May 2008
Vacationers can help keep pests out of Missouri forests
Friday, May 30, 2008
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| Firewood can harbor destructive forest pests. Burn all firewood or leave it where it was obtained. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
JEFFERSON CITY-Whether your summer vacation plans involve travel to other states or shorter, in-state excursions, the Missouri Department of Conservation would like you to watch for telltale signs of forest pests. They say summer is a favorite time for gypsy moths, emerald ash borers and other potentially destructive tree pests to hitch rides to new homes.
Two pests - the gypsy moth and the emerald ash borer (EAB) - are of special concern to Missouri. Both are spreading through the eastern United States and can easily be introduced accidentally by unknowing campers.
"Firewood is one vehicle by which gypsy moths and emerald ash borers could enter Missouri," said Resource Scientist Rob Lawrence, with the Missouri Department of Conservation. "Gypsy moth egg masses may be deposited on the surface of firewood, but are fairly easy to miss if you are not looking."
Lawrence said EABs are more difficult to detect, since they live under the bark of infested trees. They also can reach new areas in uninspected nursery plants. Over the past 15 years nursery owners and agriculture officials have taken measures to keep the beetles out of nurseries. Despite those measures, it still is a good idea for Missourians to inspect ash trees planted during that period for EABs.
Like the EAB, the gypsy moth has means of travel besides firewood. Female gypsy moths can lay their eggs on any solid object, including vehicles, campers, lawn furniture or other equipment carried by campers. Gypsy moth eggs are deposited in flat, velvety, brown masses 0.75 to 1.5 inches across.
The gypsy moth is an imported pest. It has been in the United States since the 19th century, when it was brought here in an attempt to develop a new strain of silk worm. The species escaped and has been wreaking havoc on North American forests ever since.
Gypsy moth caterpillars eat the leaves of a variety of trees, but it is especially fond of oaks, which make up a huge portion of the trees in Missouri forests. Severe infestations of the voracious caterpillars can defoliate large tracts of forest, affecting wildlife and tourism.
States with known gypsy moth infestations include Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and most states in the northeastern United States. Travelers returning from these areas should inspect all items that have been outdoors for gypsy moth eggs. Any egg masses that are found should be scraped off before returning to Missouri.
The EAB also is an import, but it came from Asia. It is a metallic-green, bullet-shaped beetle that grows up to a half-inch long. EAB larvae live beneath the bark of ash trees, eating the tender inner tissues that carry water and nutrients throughout the tree. This kills trees.
The EAB has decimated ash tree populations in southern Michigan. From this base, it has spread to Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland. No ash trees have been found to be resistant to the EAB, so the pest could virtually eliminate ash trees from North America in much the same way that the chestnut blight killed most chestnut trees early in the 20th century.
Some other beetles found in Missouri are metallic green, and ash trees can suffer from many other conditions that cause them to die. However, EAB larvae leave certain unique signs. They create S-shaped trails under the bark, and they leave D-shaped holes up to three-sixteenths inch in diameter when they tunnel out through the bark. Other wood-boring insects leave oval or round holes of various sizes. For more information about EAB, visit www.emeraldashborer.info/.
Lawrence said the best way to ensure that you don’t bring these forest pests into Missouri is not to bring firewood home from other states. Out-of-state travelers should leave firewood behind. If you accidentally bring firewood into Missouri, burn it immediately.
Missourians who find signs of EABs or gypsy moths should contact the nearest Conservation Department office.
-Jim Low-
Anglers asked not to dump bait
Friday, May 30, 2008
Disposing of unused bait properly helps keep Missouri waters healthy
JEFFERSON CITY-You are done fishing and are packing up poles, coolers and other gear. What do you do with that bucket of minnows or box of worms? Dump it on the ground or in the water, right?
Wrong. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, dumping bait is illegal and among the worst things you can do.
"The trouble with dumping bait is that you really don’t know what you are turning loose," said Tim Banek, the invasive species coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation. "A dozen minnows might include exotic species that could displace native species. A left-over crayfish could be a rusty crayfish, which is an ecological disaster waiting to happen. Believe it or not, night crawlers might come from as far away as Canada. We are not sure how well any of these animals might survive in Missouri, what native species they might displace or devour and how they could harm the ecological balance here in the long run."
Far too often Banek gets reminders of why proper bait disposal is imperative. The Missouri Department of Conservation recently discovered that a Kansas City, Kansas, wholesaler had supplied Missouri bait dealers with minnows contaminated with brook stickleback, a small, spiny fish found in northern states. Bait dealers were quickly notified to check their tanks and destroy any brook sticklebacks found. Anglers who purchased the bait prior to the discovery of the contamination risked contaminating their favorite fishing waters by releasing unused bait at the end of their fishing trips.
Banek said the right thing to do with left-over bait is to put it in a trash can or other approved trash container at the fishing site or take it home and put it in your household trash.
"I know it is hard to imagine that a minnow or an earthworm could be dangerous, but it is true," said Banek. "It is impossible to closely regulate interstate or even international trade in bait. As a result, some potentially dangerous species are going to turn up in bait shops. That doesn’t have to be a problem if people are careful about how they handle those animals."
