Pass on the passion and respect Missourians have for hunting! From buying a call to determining how to dress your game for cooking and taxidermy mounting, we’d like to help from start to finish. We’ll cover the basics of firearm hunting and bowhunting with a few tips and tricks of our own. Find out where to hunt, how to choose the best equipment, how to identify on the fly and so much more. Bring your family and friends to help us pass on the importance of conservation and preservation of southeast Missouri’s best natural areas.

Check out our list of huntin’ camp activities and stations:
Hunting Our Conservation Areas—Natural History Biologist Bob Gillespie will be on hand to answer your questions about southeast Missouri public hunting areas

Nature Calls—Jake Hindman will help you choose and use the right call to increase your chance of success in the field—whether you are deer hunting, duck hunting turkey hunting or predator hunting [Traveler has an article on Jake in the November issue, and a sample of his calling ability is online through our e-Edition, page 1.]

Taxidermy—Taxidermist Michael Goodwin will be available to best help you with tips on how to preserve your wildlife for taxidermy

Primitive Hunting—AJ Hendershott will help you learn how the land was hunted years before modern firearms were available

Duck ID—Fisheries Biologist Mike Reed will be on hand to test your skills on the fly

Selecting the Right Firearm and Regulations—Outdoor Skills Specialist Dee Dee Dockins will provide information about how important gunfitting is to making a responsible, accurate and consistent shot every time
Bowhunting—The Bowhunters Association will assist you in learning the ins and outs of bowhunting
Cooking Wild Game—Mark Goodwin will show you how to cook your game so that your whole family will enjoy it! Follow your nose to our kitchen and taste some of the best wild game Missouri has to offer.
Laser Shot and Hunter Ed—Jerry Dippold will help you try your hand at our virtual huning game. Will you make the responsible and ethical decision?
OGT (Operation Game Thief) Trailer—Nature Center Volunteer Michael Fiehler will be on hand to explain how OGT is a program where responsible and ethical hunters can report game violations
Flintknapping—Nature Center Volunteer and master flintknapper “Arrowhead Fred” Bollinger will be demonstrating this primitive skill. See how tips for arrows were once made from the master himself.
There will also be folks from NWTF (National Wild Turkey Federation), Trail of Tears Retriever Club and Delta Waterfowl on site for you to visit.
You won’t want to miss this second annual event to celebrate the joys of hunting! Call the nature center at 573-290-5218 for more information. We look forward to seeing you at huntin’ camp!

Missouri will be receiving $8,173,479 for fish, $8,007,631 for wildlife, and $2.24 million for hunter education programs, according to data posted on the Department of Interior website.

Program funds come from excise taxes paid by manufacturers, producers, and
importers on sporting firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, fishing
equipment and tackle, and electric outboard motors. Recreational boaters
also contribute to the program through fuel taxes on motorboats and small
engines.

“Hunters and anglers have provided the foundation for wildlife
conservation in America for more than 75 years. They continue to provide
dedicated, critical funding for fish and wildlife agencies across the
nation, especially at a time when many state budgets are under pressure,”
said Secretary Salazar. “These funds will support important fish and
wildlife management and conservation, recreational boating access, and
hunter and aquatic education programs.”

The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Program apportionment for 2011
totals more than $384 million, of which more than $79 million is for
hunter education and safety programs. The Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish
Restoration Program apportionment for 2011 totals nearly $365 million, of
which nearly $55 million is for recreational boating access facilities.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration
Program reimburses up to 75 percent of the cost of each eligible project
while State fish and wildlife agencies contribute a minimum of 25 percent,
generally using hunting and fishing license revenues as the required
non-Federal match. (Dept. of Interior news release.)

Photo courtesy RMEF

Before elk trapping could begin, a construction crew made up of workers from KDFW and the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) built a corral capable of holding 50 elk in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky. The pen was built using funds from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Despite challenges posed by single-digit temperatures, repeated heavy snowfall and freezing rain, they put finishing touches on the holding pen just days before the first elk’s arrival.

Kentucky’s deer and elk herd coordinator, Tina Brunjes, said the operation now is focused on trapping.

“The holding facility is complete, we have the pens to hold the elk, and we have the handling facility where we can do all the disease testing,” Brunjes said. “It’s all ready to go.”

The first MDC trapping team arrived in Kentucky last week. MDC Wildlife Management Biologist Travis Mills is supervising the four-person team. Mills has a special interest in the project, since he is the wildlife management biologist for Shannon, Carter, Ripley and Oregon counties, which encompass much of Missouri’s elk-restoration zone.

