over large spaces in the countryside. Early morning risers often hear the howling coyotes. Jeff Cantrell, conservation educator for MDC, said foxes are a big threat to domestic dogs and cats. “Foxes can easily live around people, so everyone should pay special attention to this and get vaccinations for their pets. Red foxes can easily infect domestic pets,” he said. “Foxes, and those feral dogs that run around in packs, are dangerous.” Black bears and foxes are not the only unusual visitors that have shown up in the southern part of the Show-Me State. Cattle egrets, roadrunners, bobcats, scissor-tailed flycatchers, a black leopard, bald eagles and the now wellestablished armadillos all have been reported in Missouri.
With heavily forested areas all across the southern part of the state, sightings of unusual creatures are more common. Missouri is not known as the home of black bears. Roadrunners and armadillos are associated with Texas and the desert southwest. Scissortailed flycatchers are the state bird of Oklahoma. Yet these and other immigrants are often seen in the state – some coming for the first time and others returning to territories occupied long ago. ROADRUNNER LOSES GROUND The roadrunner is a species that is losing ground in Missouri. It’s hard to believe but, according to Loncarich, southern Missouri was the far northern portion of their original home, but with loss of habitat, they are currently withdrawing. Cantrell mentioned several other “newcomers.” In particular, he mentioned fish crows, noting that, “You can see them hanging around Walmart parking lots and at Taco Bell. You can tell them by their call. It’s more nasal and they are a bit smaller than their cousins, the American Crow.” Fish crows usual hang around water, but they do well on fast food parking lots because they also feed on trees, peanuts and our scraps. These newcomers are a mixed blessing. Outdoorsmen enjoy seeing all kinds of wildlife, but folks have to protect their pets and even their urban chickens. Seeing new animals in the neighborhood is a reminder that DDT is almost completely gone from the environment. That is good. For better or worse, changes are coming and, as outdoors people, we must adjust and enjoy the good parts of the changes. Many would love the experience of seeing a black bear run across their lawns, yet the chance of seeing one is very small. But remember, if you go to Walmart or Taco Bell, you can always scout for a fish crow. Maybe it’s not as interesting as a black bear, but we sometimes have to take what we get.
July-August 2020
Outdoor Guide
Page 13
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July-August 2020
Fishing from Ozark boat docks Photo and Text By DON GASAWAY Fishing boat docks is a good, year-round technique that pays dividends on rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Anyone fishing the large reservoirs of Missouri’s Ozark region finds the numerous boat docks an excellent location for game fish. There are two primary dock structures – floating docks for lakes and rivers where water fluctuates, and the permanent platform docks that make permanent piers. Both are productive, but they require different fishing methods to consistently catch fish. Beginning with floating docks, two things happen. In deep cool lakes, especially those with spotted bass, many of the fish will hold on the structures under the dock. These are cables and weights that actually secure the dock in place. In that situation, a favorite technique is to take a small jig or shaking worm (a glass bead and a little finesse worm) and shake it up under the dock. Throw it up under the dock along the side of the floating dock. When it comes through and across the cables during the retrieve, spotted bass will get
in position to attack it TRY A JERKBAIT Another pattern for catching fish under floating docks is during the spawn to postspawn mode. They suspend, largemouth especially, right under the floats of the dock. Work the perimeter of the floats with a lure that dives 12 to 18 inches below the surface. Bass position themselves in the shade and come out to attack the bait. In this situation, a favorite lure is a jerkbait. Use a minnowimitating color and jerk the lure along the perimeter of the dock trying to get the bass to come out. If the fish are not active, try a wacky worm or floating worm. Work it around the perimeters of the dock. Often, they follow the bait out from under the dock. Bass will not eat it. If it is stopped and allowed to fall, fish will go down and get it. Flipping is a prime method for stationary platforms. Use a jig, Texas-rigged plastic worm or crawfish lure. Try to get up to the actual structures of the pier. Most piers have concrete on the bottom, and they can vary in depth from 10 to 15 feet. The key is to find the depth where the fish are located.
Once you locate that depth, locate all the docks that are in that depth range and fish them all. Many people just fish docks, and they do not think about the depth and where to locate the fish. If you find fish in 3 feet of water, you can run the lake and work that pattern at 3 feet. The key is to find the fish and then use a subtle presentation. Pitch or flip using heavy enough tackle, so when a fish is hooked and he tries to get out the backside of the pier, you can haul him in. VERTICAL STRUCTURES Concrete docks and bridge piers are unique. The vertical concrete is usually found in reservoirs and consists of such structures as pump houses, docks and bridge pilings. They are not as good at harboring bass, but at certain times are worth exploring. As the shad hang around, the bass will follow them to the concrete structures. It is a good winter structure because it is vertical and warms more quickly. In winter, many lakes are drawn down, and the fish gravitate to vertical structures because they can move up and down in the water column with the bait. They
do not have to travel great distances. That makes concrete effective. Try catching bass with a jerkbait or spoon. Every dock is different and has its own personality. Develop a pattern within a pattern on docks. If you realize the majority of fish are coming on the first two to three docks in a cove, that is something you should register. Within that pattern, here is what you want to know: Are they under the catwalks, inside poles or outside poles? Is the dock an isolated dock? Are there groups of docks? More often than not, gravitate toward isolated docks because you have less area to cover. The fish in that area are going to gravitate toward that one dock. Day in and day out, the isolated docks are going to be more productive. Bass hold on wooden ladders that go down into the water. You can step a jig down the steps just as you would ledges. People also throw brush off catwalks and it attracts fish. On the docks themselves, look for rod holders and lights indicating that people fish there. It is important not only to fish docks but also the structures that property holders place in the water alongside of them.
When fishing boat docks, do not overlook the other wooden structures attached to them. Wood attracts bait fish, which in turn attracts bass. On hot sunny days, they also provide shade and cooler water.
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Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
Camping in a time of pandemic
By ELIZABETH DONALD
In a normal year, summer might mean family vacations to theme parks, big cities, a beach resort or even a cruise. But in the year of coronavirus, many of those places are off the list. Instead, many families are turning to the great outdoors as campgrounds open up. Camping seems like it would lend itself well to social distancing requirements – it’s out in the open air and there’s usually some space between you and the next campsite. But there are challenges, particularly for average family tent campers who are using a campground with communal restrooms and showers and participating in group activities. And then there’s the masks. But the value of camping for families becomes even more important in times like these, according to Laura Enge, director of Cub Scout camping for the Greater St. Louis Area Council of Boy Scouts of America (BSA), at stlbsa.org. “It’s so good for everyone’s mental health, especially children, to be outside and away from screens,” she said. “We tell our families every year – corona or not – camping with your kids is a great way to make family memories that will last a lifetime. You may teach your kids some skills, or they may
teach you a thing or two. When we’ve all been homebound and stir-crazy, it’s a great opportunity to do something fun with the family.” The federal Centers for Disease Control included advice for camping in its recently issued “considerations for travelers.” While staying home and isolating is still considered the safest way to protect yourself and others, the CDC suggests considering several factors when deciding whether a camping trip is a wise choice for your family: • Is COVID-19 spreading in your community or the area where you intend to camp? • Is anyone in the family
immune-compromised or in one of the other risk groups? • Is the state where you intend to camp requiring quarantine for out-of-state travelers? CLOSER TO HOME Destinations closer to home reduce the chance of exposing your family during travel to camp, according to the CDC. Fortunately, there are several opportunities opening up in the Outdoor Guide areas. Most of the BSA day camps and troop camping had to be canceled for the summer. So instead, the Scouts are promoting a family camping program that allows families to camp individually on BSA properties and participate in some
The popular Garden of the Gods recreation area in southern Illinois is now open for hiking and camping. – Southern Illinoisan photo
activities. Families can choose an overnight campsite for $25 or a $10 day pass to any of seven camps, including Camp Warren Levis near Godfrey IL, Camp Joy at Carlyle IL and Beaumont Scout Reservation in St. Louis County. Some high-touch activities will be closed, including the Huck’s Cove water park, mud caves and bouldering walls. But hiking, fishing and other activities will be open, and families will be able to reserve time swimming in the lakes. And it’s not limited to families currently involved in Scouting; it’s open to everyone, Enge said. “We’ve found a way to open our doors,” she said. Many state campgrounds are conducting similar programs as they begin to open up. Accord-
ing to Compendium, 18 of 50 state park systems remained closed as of early June, along with many national parks and military campgrounds. But a month earlier, it was 30 out of 50. Missouri state parks reopened on May 18, and Missouri national forests such as Mark Twain and Lee’s Summit have begun reopening. Illinois private campgrounds were permitted to reopen in late May, though Cook County Forest Preserves remain closed, and state parks began a limited reopening after Memorial Day. THE CHALLENGES The biggest challenges in opening the parks for camping was social distancing and cleaning, Enge said. “How can we
provide a camp experience that we know will be safe?” she said. With the BSAOutdoor Family Experience, each family has its own space with its own water source and toilet facility that will be cleaned three times a day, not interacting with other families at all. That way the BSA can ensure they’re not sharing equipment or picnic tables and possibly passing the germ, Enge said. “Families are already sheltering in place, so this way they can still enjoy the outdoors, hike and fish and enjoy those things, but in a safe way,” Enge said. Illinois state parks began reopening a variety of similar restrictions, according to Rachel Torbert, deputy director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. “Certainly, keeping the health and safety of campground hosts and campers must remain a top priority,” Torbert said. “We’ve instituted several new protocols to ensure we’re helping Illinoisans recreate as safely as possible.” THE NEW RULES Among those new regulations: campsites are limited only to registered occupants with no visitors, and hosts will wear masks and use silent host boxes for contactless transactions. Campers will be required to maintain social distancing of 6 feet and wear masks when
Page 15
distancing is not possible. Restrooms and shower houses will be cleaned and disinfected twice a day. Conservation police will monitor the sites to remind visitors and campers to be responsible, Torbert said. “Go out and have fun!” she said. Just remember the masks and hand sanitizer. In addition, reservations will be required to camp in Illinois state parks. Visitors’ centers, playgrounds and beaches remain closed to encourage social distancing. Some state parks are under greater restrictions. Starved Rock and Matthiessen state parks in central Illinois have limited parking and will close when the lots are full, though Torbert says that is not uncommon at those high-use parks, even in non-pandemic summers. Pere Marquette State Park, west ofAlton, remains closed to camping for renovations, which were announced last winter and are now under way. Despite the restrictions, Torbert said the parks’ reopening plan has been very popular. “Campers were very excited to be able to get back to campgrounds at state parks, fish and wildlife areas and recreational areas, just as we were excited to be able to reopen them for public use,” she said. See CAMPING page 16
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Outdoor Guide
Page 16
July-August 2020
Rural Ramblings
Bald eagles, hiking and fishing fever!
