All Outdoors, June 25, 1999

1. Missourians prepare to uphold a slimy tradition
2. Apply in July for managed deer hunts
3. Foresters taking stock of Missouri forests
4. Outdoor Calendar

News contact: Jim Low, Jefferson City, Missouri, (573) 751-4115
Available via Internet at: http://www.mdc.mo.gov/news/out

"Mankind began as hunters. Making up in tools and technique what we had already lost in our descent from wildness, we assumed our rightful place in the scheme of things, one link in the chain of nature."Ruth Rudner, The Call of the Climb

1. Missourians prepare to uphold a slimy tradition

At midnight June 30, farms ponds become the stage for a summer ritual.

JEFFERSON CITYThings that go bump in the night, beginning at sunset June 30, will include frog hunters. To people who enjoy catching and eating frogs, the summer season opener rivals the first day of deer season. Harvesting frogs is kind of like mushroom huntinga quiet sport, but unlike mushrooms, one that requires a hunting or fishing permit.

Bullfrogs and green frogs are the only frogs that are legal game in Missouri. With a hunting permit you may use a .22 caliber rimfire rifle or pistol, pellet gun, longbow, crossbow, your hands or a hand net and an artificial light. The use of firearms in frog hunting on Conservation Department areas is not permitted.

With a fishing permit you may use a light and take frogs by hand, hand net, gig, longbow, trotline, throwline, limb line, bank line, jug line, snagging, snaring, grabbing or pole and line. A fishing fly or a piece of red flannel is often used as a lure at the end of a pole and line. Gigging and catching frogs by hand are probably the most popular fishing permit methods, however.

The season runs from sunset on opening day to midnight Oct. 31. The daily limit is eight green frogs and bullfrogs combined, with a possession limit of 16. Only the daily limit of frogs may be possessed on the waters and banks of your frogging grounds. That means that if you are camping and frogging, you have to eat your day's limit of frogs before you can catch another.

The hind legs of the frog are the part most commonly eaten, although some people also eat a portion off the back. Grilling and deep frying are good ways to prepare frogs.

- Jim Auckley -

2. Apply in July for managed deer hunts

Managed deer hunts require a special permit this year, but deer taken in these hunts don't count against the hunter's regular deer season limit.

JEFFERSON CITYHunters have from July 1 through August 15 to apply for managed deer hunts.

The Missouri Department of Conservation administers managed deer hunts at Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center, James A. Reed Wildlife Area, Columbia Bottom Conservation Area (CA) Weldon Spring CA, August A. Busch Memorial CA, Drury/Mincy CA and 18 other locations around the state. These include archery hunts, muzzleloading firearms hunts and modern firearms hunts.

Managed hunt application cards are available at Conservation Department district offices statewide or from conservation agents in counties where managed hunts are scheduled. Applications also are available by mail from the Missouri Department of Conservation, Wildlife Division, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180. Phone (573) 751-4115, ext. 156.

Participants in the managed hunts are chosen by random drawing. Hunters may submit only one application card. Hunters whose names appear on more than one application card will be disqualified.

Applications must be postmarked no earlier than July 1 and no later than Aug. 15. Metered post marks are not accepted. All applicants will be notified by mail of the outcome of the drawing.

Hunters selected in the drawing must purchase a managed deer hunting permit ($15 resident, $125 nonresident). No other deer hunting permit of any type can be used at any managed deer hunt. Deer taken with managed deer hunting permits are not counted as part of the hunter's regular season limit.

Successful applicants for managed hunts at Burr Oak Woods Conservation Area and James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area must attend prehunt orientations.

Details of the hunts are printed in the "1999 Fall Deer & Turkey Hunting Information" booklet, available wherever hunting permits are sold. The description of the hunt at Squaw Creek contains a typographical error. Although it is listed between Hunt No. 37 and Hunt No. 39, the Squaw Creek hunt is shown as No. 28. To ensure that they are entered in the drawing for the Squaw Creek hunt, applicants should write a 3 over the 2 in ink before mailing their applications.

Hunters permanently confined to wheelchairs automatically will be allowed to take part in managed hunts at Fleming Park (East side), Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Shaw Arboretum, James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area, Burr Oak Woods Conservation Area (CA), August A. Busch CA, Caney Mountain CA, Drury-Mincy CA, Forest 44 CA, Peck Ranch CA, Prairie Fork Creek CA or Whetstone Creek CA. Applicants must fill out a separate application form and attach a supporting licensed physician's statement. Eligible hunters must purchase a managed deer hunting permit for participation.

- Arleasha Mays -

3. Foresters taking stock of Missouri forests

Annual surveys will replace periodic snapshots that the Conservation Department has used to keep track of forests in the past.

JEFFERSON CITYForest owners shouldn't be surprised if a government forester calls or knocks on their door and asks for permission to measure their trees. The Conservation Department and the USDA Forest Service are finishing the first annual survey to check the condition of the Show-Me State's forests.

The Conservation Department has conducted inventories of the state's forest resources since 1947. In the past, it took stock of forests at intervals ranging from 12 to 17 years. This year, it has launched a new, annual inventory program in cooperation with the Forest Service.

Foresters have selected a representative sample of 3,500 forest plots statewide to inventory. Each plot consists of six subplots. A team of foresters usually can inventory two plots in a day.

Inventory crews will work year-round, inventorying one-fifth of the plots each year. When they finish with the fifth year's work, they will take up where they started. Thus, they will complete a statewide inventory every five years.

"The old system was very valuable," says State Forester Marvin Brown. "It gave us a kind of snapshot of the state's forests every decade or so. But forests are dynamic. They change from year to year, and the long interval between snapshots meant that our data quickly became outdated. Annual surveys will enable us to respond to changes in forest composition and health much more quickly."

Brown said forest survey crews are at work now in central and southwestern Missouri. They record the number, species and size of trees and make observations about the quality of wildlife habit and forest health on forest land owned by state and federal agencies, as well as private landowners. Crews always seek permission from private landowners before going on their property. They try to make contact by phone or mail ahead of time. When this is not possible, they sometimes go to the area and knock on doors.

Information gathered during annual inventories will help state and federal agencies make decisions about how to manage their land holdings for recreation, wildlife and forest products. Information from the inventories also will enable foresters give better advice to private landowners about achieving management goals for their forest acreage.

If you have questions about the inventory, or if you want advice about achieving wildlife, recreational, or timber management goals on your forest land, contact the Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180.

- Jim Low -