“We couldn’t do this project successfully without help from the Kentucky team,” Mills said. “They’ve been through their own elk reintroduction in Kentucky and they’re putting their expertise to work helping us to take every precaution to ensure we bring in a healthy elk herd to Missouri.”

The trapping process, according to Brunjes, starts with laying out bait where the elk regularly travel, then letting that bait lead the elk into the trap through a series of fences.

“We’ve got bait out in areas where we’re trying to get a significant group of elk to start coming and feeding so we can trap them in the corral,” Brunjes said. By Jan. 10, two elk herds, totaling around 60 animals, were using the bait, setting the stage for trap deployment.

The trapping process is simple, according to Brunjes. She said the team found an area where they have seen elk and knew they are traveling through that area. After placing bait to lure the animals to the trap, it is just a matter of waiting.

Once elk are in the trap and the corral gate is closed, the trapping team will transfer them to the holding pen as quick as possible to minimize stress on the animals. Health testing will begin when 50 elk have been captured. Veterinarians from several agencies will cooperate on the health assessment and sampling process according to Brunjes.

If all goes well, MDC hopes to have 50 elk in holding pens by the end of January. After initial health testing is completed, a three-month quarantine period in Kentucky begins.

After arriving in Missouri, the elk will undergo another quarantine period at Peck Ranch Conservation Area. These measures are intended to protect the health of Missouri’s domestic livestock and wildlife. The holding period also will allow imported elk to acclimate to the area, reducing the likelihood of their wandering far.

All elk brought to Peck Ranch CA will be fitted with microchips and radio collars for tracking after they leave the holding pen. This is a cooperative research project with the University of Missouri. The elk-restoration plan includes provisions to protect Missouri wildlife and livestock and deal with elk that wander onto private land. The Conservation Department will use hunting to maintain the elk herd at a manageable size.
(Abridged from MDC news release.)

I was reminded of that on two occasions recently on a weekend hunt on some property I frequent. Our camp hunted ducks for opening morning of the Illinois Central Zone, the we sat in tree stands in the afternoons, when our duck movement is at a minimum.

Our opening morning was decent — by no means outstanding — with 9 birds bagged: 5 scaup, 3 shovelers and one drake mallard. We had one wounded bird get away from us.

One wounded bird, unrecovered is too many, but, considering the others we quickly killed, is less than the average. During a recent wing shooting clinic I attended through the Missouri Department of Conservation, I learned that American duckhunters average about a 25% wounded-bird loss rate, well above the 10% loss rate researchers have found to be tolerable by the non-hunters.

The clinic help my skills considerably by teaching me the realities of steel shot ballistics and my effective range. I approached the hunt differently than I had in the past and that confidence meant better marksmanship on my part.

My hunting partners often joke that they end up shooting my birds for me, but I think that is changing. The workshop, developed by the Cooperative North American Shotgun Education Program (CONSEP), covered shot patterning, choke selection, effective range and proper swing-through shooting. It was developed through years of research through hunting, observation, tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition, possibly every choke tube available and necropsy of killed fowl to count pellets that actually did the killing.

At the start of the workshop, I struggled to break 2 clays in left-to-right passing shots. By the end of the clinic, I was confidently breaking birds at 35 yards — and some attendees were breaking birds at 40 yards, about the maximum effective distance for most waterfowlers.

I wish I could say the same about archery.

Late Sunday evening, just 10 minutes before the day’s hunt was to end, I had a doe present herself broadside at 21 yards in front of my stand. I was confident that it was a simple shot, one I have practiced countless times in my back yard and on 3-d ranges.

I released the arrow and watched it sail flat and true, hitting the doe in what I was sure was the sweet spot. I heard it hit her hard just before she jumped and ran northeast.

This was my first arrow to strike a deer. Although I was calm at full draw, by the time I realized I had shot her I had those shakes many hunters get. Buck fever, they sometimes call it. Even does can cause it.

A half-hour later I descended from the stand and approached the area where she had been standing. No arrow, no blood. I was struck by that sinking feeling and those second-guesses: Was my aim good? Did the arrow really hit a vital organ? Was I imagining the ordeal? An hour-and-half later, after searching the area with a buddy and a dog, we had nothing.

The next morning we returned to the area, determined t find her. Jim finally found a good blood trail 80 yards from the stand. There was plenty of blood and lung tissue on the leaves and the trail ran about 60 yards south to north along the bank of the island, but she was no where in the area. Out best guess was that, in her fear, she jumped in the river and tried to swim. We even ran the boat up and down the banks but saw nothing.