By RUSSELL HIVELY
*** Many times summer months are the time for setting up good hunting in the fall. By finding and following animal trails and spotting grazing areas, a person can hunt more wisely later in the year. *** Most outdoorsmen realize that the American bald eagle has made a comeback and now nests in Missouri. What many cannot explain is why spotting
July and August are summer months in Missouri. It is a time when the vast greenness of the countryside is at its peak and fishing fever strikes many people. Flowers, both yard flowers and wild, add colors to the scenic beauty. It is a time when a discarded, baby blue robin egg may clutter the lawn and peeping sounds come from the birdhouse.
our national bird is still exciting. What makes this large bird so magnificent? *** There are only a few whiteribbon trout creeks in Missouri. These are creeks and rivers that have water cold enough to support brown and rainbow trout. These areas are stocked with trout by the Missouri Department of Conservation(MDC). Neosho’s spring-fed, Hickory Creek, which flows through
town, is designated as whiteribbon. *** Hiking reaches its peak in summer. The Berryman Trail in the Potosi/Sullivan area is beautiful. Almost every hiker can test it out as the trail is rated “moderately strenuous.” *** The MDC owns 700,000 acres in Missouri; about 48,000 of those acres are elm
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and ash trees. *** You know you have a future outdoorsman when you see a kid riding down the street on his bicycle with a fishing rod sticking out from the basket. *** Many people feel fishing is one of the most relaxing things a person can do. Patience is a prerequisite of a good fisherman. Fishing settles ruffled spirits, slows the pulse, lowers the blood pressure and gives tranquility to life. *** Did you realize that the name Taneycomo is really the abbreviation of Taney County, Missouri? *** Many people claim that Grand Falls on Shoal Creek, Newton County, by Joplin, is Missouri’s most scenic chert feature. It is the largest, though not the tallest, in the state. *** The drought of 2012 made some farmers bale corn stalks for winter feed. Years ago, the fields all were fenced, and farmers would send their cattle into harvested corn fields to feed. *** The MDC has been working in southeastern Missouri to restore canebrakes. The coarse grass in a cane-
• Camping SHAWNEE CAMPS RE-OPENING Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, which announced the re-opening of several campgrounds, including those at Johnson Creek, Pine Hills, Camp Cadiz, Garden of the Gods and Tower Rock. Campgrounds at Lake Glendale and Bell Smith Springs remained open, but the Pounds Hollow campground was still closed for road repairs, although the lake there was open for swimming. The BSA’s family camping program opened in Missouri on Memorial Day, and launched in early June for Illinois. On its first open weekend, there was only one family reserved for all the Illinois camps, but Enge was confident numbers would go up as word spreads. In Missouri, Camp Beaumont was already sold out one weekend, and the Scout ranch at Farmington was also popular, with its 270-acre lake and rock formations. PANDEMIC CAMPING TIPS • Check the regulations for your campground before you go. Be prepared to wear masks at times, pack out your trash or
brake can grow to be from three to 20 feet tall. *** Vegetable gardens pop up behind houses both in towns and on the farms. Some say potatoes that are planted on a starry night will have plenty of eyes. Folks are sure to always to plant the potatoes with the eyes looking up. That way, the potatoes know which direction to grow. *** Warm season plantings were once dependent on when the gardener heard a whippoorwill calling at twilight. The next day was the perfect time to plant. *** Opened in 1894, Marvel Cave in Branson is one of the state’s deepest caves. Missouri is often called “The Cave State.” *** Speaking of caves, the Ozark cavefish, (often called the ghost fish), is a two-inch long, pale and almost colorless blind fish which lives only in caves and springs on the Springfield Plateau of Southwest Missouri. *** Summer is a wonderful time of the year. It is a time when birds nest, flowers bloom, and crops begin ripening in the fields. It is a time when wildlife abounds. Anyway, that is what the Rural Rambler thinks.
from page 15 make other accommodations for new requirements. • Washing hands with soap or using hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available is always the first line of defense. Don’t skimp just because you’re in the woods. • Keep 6 feet away from other people and wear a cloth mask when that is impossible, even in the campground. • Visit alone or with members
of your household. Keep your group smaller than 10 people (your campground may have stricter requirements.) • When hiking on the trail, alert other hikers to your presence and be willing to step aside and let them pass while maintaining social distancing. • If you are RV camping, you can reduce your exposure with fewer food and bathroom breaks on the road and will likely be asked to use only your self-contained restroom facilities at the campground. • If you arrive at a trailhead
and the area appears crowded, consider going elsewhere and avoiding the trails during highuse periods. • If you are sick, showing symptoms or awaiting test results for COVID-19, you are urged to stay home and isolate.
Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
Page 17
Wild Wine Life
A different take on Peking Duck
Photo and Text By RAY MAXWELL
Traditional Peking Duck is roasted and not smoked. Also the entire duck is cooked for the dish. For those who want a slight American smoked twist and only want to work with the duck breast, this is a dish you will find to be a fun and tasty favorite. SMOKED PEKING DUCK BREAST • One duck breast • Sea salt • Ground white pepper • Lotus buns, found at any Asian specialty store
THE RUB • 4 tablespoons five-spice powder • 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce • 2 tablespoons brown sugar • 6 tablespoons honey THE SAUCE • 2 tablespoons sesame oil • 6 tablespoons of superfine sugar • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce • 6 tablespoons Hoisin sauce, found at Asian specialty stores. • 1 tablespoon corn starch
For best results, place into bowl the above order, adding each ingredient and thoroughly mixing before adding the next ingredient. Poke holes into the skin, then pour hot water over the duck breast and discard the water. Massage the duck breast to loosen up the fat in the meat, then rub course salt and white pepper onto the breast. Brush the rub onto each side of the duck breast and repeat process after allow-
ing rub to harden onto the meat. For best results, start the process the night before. Once the duck breast is prepared, place it onto your smoker at between 275 and 325 degrees. Brush the rub on the side facing up and repeat this process when you turn over the duck breast after 45 minutes. Then place onto the grill with the skin side down and just sear it to crisp the skin but not burn it. Allow the meat to rest, then slice it into thin strips and serve it on lotus buns. Add some green onion for extra crunch and eye appeal. Dip the duck and bun into the sauce and enjoy. Note that while traditional Peking Duck has a golden brown color from being roasted, this duck breast will get much darker and even have some black color because of the sugar and smoke. TWO FINE WINES The wines that we enjoy with this meal are Adam
Puchta Estate Norton from Hermann, MO, and Masseria Paione Nero D’ Avola from Sicily. Both wines pair very well with wild game, grilled and smoked meats. Adam Puchta Norton has bold and rich layers of berries, plums, toast, oak and spice while providing a smoky, vanilla finish. The wine has wonderful weight and rounded tannins. You can find this wine at retail or at the winery for around $20 per bottle. It shows the quality wines that Missouri produces. Masseria Parione Nero D’ Avola is a great inexpensive wine from the Sicilian region of Italy, with spice and blueberry aromas and licorice hints, its medium-bodied and rich fruit flavors offering you a long finish. You can find this wine for around $11 per bottle. For the video version of this recipe, along with other recipes and other information on wine and wild game, visit and “like” Wild Wine Life on Facebook and YouTube.
This duck breast will come out darker because of the effects of the sugar and smoke.
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Outdoor Guide
Page 18
July-August 2020
Outdoor Gallery Send in your favorite outdoor photo to news@outdoor-guide.com and you could be the winner of a $50 gift card from Kenrick’s Meats & Catering.
ABLE ANGLER – Archer Charles White has used his time during the pandemic to become a good angler at the lake where his family lives in O’Fallon, IL. He caught this bluegill using a cane pole and worm that he dug, with help from Grammy placing the worm on the hook. He threw the fish back to thrive in the lake and catch it again later.
NICE BASS! – Hunter Crowe of Colliinsville, IL, 8, shows his first big bass, caught on the family pond in O’Fallon, IL. He was so excited, he brought it in all by himself.
FOUR BY TWO – Nick Arnotti (left) of Caseyville, IL, and friend Fieldon Stelmoch of Pocahontas, IL, caught all these bass at a private pond in O’Fallon, IL. Each of the bass weighed more than a pound and a half.
BOW FISHING – Justin Lakey of Ava MO, in White County, used a bow to shoot this state-record white sucker, at 5 pounds, 1 ounce on Feb. 22 on Lake Taneycomo. The previous record under alternative methods was 4 pounds, 5 ounces. For more information on state-record fishing, go to http://bit.ly/2efq1vl online.
LEARNING GOBBLER – Joel Shipman, a retired educator from Kirksville MO, harvested this beautiful spring gobbler just a few weeks into the season.
BRANDON & BAILEY – Brandon Butler and his daughter Bailey shared an amazing father-and-daughter experience during Missouri’sYouthTurkey Season. Brandon says you’ll never regret taking your kids outdoors.
Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
Page 19
New perch record MDC launches a podcast series record lasts 3 days
It made for some excitement when Tyler Halley of Maryille MO set a new state record for yellow perch – he jumped right in the water to make sure it wouldn’t get away. But Tyler had barely got his boots dry before Brian Holiday of Fordland, Mo. bettered his feat by catching a 2-pound, 3-ounce yellow perch at Bull Shoals Lake. The old pole-and-line record was 1 pound, 11 ounces, set in 2009. Halley broke it by catching a 1-pound, 14-ounce keeper at a private pond in Nodaway County, in northwestern Missouri on Jan. 24. He was fishing with his uncle and some friends. A FIRM TUG It started when Halley felt a firm tug on his line. “I literally dove into the water and gave the fish a bear hug so it wouldn’t get away,” Halley said. “It was freezing! I had to go sit in the truck to warm up after that.”
“I’m going to get a replica made of it,” he said. “We kept the fish alive in an aerated cooler because we wanted to get it certified. We ended up releasing it back into another pond.” Just three days later, Holiday was fishing Bull Shoals Lake when he caught his behemoth. The Missouri Department of Conservation verified it using a certified scale in Springfield. Andrew Branson, MDC fisheries specalist, handed out congratulations once again. “Missouri is on the very southern range for yellow perch, so records for this fish are uncommon,” he said. “It’s even more unique that we’ve had two state-record yellow perch caught within days of each other.” For more information on state record fish, go online to https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/ fishing/trophies-certficates/ state-record-fish.
Tyler Halley jumped into the water to make sure he had his fish.
Brian Holiday’s fish pushed the record up by half a pound.
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has launched a podcast, “Nature Boost,” to focus on the positive impact the outdoors has on each of us. Research has linked time outdoors to an increase in overall physical health by decreasing stress, anxiety and depression. Spending time in nature, conservation areas, backyards and urban parks – when they are open – is believed to ease stress levels and increase attention spans and
creative problem-solving skills by up to 50 percent. “We’re very excited to share this Nature Boost experience with both our seasoned outdoor enthusiasts and those brand new to discovering nature,” MDC Director Sara Parker Pauley said. “It’s a chance to learn about the incredible natural resources we have right here in Missouri, including how those nature experiences are changing lives every day.” Topics include nature, health, outdoor recreation
and native Missouri wildlife. Each episode features an MDC expert or partner and highlights ways listeners can benefit from nature, whether seasoned outdoors people or those unfamiliar with nature. PRITCHARD HOSTS MDC staffer Jill Pritchard serves as the podcast host and brings an entertaining and engaging approach to sharing these conservation stories. “What I love most about Nature Boost is that we’re
going on this adventure together,” Pritchard said. “I’m learning right there along with listeners, and I’m so looking forward to seeing what else we discover together.” The first four episodes of Nature Boost are available for download on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Additional seasons are in production. Subscriptions are available. To hear the podcasts or for more information, go online to mdc.mo.gov/natureboost.
Outdoor Guide
Page 20
July-August 2020
Wildlife Wrangling and Outdoor Ramblings
Talking turkey in coyote language
Photo and Text By RANDALL P. DAVIS
If a person has been turkey hunting for more than two seasons, it becomes obvious Murphy’s Law is constantly at work. The best calling techniques and the most polished hunting skills are no match for pure fate. Even when it seems all the cards are stacked in your favor, a joker will pop up and change the game. It was such a wild card that transformed one turkey hunt into a model of frustration and a good dose of poetic justice at the same time. The gobbler’s throaty announcement echoed, pinpointing its location in a half-acre of mature timber. A hundred yards of open pasture and a woven wire fence separated us. But I had faith and pushed the twin tubes of my most endearing turkey gun, a side-by-side 10-gauge, through the wire’s mesh. It looked like the cannon being readied on the USS Missouri. I worked the cedar box seductively. The bird was interested but stubborn. My vintage knees rebelled, buckled in a squat. Which would yield first, them or the bird? Then, movement to the left. A coyote trotted out of
a ravine, listening intently to the turkey talk. I thought it would slip under the fence and vanish. Instead, the calorie-deprived coyote milled around the fenceline, then turned and traveled back on its original course. Minutes lapsed as I issued several yelps. My only compensation was a reciprocating salvo of booming gobbles. TIME RUNNING OUT By now the morning shadows were dissipating. My cover was sparse. Detection was certain. However, the encroaching light amplified a slight movement on top of the ridge. Three toms, strutting and gobbling, paraded along the crest in single file toward the lone gobbler. Unbelievable! This small outdoor theater was starring more characters than a grade school Christmas play. It was soon evident a contest had developed between the trio and the solitary gobbler. Such a magnificent sight! I yelped, the unseen gobbler would bellow, and the trio would extend their necks, voicing a comparable answer. I was a participant and yet only a spectator. Regardless of my seductive
FISHING
The frightening hunter with his 10-gauge at the ready.
