 How do dogs know what animal they
are smelling?
Ehtan Frey, 11
 Dogs are born with an acute sense of smell,
and they learn what smells belong to what animal. Trainers help dogs refine
their scenting abilities by rewarding them for correctly identifying certain
scents, for example the smell of quail, pheasant, grouse, raccoons or
fox. A well trained hunting dog will focus on the smell of a certain animal
and ignore the smells of other animals.
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Are black labs good for hunting
raccoons?
Jason Kirby
Black labs are versatile dogs in that they can
be used for almost any kind of hunting. Although you might turn a Labrador
into a coon dog, you would have to fight its breeding and its biology.
Labs have been breed primarily for bird hunting, especially waterfowl.
Generally, they don't have the stamina for tracking coons, and they don't
have the lean lanky bodies that would enable them to carry on long chases. |
How do we get so many deer?
Samantha Breedy, 10
Back when your grandparents were young, there
weren't many deer in Missouri. In fact, the news of someone seeing a deer
made the papers in some communities. Our deer population has grown thanks
to improved habitat and an active management effort by the Conservation
Department. Deer management includes limiting when deer can be hunted
(seasons), how many can be taken by individual hunters (limits), how they
may be hunted (methods) and enforcing regulations. Deer are an important
part of Missouri's wildlife community, but we have to continually adjust
our management efforts to balance their numbers with what the habitat
can support. |
What type of gun is best for crow
hunting? And, where are some conservation areas in southwest Missouri
where I can hunt rabbits?
Logan Landis, 11
A 12-gauge shotgun is best for crow hunting.
A good shotgun load for crows is a 2 3/4 inch shell with 1 1/8 ounce of
No. 6 shot. It's likely that all conservation areas in southwest Missouri
have good numbers of rabbits. You can improve your chances of jumping
rabbits by hunting near brush piles. |
Do birds prefer cities or open fields?
Nathan Huff, 10
What they eat, their nesting habits and brood-rearing
habits will determine where birds live. Food supply is very important.
Birds that live on grasshoppers, for example, will almost always be found
in grasslands and croplands, and not in cities. Urban landscapes offer
few places where ground-nesting birds, such as killdeers, meadowlarks
and bobwhite quails, can produce and raise their young. European starlings,
English sparrows, pigeons and peregrine falcons, on the other hand, seem
to thrive in cities. |
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