It’s never a good feeling to mortally wound an animal we can’t recover. It’s the opposite of everything we strive for. But it happens, even to the best marksmen. It’s a good reminder of how important it is to practice our marksmanship vigorously and be selective with out shots.

I hope this never happens to me again. I will keep practicing that 21-yard shot, ready for the next deer. She deserves that kind of respect.

Here is my rough attempt at one of those hunting videos. Feel free to poke fun at me:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znxmPl_Bp7E

‘I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” – Henry David Thoreau.

I just got back from a much needed break from electronics. For four blissful days I never hit a power button on a computer. I didn’t come near a TV nor radio. We had electric lights except for when we used candles, and the gas stove (for heating) had a blower motor, but the only electronic devices anywhere near my person were a digital watch and a good digital camera…I’ve been a photographer for years, and gave up film when it became hard to find decent developers.

Once we left the blacktop and headed down the gravel road, my cell phone started frantically “Searching for Service.” I shut it off. We could have hiked or driven about a mile up to a ridge top, to a quaint structure resembling a roofed, open-faced privy, with a routed-letter sign which said “Hillbilly Cell Phone Booth.” I had to go hunt up Eugene to talk with him about the days plans, not hit a speed-dial button.

The world did not end because we were out of instant communication for several days. When I arrived home, and all my digital playtoys were plugged back in, it was like I’d never been away. Too bad.

What brings this to mind is the digitization of the outdoors. Wonder about the weather? Go online, not outside. Want to know if the Current River at Cedar Grove is floatable? Don’t call the outfitter. Look it up on the USGS site. Need to register for hunter safety, or a duck slot, or need to check your deer or turkey or reserve a campsite? Don’t drive anywhere. Don’t speak to anyone. Sit down at your desk, or fire up your smart phone. Do you need to learn map reading, if your GPS talks to you (until the batteries die) ?

Online camping reservations means you have to plan ahead, and cannot spontaneously just “arrive.” Satellite dishes on RVs sweep the heavens for a signal, instead of eyes scanning the dark for shooting stars. You punch in a code instead of talk to a person to get a hunting license, or a chance at a duck blind slot. People talk to loved ones at home, rather than meeting strangers on their way to becoming friends around a campfire. Fish are tagged with monetary rewards to track them for human reasons. And I still haven’t figured out how one can tell if a hunter is telling the truth about the sex or condition of their kill over the Telecheck system.

As the outdoors become increasingly mediated by electronics, what are we missing about the outdoors, and each other? What is it that humans crave, that digital cannot replace? On Monday I was startled by a night bird call, at high noon, in a restaurant. I thought it was bird call clock, but discovered it was a cell phone. In the middle of a star show, looking live at Jupiter and the four Galilean moons, instead of simply marveling, people wanted to know how many moons Jupiter had, and how big they were, and weren’t happy until my husband got out his computer and looked it up.

Is there a difference between human eyes, a telescope and a computer? Between the human voice and a cell phone call? Does it matter if elk intended to repopulate part of the Ozarks have microchips and radio collars?

What would Henry David Thoreau have thought about going “back to the woods” with all the stuff most of us carry?
What do you think?

This is Traveler’s first foray into video production. We hope you like it. The video was shot at our office in Valley Park, Mo., using hand puppets owned by our assistant editor, Jo Schaper. Jo and yours truly were running the puppets, while Jo’s brother, Bill Schaper, operated the camera.

My son, Jackson Styron, who has a degree in film production from Webster University and does freelance video work in Washington, D.C., edited our rough takes and added subtitles and music, using Final Cut Pro software.

The video is posted on YouTube with tags such as “Missouri outdoors” that will help our audience find it. It is also posted on Traveler’s Facebook page, my personal Facebook page, Traveler’s own website and on Styron Observer. The idea is to get it out there on all the channels we have available. It can also be played on a computer at trade shows or run on local cable television.

We did this project for fun and for a serious purpose. We want to promote Traveler in a way that appeals to the younger, video-oriented generation. We’re also developing our own video production skills so we can offer this service to Traveler Publishing Company’s customers.

If you are interested in a video for your business, please send us an email or give us a call. We’re happy to consult with you at no charge to understand your needs and objectives. We can produce a video to your specifications using existing footage, and adding type, voice overs, special effects and music. We can also shoot high definition footage at your location.

Contact Emery Styron, 800-874-8423 ext. 1, estyron@rhtrav.com or Jackson Styron, jstyron@styronmedia.com, phone 202-290-0379.