calls, the threesome wouldn’t alter their course. Instead, they trooped up a slight rise and found the lone gobbler. Then, like the eye of a hurricane, all was quiet. I can only surmise that when the turkeys merged, they either fought with and drove off the loner, covered a hen, or were simply happy to join their buddy. For 20 minutes I listened for any indication the turkeys were still in the vicinity. Nothing. The sun had pushed fully above the ridge and in
my face. The magic hour was over. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS It was then that Mr. Murphy flipped his joker onto the table. A fluid movement washed in from my left. I raised my head from the gunstock and saw that same coyote trotting into the turkey’s area. The half-starved canine had its nose to the ground, drinking in the fresh turkey smell. At five yards, coyote and original turkey made eye con-
tact. The gobbler spat out three loud “putts” while trying to increase the distance between them. But the coyote was too close. The turkey set to wing as the little canine nipped and pulled out a few of the bird’s tail feathers. I anticipated a crossing shot. Instead, the turkey veered slightly and fluttered into a tree adjacent. The coyote followed, tongue dangling from its mouth. It then reared up on the tree like a baying Plott hound. The distraught turkey cocked its head, looking down on the coyote and nervously pacing along the limb. In an effort to distract the coyote, I gave three strong yelps. The songdog must have figured a bird on the ground is better than one in the tree and proceeded to lope toward me. As it came within arm’s length, I vented my frustration in a language only a coyote could appreciate – I bared my teeth, growled and snapped at the poor thing. No doubt the sight of a gray-haired human, looking over the yawning maw of a massive double-barreled 10-gauge and gnashing his teeth like some sasquatch with a bad case of jock itch, would be most unsettling to
any mammal – two- or fourlegged. PAGING WILE-E COYOTE The coyote simultaneously flinched, bit its tongue and sprang into the air. It was a real-life version of Wile E. Coyote just before the train makes contact. When the rattled canine hit the ground, it made a perfect imitation of a greyhound leaving the starting gate. The departure was so hasty, the predator didn’t see the oak tree and neatly ricocheted off the trunk. This triggered a chorus of rapid-fire yips – whether from pain or fright is hard to say – as it streaked over the ridge. As for the turkey, the rural donnybrook was too much. It flew down in the opposite direction and its feet were making windmills before they touched the ground. The last I saw was his bobbed tail racing through the timber. The 10-minute showdown was over. While I came up with an empty sack, it was a treasured experience to witness a rare and dramatic interaction between predator and prey. I also learned I could talk turkey to coyotes ... and really get my point across.
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Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
Page 21
Alaskan kayak fishing – and a surprise Photos and Text By TOM WATSON
The Pacific Ocean had just come off of slack tide, the surf line slowly inching higher and higher up the sandy shore. Rounding a point to my right, scores of dorsal fins sliced through the top of the smooth surface as a school of silver (Coho) salmon joined the incoming surge that swept the current along the beach. Secure within the confines of my cockpit, gently rocking on the subtle ocean swell, I positioned my sea kayak about 20 yards offshore of the mouth of a feeder stream fed by coastal mountains in the distance. Asalmon roe sack was treble hooked about 24 inches below a small bobber hung from the tip of my fishing rod, lying along the forward deck. My presentation would be simple – to lob the sack up onto the beach and slowly drag it back down into the water, stopping my retrieve when the bobber righted itself, indicating the roe was on the bottom, the line taut enough to reveal the slightest disturbance. I sat back and waited, poised like I was fishing from a floating rocking chair. During silver season, the schools often make their move as they sense the shift after the pause (the slack tide) between the outgoing and incoming tide.
A REPEAT PATTERN Throughout several bays on the southeast side of the island (Pacific Ocean coast of Kodiak), I’d been glassing the waters at the tide shift and noticed a repeated pattern of movement in the schools. The tips of their dorsal fins tickled the surface, leaving little wake-like ripples as the school began circling the shoreline of a bay. On this day, I had strategically placed my kayak at the outer edge of their anticipated path. Within seconds of the first fish within that school of ocean, dime-bright silvers reaching the bobber, WHAM! it disappeared as my rod tip whipped downward, snapping against the bow of the boat. With my paddle cradled across my cockpit, the fight was on. I finessed the silver as it fought back from the shallows. Between line retrieves, I let the salmon give me the classic small-boat, “Nantucket Sleigh Ride.” My light, narrow kayak glided slowly forward at the persistent tugof-war with the feisty fighter. Using a chain stringer attached to my kayak, an open ring at the ready, I brought the silvery beauty up alongside the boat, slipped the open prong through the salmon’s tough-rimmed lower lip and hoisted it aboard.
The fishing’s good in a kayak off the Pacific Ocean coast of Alaska.
NOT SO FOOLPROOF I found that using a net was just another item to crowd up my small cockpit space. With the rod still in my other hand, I could simply reach over the side of the cockpit, hook and clip the fish and drop the entire chain back down into the water. It was a foolproof way to save the keepers – until it wasn’t! Trying out a new, razor-sharp spinning lure, I hooked into a huge silver that was barely held by the tip of only one hook. To keep it from coming loose as I tried to clip it with the stringer, I decided to carefully lift the fish up and lower it down onto the floor of my open cockpit. Suddenly the line broke just above the swivel as it swung over the edge of the coaming. Flopping fish and a lure with two sets of exposed treble hooks plopped down squarely into my lap. Thrashing within inches of my family jewels, I swatted the
bare hook-thrashing fish down into my kayak’s forward hull. I twisted and kicked frantically at that hull-slapping salmon to keep those hooks as far from my seat as possible. ROCK BASS INSURANCE Fishing for rock bass is the ocean’s insurance policy to keep from being skunked. Often found within kelp beds along near-shore rock outcroppings, rockfish bite on most anything, with almost annoying regularity. If your lure is too light and prone to fluttering too slowly towards the bottom, smaller rockfish will swarm up to hit it within the first few yards below the surface. Drop a heavier bait quickly into the deeper regions of the kelp forest and you can be assured of near-trophy-sized hunkers every time – almost literally proverbial “fish in a barrel” angling. Hauling in rockfish for dinner during
kayak camping overnights was a mainstay of every paddler’s menu. Fishing was, indeed, spectacular and exhilarating from a kayak, but not without an unforeseen danger I experienced within the aquatic food chain. Some days my fishing mission was simply to catch my limit of rockfish to fillet for stocking the freezer. The 10 rings on my chain stringer matched the quota allowed so I was quite satisfied as I clipped the ninth rocky onto an open ring and dropped it down alongside my kayak. THE LION’S MOUTH My next cast scored the tenth fish and I leisurely hauled it in, relishing that last sensation of “catching” for the day. Keeping the line taut, I reached down with my free hand and started to haul the nearly maxed-out stringer up out of the water. “SPLUSH!” the water erupted in a geyser-like blast as I
looked down into the huge, carnivorous-toothed, gaping reddish maw of a bull sea lion! I lurched back, tipping the kayak dangerously to the port side, and flung the stringer of fish up and across my deck – all in the time it took for my lungs to suck in a frightful gasp. Thankfully, upon seeing me, that perplexed and equally startled sea lion dove quickly back down under the surface. From below, that tight-knit school of fish cluster on my stringer must have looked like easy, docile pickings. Turned out I was not the only creature fishing in those waters that day! As I typically did, I splayed that filled-out stringer of keepers across my back deck and, casting an anxious eye over my shoulder with every stroke, I quickly paddled back to shore. THE SAME OLD HUNT Hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago, long before molded and machined fishing kayaks dotted our lakes and oceans, northern indigenous anglers went to sea in skin-covered, wood-framed watercraft to successfully hunt behemoth whales with poison-tipped spears. Today, anglers with the same devotion, ply the waterways in craft that have evolved into efficient, floating tackle-box-like watercraft – new technology but timeless sensibilities.
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Outdoor Guide
Page 22
July-August 2020
Tips, Tricks and Thoughts for the Great Outdoors
A special thank you to our heroes
By LARRY WHITELEY
Normally when we celebrate Independence Day, we salute and thank our military men and women for all they have done and are doing to protect our freedoms. This year we should continue to do that but we should also be thankful for all our doctors, nurses, EMTs and other medical professionals for what they have done
during the unprecedented pandemic our nation has faced. We also do not want to forget all the people who have volunteered in so many ways during this time, nor our law enforcement and fire fighters, for all they do for us, too. You may not be able to shake their hands, but you can say “Thank you.” They are our heroes, and through it all our flag still waves. God bless America!
the weeks of summer continue, their songs can be loud enough to drown out most other night sounds. But to folks who love the outdoors, what wonderful music it is. They usually stay high in trees and as a result are rarely seen, but they certainly are heard. Katydids generate their rasping calls by rubbing their wings together and synchronizing their calls like a section of violinists playing the same theme. They do it so that males
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT “America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” – Harry S Truman
KATYDID CHORUS In late July, in most parts of the country, the first katydids start calling their names into the muggy darkness. As
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De-Stress Your Dog .........Page 24 .Page 8
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The Lake
Stockton Lake ...............