Below is the tentative meeting agenda and location, as released by the Missouri Department of Conservation. The meetins are open to the public.

MEETING OF THE

MISSOURI CONSERVATION COMMISSION

AT CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT HEADQUARTERS

2901 West Truman Boulevard, Jefferson City, Missouri

Thursday, December 17, 2009 – 2:30 p.m. – Executive Session (Closed)

Friday, December 18, 2009 – 8:30 a.m. – Regular Open Meeting

TENTATIVE AGENDA

(Background documents related to each agenda item are available for public viewing at Conservation Department Headquarters, Jefferson City, for an 8-day period prior to the meeting. Any person who would like to comment to the Commission about a specific agenda item must make a written request to the Director at least four calendar days prior to the meeting. Speakers will be limited to five minutes each, a total of 15 minutes per each agenda item.)

Thursday, December 17 – 2:30 p.m.

Executive Session (Vote to go into closed session – reconvene open meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, December 18):

(a) Call to order and approval of minutes of previous Executive Session. (610.021 RSMo.)

(b) Consideration of negotiated contracts. (Documents related to a negotiated contract, 610.021(12) RSMo.)

(c) Update on potential real estate transactions/negotiations. (Leasing, purchase or sale of real estate, 610.021(2) RSMo.)

(d) Consideration of supporting documentation for recommendation to suspend or revoke all hunting and fishing privileges of individuals who are not in compliance with applicable child support laws. Action to be taken in open meeting. (Disclosure protected by law, 610.021(14), 454.440.9, RSMo.)

(e) Consideration of confidential or privileged communications between the Commission and its Internal Auditor regarding work product. (Communications between public governmental body and its auditor, 610.021(17) RSMo.)

(f) Consideration of legal actions and attorney-client privileged communications involving the Conservation Commission. (Legal actions, causes of action or litigation, 610.021(1) RSMo.)

(g) Consideration of recommendation relating to the hiring/firing/disciplining/promoting of personnel. (Hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting, 610.021(3) RSMo.)

Friday, December 18:

8:30 a.m. – Regular Open Meeting

Approval of minutes of the previous meeting.

Consideration of the Report of the Regulations Committee, which includes recommendations for the 2010 turkey hunting seasons and spring turkey hunting brochure.

Presentations:

9:30 a.m. Mr. Thomas M. Schneider and Mr. John John, Columbia.

Purpose: To comment on Three Creeks Conservation Area.

9:45 a.m. Mr. Carter Finnell, Shikar-Safari Club International, Chesterfield.

Purpose: Recognition of Conservation Agent Brad Hadley.

10:00 a.m. Presentation of Awards:

AFWA Conservation Law Enforcement Award.

Clerical Employee of the Year Award.

Workforce Diversity Award.

Employee Service Awards.

11:15 a.m. Dr. Harry and Mrs. Lina Berrier, Show-Me Barbecue, Columbia.

Break for lunch and reconvene at 1:00 p.m.

Consideration of 1) Major Construction/Development Projects Status Report; and 2) consideration of bids received for the construction of the Roaring River Hatchery Building Improvements Project located in Barry County, and authorization to enter into a contract with the low bidder.

Consideration of October and November Monthly Financial Summaries; and recommendation for approval to revise the Department’s in lieu of tax payments to counties.

Recommendation for approval of personnel reclassifications.

Recommendation for approval to designate one new Missouri Natural Area at Twenty-Five Mile Prairie Natural Area in Polk County, and delist two Missouri Natural Areas (Big Buffalo Creek Forest Natural Area, Benton County, and Burr Oak Woods Natural Area, Jackson County).

Recommendation for approval to convey approximately 39 square feet of Williams Ford Access in Dallas County to Dallas County for bridge replacement, and to grant a temporary construction easement on an additional 0.11 acre for the duration of the construction period.

Recommendation for approval of the 2008-2009 Annual Report for the Department of Conservation, and authorization for publication and distribution.

Recommendations for approval to suspend or revoke 1) one or more hunting, fishing and trapping privileges of individuals for cause; 2) all hunting and fishing privileges of individuals who are not in compliance with applicable child support laws; 3) one or more hunting, fishing and trapping privileges of individuals in accordance with the terms of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact; and 4) hunting privileges of one individual who inflicted injury to another person while hunting.

Legislative Report.

Announcement of actions taken in executive session, if any.

Other matters of interest.

Confirmation that the next regular meeting will be held on January 27-28, 2010 at Conservation Department Headquarters, Jefferson City; and discussion of future meeting dates.

The RBFF has announced the availability of boating and fishing education grants for 2010. RBFF’s National Youth Fishing & Boating Initiative, which was created in 2008 to expand on the organization’s boating and fishing education outreach efforts, is encouraging youth-focused organizations to apply by January 4, 2010.

“We’re looking for high-quality education programs that give kids and their
families hands-on experience with boating, fishing and conservation,” said RBFF
President and CEO Frank Peterson. “Recent research shows fishing is the number one gateway activity for introducing children and their families to the outdoors. We believe these education programs help connect children with nature and go a long way towards creating future lifetime boaters and anglers.”

Key requirements of RBFF’s education grant guidelines include introducing boating and fishing to minorities and underserved communities. While all applications will be considered, RBFF will give special consideration to programs that offer multiple on-the-water learning opportunities, encourage long-term involvement of participants, provide training for instructors, promote conservation and support existing RBFF partnerships. In FY 2009, more than 185,000 kids participated in RBFF’s education programs.

To download the Grant Guidelines & Application and learn more about RBFF’s
National Youth Fishing & Boating Initiative, visit http://www.facebook.com/l/2269f;RBFF.org. Grant awards will be announced in April 2010.

A list of the 2009 grant recipients is also available on
http://www.facebook.com/l/2269f;RBFF.org.

Hunters checked 8,355 turkeys during the fall firearms turkey season Oct. 1 through 31. That is 970 more than last year, which was the lowest on record.

Top counties for this year’s fall firearms turkey harvest were Greene with 266, Webster with 223 and Wright with 215.

This year’s harvest is the second lowest in the fall turkey season’s 32-year history. The largest fall firearms turkey harvest occurred in 1987, when hunters checked 28,139 turkeys.

Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Scientist Tom Dailey said fall turkey hunting participation typically mirrors summer poult production.

“With this year’s poult production up 7.9 percent from 2008, we expected harvest to increase,” said Dailey. “Counties, with 200 or more harvested were Greene, Webster, Wright, Bollinger and Franklin. Hunting north of the Missouri river was particular low, with only one county, Ray, making the top 25. This harvest pattern pretty well matches the poult production pattern – fair to poor in the north, with more poults per hen in the south.”

Between 1987 and 2006, the number of hunters buying fall turkey hunting permits fell from 52,922 to 23,141. During that same period, Missouri’s spring turkey harvest gained popularity. In 1987, the spring harvest was 35,950, just 28 percent more than the fall season. By 2006, it had climbed to 54,714, 3.6 times the fall harvest.

Dailey attributes this shift to increases in other hunting opportunities in the past 20 years, and to differences between fall and spring turkey hunting.

“In 1987 firearms deer season consisted of nine days in November, and you could only shoot one deer a year in most parts of the state,” said Dailey. “Today we have 42 days of firearms deer hunting that start in mid-October and run into January, and you can shoot all the antlerless deer you want. That, along with healthy duck and goose populations and special youth hunts for deer, ducks, quail and pheasants and all the other hunting opportunities in October has drawn off quite a number of hunters.”

Dailey said the novelty of a fall turkey season attracted many hunters in the early years. However, gobblers are not as vocal in the fall, and they are harder to hunt.

“Fall is some hunters’ favorite time to hunt turkeys,” he said, “but for many, perhaps most hunters, that dawn chorus of toms gobbling their heads off that you only get in the spring is a big part of the excitement of turkey hunting. For them, fall hunting just doesn’t measure up.”

“As hunters head outdoors this year, we want to remind them that walking on or near railroad tracks is extremely dangerous because you never know when a train will come along,” said Dennis Jenson, assistant vice president-chief of police.

“It can take a mile or more to stop a train and by the time a locomotive engineer sees you on the track, it would be too late,” said Dale Bray, director – public safety.

“Locomotives and rail cars overhang the tracks by at least three feet on either side of the rail and loose straps hanging from rail cars may extend even further. If you are next to the tracks, you can be hit by the locomotive, a rail car or anything that may be hanging loose from the car,” added Bray.

Hunters are not the only ones drawn to railroad tracks – hikers, bikers, fishermen and snowmobilers are as well. Through September of this year, more than 32,000 people have been caught trespassingon Union Pacific Railroad property. Trespassers on railroad property can be arrested
for violating trespassing laws. If they are caught, they could serve jail time and/or have to pay a fine.

Last year, 458 people died and 426 were injured while trespassing on the property of railroads throughout the United States.