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Bear Hunt .......................Page 30 Stories in Snow ...............
MISSOURI
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Hunting, Fishing, Boating, Camping and Outdoor Travel is NOW available for pick-up at over 80 locations. If your advertising needs an extra punch, consider taking advantage of the expanded reach of Outdoor Guide Magazine. ILLINOIS Moto Mart-Rte 157 Caseys General Store Randalls Wine and Spirits Eckerts Belleville Sports Sales Town Hall Archery Rural King Rural King Moto Mart Caseys General Store Dori Marine Moto Mart Gary’s Restaurant Rural King Caseys General Store Toms Market Rural King Schneiders Market ST. LOUIS COUNTY Chesterfield Power Sports Sybergs Smokee Mo’s BBQ Top Gun Shooting Sports Clancys Irish Pub / Grill Randalls Wines Uncle Bills Balabans Daves World Famous Bar/Grill Terra inside Ace Hardware Bones French Quarter
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LARRY L. WHITELEY is the host of the internationally syndicated Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Radio and nationally syndicated Outdoor World newspaper and magazine tips.
can find females for mating in the darkness. Katydid music continues throughout the warm nights of late summer, gradually becoming softer and less energetic as the evenings cool. Finally, a hard frost or two silences the chorus, and lovers of the outdoors are left listening to quieter forms of nighttime music until next year. FISHING SHADOWS Shadows might be your best chance for catching bass on hot August days. They’re no different than us when it gets hot. TIM THE TOOL MAN WOULD LOVE THIS My favorite TV show of all time is “Home Improvement” from the 1990s. Thankfully, through reruns, I still get to enjoy it almost every night. My wife just loves it when I do the “Tim The Tool Man” grunt (not really). My oldest son Daron also loves the show. He likes to say he is like Tim’s sidekick Al because he knows tools and how to use them. Then he says, “Dad is Tim because he is an accident waiting to happen.” I recently got a new tool that Tim would love, and so will my son if I let him use it. It’s a Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition Knife and Tool Sharpener. Like most men, I have a lot of knives and of course, just like Tim, lots of tools. I have also had lots of knife sharpeners in my life and still do, but thanks to my new Work Sharp, I don’t need them anymore. This probably isn’t a surprise, but I wasn’t very good at sharpening knives with them anyway. It took me a little while to figure out how to use it, but unlike Tim would do, I
read the instruction book and watched videos before I even attempted to sharpen a knife. It has four different sharpening angles depending on the type of knife and comes with five flexible belts from extra course to extra fine depending on the dullness of the knife. The cool thing about this amazing machine is that you can plug it in and sharpen a lot more than knives. So far, with easy adjustments for speed and blade angle, I have sharpened all my hunting knives, fish fillet knives, pocketknives, clip knives and kitchen knives, even serrated knives, and sharper than they ever were. Then I sharpened my wife’s scissors, my pruning shears and even my lawn mower blades. If I can do that, anyone can do that. Al, I mean, my son, will be proud of me. He will say, “Now just be careful you don’t cut yourself.” Go to worksharptools.com and check it out. You can even order more belts and accessories like a blade grinding attachment which gives you, like Tim would say, “More Power” to do even more. IT WON’T BE LONG Even during the sultriest, most simmering days of August there already are subtle signs of fall’s approach and the promise of crisp air and colorful trees. It may still be terribly hot, but if you look up and see a monarch butterfly float by or some Virginia creeper turning red in the treetops, it’s nature’s way of telling us that August won’t last forever and the cool days of fall are worth waiting for. NATURE QUOTE “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
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Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
Page 23
A moonlit night, time to go fishing Photo and Text By KENNETH L. KIESER These are sad times in this country. COVID-19, social injustice, rioting and high unemployment are making 2020 one of our toughest years. So it’s time to go fishing. Catfish are moving into shore at night now. Several friends decided to skip sleep by fishing off a point situated between two long, lake flats with a submerged creek channel running down the center. Catfish use this creek like a highway, traveling at night to the promised land of shallow water and gizzard shad schools or worms that may have washed out of the soil and into their feeding realm. Everyone used different baits to see what the catfish would feed on. Stink baits, hot dogs and worms were set out on the bottom on sharp hooks with egg sinkers that allowed added distance on each cast. A swiveled leader was used to separate the weight from bait. Catfish sometimes nose around a bait before taking it. Rubbing the weight against a baited hook can discourage them from biting. Baits were set at dusk
for the anticipated bite that generally started between 9:30 and 10. Setting out early gave the catfish ample time to follow scents that filtered through the water from each bait. A TIME TO TALK It was time to sit and talk while watching tight lines and rod tips, each adorned with a small glow-stik light attached, allowing any bite to be visible in the pitch darkness. Everyone shared snacks and drinks while waiting. The moon broke through a cloud opening, radiating a glow that lit up the heavens. A distant house displayed candles burning on its back porch, projecting red, green and yellow colors that reflected on the lake surface. A pontoon or party barge slipped by out in the channel with a variety of colored lights including a purpletinted blacklight that outlined the craft, adding more colors across the bay. A cool breeze off the water provided comfort to souls weary of a troubled world. The first big bite came about 9:30 on stink bait. A firm hook set brought on deep, runaway-torpedo like dives characteristic of a big catfish. The fish bored deep
Everyone used different baits to see what the catfish would bite
with bulldog stubbornness, making the angler grunt while hanging on to his rod and reel. The fish made about two more runs before snapping his 20-lb. test line. This happened a second time minutes later on a different rod baited with hotdog, resulting in the same outcome.
SECOND-GUESSING Both anglers re-rigged and sat in silence. This is a period of second-guessing: Did I play the fish right, was my reel’s drag set correctly and did I get a decent hook set? The fish were hooked by experienced anglers using good equipment and reels
with their drags well set. The catfish were no doubt part of a school that was moving in to feed. The two bullies were clearly big and tough. They may have rubbed the line across a sharp rock or maybe they were just that strong – likely the latter. Minutes passed and soon everyone was talking and studying rod tips for the next hit. The rod with nightcrawlers dipped and a nice fight started, considerably less than the previous monster attacks, but a good, steady pull. Soon the 3½ pound channel catfish was netted and gently placed in a fish sack. The fillets would make a good meal with longgrained rice or brown beans. The next hit on a nightcrawler almost pulled a rod and reel into the lake. A quick last-minute grab saved the rigging, and another good fight started and ended with a flathead catfish netted in the darkness. THE EPIC FIGHT Bang! The stink bait rated another big strike. The angler who lost the last big catfish had a solid hook set into another big bruiser. The fish hung on for several minutes, but continued diving deep towards the bottom, twisting and turning, a catfish char-
Proper zeroing needs 50 rounds
Photo and Text By T.J. MULLIN
We have all read the articles entitled “One Shot Zeroing” or something similar. Perhaps it works for you, but I have never had much luck with such things. Even if you can get close to a proper zero using such an approach, it is not really the best one. First, the weapon should be zeroed the way you intend to use it. Firing from a rest is all well and good to get you on paper at least, but if you intend to use the weapon off-hand like you well may do with a defense handgun or even a rifle, it needs to have the proper zero in that position. Weapons recoil differently when fired off-hand than they do from a rest. Next, the group fired at the distance should have at least five rounds in it but 10 will be better as it avoids the issue of shooter error to a great degree. The distance you zero at will also need to be considered, as an excessively short-range zero can be deceptive. For handguns, 25 yards seems about right, perhaps longer for a hunting handgun. Rifles no less than 100 yards certainly, better at 200 yards. But to really confirm a proper zero, you need to shoot 50 rounds. The best way to do this is to place a target exactly over the “catching” target. Shoot your 5- or 10-shot group that reflects what you think is a proper zero. Replace the top target and repeat the process five or 10 times as needed to get 50 rounds on the bottom “catching” target. This will then allow you to see where the vast majority of bullets impact. You may find that the vast majority hit in a slightly different point than what you thought was the proper zero. You can now make the corrections needed to get the point of aim and impact to coincide. TAKE A LOOK The photos illustrate this point clearly.
Fire a 50-shot group to confirm your zero so don’t cheat yourself of scoring points.
Both are 50-shot composite groups shot with SIG P320 pistols. The targets both reflect a 94 percent score at 25 yards, fired off-hand. The target fired with the Compact model illustrates a proper zero was obtained, yielding a 472/500 score. The target shot with a full-sized P320 scored 474/500 but the majority of rounds were impacting ¾-inch low. If the point of impact was raised ¾-inch, it would have yielded a 483/500 score, or 96 percent with an identical size group. Yet when only 5- or 10-shot groups were fired with it, the weapon looked acceptably zeroed instead of being ¾-inch too low. CONSIDERATIONS If you intend to shoot your weapon other than on a formal range, you must also take into account time of day, direction of the light, and cloud conditions. While not everyone can indulge in such things, for your serious weapons, a person should follow the example of my late friend, Kent Lomont of Salmon,
ID, perhaps the foremost gun person of his generation. Lomont would check his zero by firing in all four directions, in the early morning, at noon and in the late afternoon, on both bright and cloudy days. When you do the time- and ammunition-consuming enterprise, you will discover the point of impact will shift with the angle of the sun and other conditions. Since none of us knows exactly when and where we will need to shoot our serious weapons, what you need to do then is modify your zero to get a point of impact that will be acceptable at all times and conditions, even though it likely will not be perfect at any of them. Of course, this type of activity is not called for if you plan on shooting that weapon on a given range, especially indoors where you can control the light. But even then, as indicated by our test targets illustrated, fire a 50-shot group to confirm your zero lest you cheat yourself of scoring points as mentioned earlier.
acteristic. Everyone reeled in to watch this epic fight while one man stood by with a fishing net ready to bring in a trophy catfish. Few words were spoken except encouragement for the angler fighting a good fight. The fight took several turns, and the fish suddenly flashed in the lantern light that was illuminated for the fight. A big flash of white toward the surface made it evident the catfish weighted at least 15 pounds and possibly more. The fish was wearing down but took one last desperate lunge for the freedom of depth. Then it was over. The new fishing line had broken, leaving the angler with a sick feeling. Before dawn, two more big catfish broke line, and a couple of pan-sized channel catfish were added to the fish sack. The trip ended with frustration and discussions of returning with heavier line and equipment that would better match the big cats. Good fights on a beautiful night gave everyone escape from a troubled year that no one could have imagined. The evening did not change the world’s problems, but it provided an evening’s escape into the fishing world – a great place to visit.
Outdoor Guide
Page 24
July-August 2020
Sacred water: A visit to Devil’s Lake
Photos and Text By BOB HOLZHEI
There are 105 registered fishing guides who regularly take anglers out on Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, for a fishing adventure of a lifetime. High expectations? Not really, when you consider that steady fishing action is experienced throughout the year, including ice fishing. The 180,000 acres of lake include over 1,000 miles of shoreline. We targeted walleyes on the first day of fishing at Devil’s Lake, but northern pike, perch, pan fish, trout and white bass are also popular. The annual Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers’
Outdoor writer Dave Barus admires his first walleye of the day.
annual conference was held in September at Bismarck Mandan, North Dakota, and an invitation was extended by the Devil’s Lake Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to experience the excellent walleye fishery. My wife Shirley and I arrived at Devil’s Lake for the walleye. Captain Al Freidig put my fishing partner Dave Barus and myself on the walleye. A total of four keepers each were boated, in addition to smaller walleye in the 12-14-inch range that were released. Crawler harness with nightcrawlers on number 2 and 4 hooks was tied to 14-pound Berkley Fireline, which would produce steady action. Fenwick rods paired with Abu Garcia reels were successful in catching fish in 18 to 27 feet of water. White spinner baits were topped with a nightcrawler. Bottom bouncing over a rocky bottom was the fishing strategy for the day. THE PRO GUIDE A professional fishing guide for 18 years, Freidig is sponsored by Devil’s Lake Tourism. “I was entered in the North Dakota Fishing Hall of Fame in 2015 and am active in lake access and keeping boat ramps and cleaning stations free and open to the public,” he said. The 20-foot Ranger Fisherman, powered by a 250-horsepower Mercury outboard,
Bob Holzhei also boated his limit of walleye.
boated us to a variety of walleye hotspots in record time. Freidig indicated that he only keeps walleye over 16 inches in length, allowing the smaller eyes to grow over the next year. OPEN ALL YEAR Devil’s Lake is an angler’s dream, open to fishing yearround. The season runs from April 1 each year through March 31 of the following year! Foot-sized perch are common, as are all-sized walleye from eaters to wall-hangers, northern pike ranging from 5 to 10 pounds, white bass, panfish and trout, all providing a variety of fishing opportunities. Popular fishing strategies
include slip bobbers, rigging, jigging, casting, trolling with crank baits and pulling bottom bouncers. Early European-Americans called it Bad Spirit Lake because of its high salinity, making it unfit to drink. Mirages often seen across the water led some to refer to it as Spirit Lake, as reflected in the Spirit Lake tribe. The Devil’s Lake Basin is the second largest body of water in North Dakota after Lake Sakakawea. Once the lake reaches a level of 1,458 feet, it flows into the Sheyenne River and Red River; the overflow occurred twice in the last 4,000 years. Historically the area is the site of the Dakota people,
who relocated there as a result of the 1867 treaty with the United States. The lake stretches over 374 acres with a maximum depth of 47 feet. DEVIL’S LAKE MONSTER Whether it is fact or fiction, stories about sightings of the Devil’s Lake Monster have been reported in newspapers including the New York Sun in 1984, the Bismarck Tribune in 1895 and the Wichita Beacon in 1904. Published reports date as far back as 1894, while Native American legends go back much further, some about a Loch Ness-type serpent. Descriptions of the serpent indicate it has alligator jaws and glaring red eyes, and with a tail stretching to 80 feet long, it usually appears at sunset during August. The serpent moves slowly about half a mile from shore and circles the lake twice a day, the stories say, with a slimy green color and waves of motion from head to tail. Often a wake is seen as it pushes its way along. Early accounts of the Devil’s Lake Monster may have been sensationalized accounts reported in newspapers in order to draw tourists. Whether fact or fiction, my camera will accompany me on a guided fishing trip in Devil’s
Lake. Hopefully our guide will fish further than half a mile from shore. FAST FACTS • A three-day non-resident fishing license is $25. • A 10-day non-resident license is $35, or $60 for a nonresident husband and wife. • Fishing limits for walleye and northern pike are five a day and 10 per season. • Fishing limits for perch and white bass are 20 a day and 40 a season. For additional information, contact Devil’s Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau at devilslakend.com or call (701) 662-4903. Al Freidig can be reached at al@realestate7. com.
Mike Schoonveld netted the largest walleye of the day.
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Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
Page 25
Bottom bouncing for summer walleyes Many northerners use only a 2-3 foot leader line, but Nelson likes to run a longer leader line ranging from 5-6 feet. “Either 17-pound mono or fluoro works fine,” Nelson said. “I just like a longer leader to keep it further away from the noise of the bottom bouncer as it drags along the bottom.” HOW BIG TO GET? Bottom bouncers come in several sizes and many folks recommend 1-ounce for every 10 feet of water that you’re fishing. Nelson goes with a standard 2-ounce for the vast majority of his fishing in Missouri. So when do you start looking for the bottom bouncer technique to be getting more effective? “When you start seeing 7880 degree water temps, it’s time to tie on the bottom bouncers,” Nelson said. “You’ll use this method when walleyes are moving in large numbers to the flats, which is usually around mid-to-late July.” The flats are a great place for walleye to be because the whites often school up the shad in these areas, stunning and wounding many of them. That makes for easy pickings as the walleye scoop up the falling baitfish. Pea gravel plats can be very good places to target not only because baitfish get pushed there, but because you
Editor’s note: Tyler Mahoney has written a series of stories about fishing at Stockton Lake, with help from Kris Nelson at Tandem Fly Outfitters. We ran one last summer; here’s one about a different method of catching walleyes, not only on Stockton Lake but anywhere across Missouri. You can find more at mahoneyoutdoors. com. Photos and Text By TYLER MAHONEY Catching walleyes on a jig and crawler can still be done late in the summer. However, there’s another tried and true method that usually becomes a lot more effective – bottom bouncing. While very common in northern states, bottom bouncing is still a foreign concept to many across Missouri and Kansas. So, what is it? Well, it’s the key to catching a lot more walleyes this time of year during the late summer! A bottom bouncer is a essentially a weight that looks like an upside-down letter L. You attach your main line, usually 50-65 lb. braid, to the bottom bouncer. On the arm, you run a leader line with your bait, usually a nightcrawler on a special “Tru-turn” hook. Different versions of the hook are available from multiple brands.
Nelson (left) and Mahoney hoist some of their keeper walleyes caught on an early morning in mid-August.
don’t get snagged as often on the bottom. When it comes to the actual fishing, there are a couple of tips you’ll want to consider as well. One is to start shallow and work your way deeper. On a recent trip with Kris, we were catching our walleye in 11-14 feet of water starting out. As the sun rose, we worked our way out into that 20-25 feet range. The boat needs to stay somewhere between 0.5 to 1.3 mph. We did most of our bottom bouncing at 0.9. You’ll go faster
if the fish seem to be reacting better, and slower if they are more lethargic. Like all things fishing, it’s trial and error and a lot of experimenting. KEEP IT SIMPLE When researching bottom bouncers online, you’ll notice all kinds of designs, including “double harness rigs” that include two small hooks, and the worm is threaded on both. Nelson recommended avoiding that. Keep it simple! “I start out using a single
hook with a full nightcrawler,” Nelson stated. “You get more scent and action that way, and you can always move to half a nightcrawler once you pinpoint the fish.” Other tips and tricks: • Feeding windows – Look for feeding windows; there are normally about two major feeding windows each day. • Catfish & drum – If you start catching more catfish and drum, you’re probably at the end of the walleye bite. • Give ‘em some line – If fish aren’t committing to your bait, push the release on your reel and give them some line. That allows the fish time to fully eat the bait. • Watch for white bass – Walleye eat leftover scraps from white bass feeding frenzies. Find the white bass, and wall-
eyes will be close by. • Watch the water – Cloudy and choppy water will keep fish active longer MORAL OF THE STORY The key is getting out there and sticking with it. It may take a couple of trips and some finetuning, but if you stay persistent, you will start to figure it out. If you want to speed up the process, I recommend reaching out to book a trip with Kris Nelson at Tandem Fly Outfitters. I’ve fished with them numerous times and seen how he and his team go to great lengths to show you a good time and put you on the fish. He is an open book and loves helping people learn how to become better anglers. Kris Nelson can be reached at (417) 839-2762 or go online to tandemflyoutfitters.com.
Kris Nelson (left), and Tyler Mahoney sit at the ready, waiting for a tick in the line from a walleye on Stockton Lake while dragging bottom bouncers.
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49
HEAT & EAT PACK
2 lbs. Mostaccioli in Red Meat Sauce 2 lbs. BBQ Pulled Pork in Sauce 2 lbs. Kenrick’s Classic Chicken & Dumplings 2 lbs. Stuffed Green Peppers 2 lbs. Hearty Beef Stew 2 lbs. Roasted Pork Loin Slices in Gravy
All above items are Fully Cooked and Easy to Heat & Eat
THE BEEF, CHICKEN & PORK PACK
$
89
2 - 8 oz. Bacon Wrapped Sirloin Filets 2 - 12 oz. Center-Cut Pork Steaks 2 - Cubed Pork Cutlets 2 - Boneless Butterfly Pork Chops 2 - Chicken Breast Cutlets 8 pieces – Whole Chicken – cut in 8 piece cut 2 lbs. Beef Stew Meat
HERE’S THE BEEF PACK
$
THRILL THE GRILL STEAK PACK
115
$
$tock Up and $ave for Your Convenience
6 - ¼ lb. Sirloin Steak Burgers 6 - ¼ lb. All Beef Grilling Burgers 2 lbs. Ground Chuck 2 lbs. Cube Steaks 1 lb. ½ oz. Precooked Italian Meatballs 2 lbs. Kenrick’s Homemade Meatloaf Mix 8 - ¼ lb. New York Style All Beef Hot Dogs
68
$
2 lbs. Our Famous Roast Beef Slices in Au Jus
2 lbs. Our Famous Roast Beef Slices in Au Jus 2 lbs. Meat Loaf in Brown Gravy 2 lbs. BBQ Pulled Pork in Sauce 2 lbs. Roasted Pork Loin Slices in Gravy ½ Smoked Chicken in BBQ Sauce
Call one day in advance to place your order! (Limited orders taken daily)
All above items are Fully Cooked and Easy to Heat & Eat
BRATS-BURGERS-DOGS
$
THE ALL PORK PACK
$
68
6 - Kenrick‘s ½ lb. Original Bratwursts 6 - ½ lb. Beer Bratwurst 6 - ¼ lb. All Beef Grilling Burgers 6 - ½ lb. Original Pork Steak Burgers 8 - ¼ lb. New York Style All Beef Hot Dogs
69
2 - 12 oz. Center-Cut Pork Steaks 2 lbs. BBQ Seasoned Pork Sizzler (Pork Steak Kabobs) 6 - ½ lb. Original Pork Steak Burgers 6 - Kenrick’s ½ lb. Original Bratwursts 2 lbs. Baby Back Riblets 2 lbs. Seasoned Memphis Rib Strips 2 lbs. Center-Cut Rib Pork Chops – great for
frying or grilling
147
2 - 6 oz. Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignons 2 - 8 oz. U.S.D.A. Choice Ribeye Steaks 2 - 8 oz. U.S.D.A. Choice New York Strip Steaks 2 - 10 oz. U.S.D.A. Choice Porterhouse Steaks 2 - 10 oz. U.S.D.A. Choice T-Bone Steaks 2 - 8 oz. Bacon Wrapped Sirloin Filets 8 - ¼ lb. Sirloin Steak Burgers
(314) 631-2440 4324 Weber Road, St. Louis, MO 63123 kenricks.com
• We Accept Food Stamps •
CHICKEN LOVER’S FAVORITE
2 lbs. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast 2 lbs. Italian Chicken Spedini 1 Whole Chicken - Split (2 Halves) 2 lbs. Chicken Wings 2 lbs. Chicken Drumsticks 2 lbs. Chicken Thighs 2 lbs. Chicken Breast Cutlets
Proudly Employing Local 88 Union Meat Cutters
“Old -Fashioned Butcher Service”
$
55
TURKEY
DEER
TROUT
Centrally Located for
Hunting and Fishing
• Internet Available • Queen-Sized Beds • Cable TV • 32 inch flat screen tvs
• Micro-fridge in all rooms • Kitchenettes • Swimming Pool • In-Room DD Phones
For reservations call 573-674-2114 or 573-674-3466 American Owned and Operated Jct. Hwy. 63 & 32, Licking, MO
www.countryinnlickingmo.com
Outdoor Guide
Page 26
FIREARMS
DIRECTORY Outdoor
Benjamin
Air Rifles and Pistols Rebuilding and Repairs We can restore your old friend to top notch condition. Nearly every lever link design. Factory authorized Crosman repair station
MARINE SERVICE
July-August 2020
LAND & FARM GROUND
WE KNOW LAND.
NANS BRAMN ARINE JOE BRANNAN (636) 305-0405
Email:brannansmarine@aol.com
64 Gravois Road Fenton, MO 63026
www.brannansmarine.com
EVERYTHING OUTDOORS
We farm, hunt and raise our families on it.
BRIAN DAVIS SALES AGENT
660-413-2582 MISSOURILANDANDFARM.COM North Missouri Hunting Land For Sale!
FLORIDA FISHING GUIDE
Clearwater Florida
Call us at:
618-458-6244
Florida Native Fishing Co. is a well-established nearshore guide service that has been successfully putting fishermen and families on solid rod-bending action, island hopping, sightseeing, and much more.
…You’ll be glad you did! www.CanyonFerryGunworks.com
Half and Full Day Near Shore Charters Fishing targets will be
CAMP AND FLOAT
Fishing Equipmen Live Bait, Water t, Energy Drinks In and cluded!
• Redfish • Flounder • Snook • Spotted Seatrout • Sheepshead • Snapper
Captain Kyle Howard 727-687-4848 EMAIL: KYLE.FNFC@GMAIL.COM
CAMPGROUND & FLOAT TRIPS
PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS
Family Friendly Camping and Floating in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks! • Canoe/Raft/Kayak Rentals • Camp Store/Bait Shop • Tent and RV Camping (20/30/50 AMP) • Walking Trails • Playground • Event Center • Laundry • Lighted Boat Ramp • Camp Grills/Picnic Tables • Deluxe Cabins 18700 Cliff Road, Dixon, Missouri 65459
573-759-7294 • bscoutdoors.com
Advertise Your Business for as $ little as
75
RADIO SHOW
“Outdoors with Larry Reid”
In The Outdoor Directory 10,000 + Magazines Distributed 6 Times A Year At Over 80 Locations In The Region
Call Dan (314) 256-4136 dbraun@outdoor-guide.com
Sundays at noon (Alton, Illinois)
WBGZ Radio 1570 AM 94.3 FM & altondailynews.com for Live Streaming
Outdoor Guide
July-August 2020
Page 27
Your Guide to
GREAT GEAR
Eureka’s 12-person tent is ready for a crowd
The world of really large tents is occupied by only a few manufacturers with familiar names, and one of them is certainly Eureka. Eureka’s Copper Canyon 12-person tent is hardly the largest out there – some are made to hold 20 – but it is considered a solid, well-built domicile with two entrances and a room divider, and it will hold together in a storm. The floor measures 14 feet by 12 feet, and it requires nine poles. Walls are vertical, making good use of interior space including cots. Set up is easy, with clips, pole sleeves, and a ring-pin assembly in the durable frame. The six big windows provide views and ventilation. A power port allows for electrical power inside the tent. Six storage packets and two gear lofts complete the package. Eureka’s Copper Canyon 12-person tent sells for $499.95 at eurekacamping.johnsonoutdoor.com
Grizzly 1648 jon boat by Tracker comes ready for adventure
Everybody knows about the simple, humble old jon boat that waits patiently until it is needed for fishing, transportation or other purposes. But Tracker Boats has seriously upgraded the whole idea with its line-up of tough, smart boats such as the Grizzly 1648. It comes with a great warranty, a lockable storage compartment and a big front deck, and it is 100 percent aluminum, with no wood construction. The boat comes in forest green, with grassland or woodland finishes optional, and brings a 7” all-welded aluminum-alloy hull for a smooth ride and great handling. Interior walls are welded in and foam-filled. The Grizzly 1648 is 16 feet, one inch long, with a bottom width of four feet. It can handle up to 40-horsepower engines and hold four people weighing up to 555 pounds, and total capacity for people, motor and gear is 1,055 pounds. Tracker Boats offers the Grizzly 1648 at a list price of $3,995. A long list of options are available, including the trailer. See it at trackerboats.com, or call (855) 580-0755.
Elk Ridge knife set includes an 8-inch saw
Elk Ridge, purveyor of many fine knives, offers a three-piece hunting knife set at a low price that may have everything you need – or at least some of it. The set includes a 7” satin finish knife, a 9” knife with a gutting blade and a saw measuring 8.25”, all with stainless steel blades. The handles are black plastic and its comes with a nylon pouch. This Elk Ridge knife set sells on Amazon.com for $21.98.
Husqvarna updates the camping hatchet
Orvis FlyFishing Guide is revised with color photos
Kauger’s Sandia rifles have ultra-light carbon fiber stocks
New Tract rifle scope can range beyond a mile
Kauger Arms introduces the versatile and ultra-lightweight Sandia M and Sandia LR rifles, featuring ultra-light carbon fiber stocks, Triggertech frictionless and adjustable triggers and 20 MOA picatinny rail. Both are available in the following calibers – 6.5 Creedmore, 6.5 PRC, .308 Win, .270 Win, .280 ACK lmp and .300 Win Mag. The Sandia M is a more traditional mountain rifle, pairing a straight grip stock with a premium, stainless-steel barrel, Cerakote finish and an internal magazine with hinged floorplate. Specs include a barrel from 20” to 24” and weight from 6.3 to 6.5 pounds. The Sandia LR is a long-range rifle featuring a vertical grip stock, a carbon fiber-wrapped Sendero Light barrel, and a detachable box magazine. Specs include a barrel from 22” to 26” and weight from 6.5 to 6.8 pounds. For more information, go online to Kauger Arms at https:// shop.kaugerarms.com, where the Sandia M was listed for $2,300.
Tract Optics offers an extreme long-range contender in the sporting optics market with the Toric 34mm MRAD ELR Rifle Scope, at 4.5-30x56, designed for shooter who want to stretch shots out to a mile and beyond. It features TRACT’s advanced, ultra-high definition optical system with Schott High Transmission glass and an extra-low dispersion lens for sharp, bright images. With windage and elevation adjustments matching the reticle values, users can make adjustments easily by using the reticle as a reference in relation to the impact of the bullet. The scope provides extreme low-light performance and resolution, especially at higher magnification, in virtually any light condition, within an elevation adjustment range of 30 MILS. This scope sells for $1,694 and can be found at tractoptics. com. Call (631) 662-7354 or go online to support@tractoptics. com.
Rothco Tactical Boot is tough, ventilated and comfortable
Winchester Wildcat Super Speed works with 22 Long Rifle
Maybe it’s time to update that good old outdoors standard, the hatchet. Husqvarna has a nice, traditional 13” model with a hickory shaft, but it also sells a modern-looking composite version, the H900, that knows a few new tricks. They’re both good for cutting branches and splitting firewood, in the garden, camping or hiking. The composite model has a fiber-reinforced shaft to make it durable and robust, and its axe head has a non-stick coating that reduces friction and eases entry into the wood. The grip is soft, secure and well balanced. It also can be used like a hammer for splitting wedges, although not with steel wedges. The H9009 composite hatchet lists for $52.95 and was selling for $49.95 on Amazon.com.
How about a great-looking tactical boot that will get a tough job done and won’t break the bank? It’s also about as comfortable as your favorite sneakers. You may need a Rothco V-Max Lightweight Tactical Boot. It offers a nylon and leather or suede body for long-lasting durability in an 8.5-inch, military style cross-training boot. It has a rubber and EVA outsole for great traction on the move and iron eyelets to keep the boots secured. It has a removable insole and two screen air vents to keep feet cool, plus a padded collar to fit well around the ankle. They come in black, desert sand and coyote brown colors. The Rothco V-Max Lightweight Tactical Boot lists for $91.99 at rothco.com and can also be seen at Walmart, Amazon and ArmyNavy Boots among others.
Don’t know fly-fishing but want to? It’s not too late. The classic Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide is now available in a full-color, revised edition and on Kindle. For 20 years, this book has been helping anglers learn what they need to know about such topics as tackle selection, casting and presentation, flies and how they are used, techniques for ponds, streams or oceans, and essential knots and how to tie them. The new edition has more than 400 color photos and illustrations in its 261 pages. The illustrations are by flyfishing artist Bob White. Author Tom Rosenbauer, from Manchester, Vermont, also wrote the Orvis Guide to Reading Trout Streams. Orvis.com has the revised fly-fishing guide with color photos and illustrations for $24.94 and a guide to beginning fly fishing for $12.95, plus other fishing books and a selection of fishing apparel. Amazon.com was also offering the revised guide – new, used or on Kindle.
Winchester Ammunition, a longtime leader in rimfire ammunition manufacturing, introduces Wildcat Super Speed ammo in 22 Long Rifle. The new round uses the versatile, copper-plated Dynapoint hollow-point bullet, with a higher velocity of 1300 FPS, which provides more energy on target and optimizes cycling in semi-automatic firearms such as the Winchester Wildcat rifle. The Super Speed ammunition is a good choice for plinking, target practice, varmint or small-game hunting. Winchester products are manufactured to exceedingly high standards with reliable priming and uniform powder charges and bullet dimensions to yield consistent accuracy from one box to the next. Copper-plated bullets, clean-burning powder and priming contribute to maintaining clean firearm actions for reliable function. Wildcat Super Speed ammo was selling for $19.99 for a box of 100 at TargetSportsUSA.
Outdoor Guide
Page 28
July-August 2020
©2020 O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc.
Designed in collaboration with World Champion Jerry Miculek
MOSSBERG
| 940™
JM PRO
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Inside, there’s a new durable gas system that allows for up to 1500 rounds between cleanings, nickel boron-coated internal parts for smooth operation, and a competitionlevel loading port (built for Quad-loading), elevator and follower. Outside, an LOP adjustable stock and streamlined forend, plus a host of stylized, functional components combine to optimize speed, accuracy and durability.
Mossberg — Makers of dependable, hardworking firearms for more than a century . LEARN MORE AT MOSSBERG.COM