For more information about invasive species, visit www.mdc.mo.gov/landown/invasive.htm.
-Jim Low-
River cleanups scheduled for June through October
Friday, May 30, 2008
Get involved in keeping Missouri’s two great rivers safe and beautiful.
COLUMBIA, Mo.-Missourians will have several chances to get their feet wet, their hands dirty and their senses full of grandeur at upcoming cleanup events on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
Missouri River Relief and local sponsors already have held five river cleanups this year. Those events ranged as far from the group’s central-Missouri headquarters as Yankton, S.D., and as near as Hartsburg. Upcoming events will start in Iowa and end in Kansas City, with stops at St. Louis and Washington, Mo., in the interim.
The action starts at 9 a.m. June 7 at Sioux City, Iowa, where Missourians will join river lovers from Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota in removing trash from the Sioux City Riverfront. Sioux City is located where commercial navigation of the Missouri River begins. Workers will gather at boat ramps at the Scenic Park and at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources public ramp. Boats will ferry volunteers to the river banks to pick up trash that has washed up on shore. Missourians collecting trash that far upriver from their home state will have the satisfaction of knowing they won’t find it in their stretch of river after the next river rise.
Next on the schedule is a trash cleanup and river festival June 14 in Washington, Mo. The cleanup will last from 9 a.m. until noon. The festival will begin at 10:30 and continue through 4 p.m. in the Riverfront Pavilion. Educational exhibits, naturalist programs, river-safety information, live music, youth activities, food and a program by the World Bird Sanctuary are among attractions scheduled for the event in Washington Riverfront Park. The Riverfront Park boat ramp will be cleanup headquarters.
Cleanup participants should bring sunglasses, sunscreen, sturdy boots or shoes, long pants (preferred), a reusable water container and a willingness to get down and dirty. Work gloves, water, lunch and a boat ride on the Big Muddy are provided, along with a Missouri Stream Team T-shirt.
Missouri River Relief volunteer crews also will help other organizations across the state enlist volunteers and clean up rivers.
Cleanup crews will be in action in Southwest Missouri June 7 when the James River Basin Partnership and Ozark Mountain Paddlers hold their annual River Rescue on the James and Finely rivers near Springfield. For more info, check out their website: www.jrbp.missouristate.edu/river_rescue/river_clean_up.html. River Relief will also be participating in the 41st annual Operation Clean Stream in the Meremec River Basin. Check out the Open Space Council website for more info: www.openspacestl.org/operation-clean-stream/.
The fall clean-up schedule kicks off Sept. 12 and 13, when volunteers will clean up the Missouri-Mississippi river confluence at Columbia Bottom Conservation area. Just before the cleanup starts, hundreds of students from Hazelwood and other St. Louis area schools will attend a riverside education event.
The cleanup season will conclude Oct. 3 and 4 with a Missouri River Cleanup and Learning Festival at La Benite Park, in the southern Clay County community of Sugar Creek, Mo. Kansas City-area students will get to learn about the river in educational programs and help clean up the river.
More information about these events is available at www.riverrelief.org or by calling (573) 443-0292.
-Jim Low-
Fishing is free June 7 and 8
Friday, May 23, 2008
No need for a fishing permit. Just grab your gear and a friend or family member.
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| Free Fishing Days June 7 and 8 are a great opportunity to spend time with family and rediscover how relaxing and exciting it can be to wet a line. Visit www.mdc.mo.gov for more information. |
JEFFERSON CITY-Gear is all you need to enjoy fishing June 7 and 8. On those two days anyone in the state can fish at Missouri Department of Conservation areas and most other places without having to buy fishing permits.
Annually the Conservation Department designates the first weekend following the first Monday in June as Free Fishing Days. This gives Missouri residents and nonresidents alike a Saturday and Sunday to sample the Show-Me State’s fishing resources. Requirements for special permits still may apply at some county, city or private fishing areas. Elsewhere, anyone can fish without state permits on Free Fishing Days. All other fishing regulations remain in effect.
“Free Fishing Days are great for people who have friends they think would enjoy fishing but don’t want to buy permits to get them started,” said Fisheries Division Chief Bill Turner. “For others it is a chance to take everyone in the family fishing without buying several permits. In a way, it is a thank-you to Missourians for their support, but we also think that once people find out how much fun fishing is, a lot of them will come back for more.”
The Conservation Department has a wealth of free information about how and where to fish. Go to mdc.mo.gov/events/freefishdays for details about Free Fishing Days, or visit mdc.mo.gov/fish/fishrt for a weekly fishing report. Links to a host of fishing information, including fishing events, are available at mdc.mo.gov/fish/. Visit www.mdc.mo.gov/227 for a list of fishing publications and how to order them, or contact the Conservation Department Distribution Center, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180, pubstaff@mdc.mo.gov.
-Jim Low-
Scott County first in nation to meet quail habitat goals
Friday, May 23, 2008
A partnership of farmers and conservation professionals turned marginal cropland into a quail success story that won national acclaim.
JEFFERSON CITY-Scott County, Mo., seems an unlikely place to lead the nation in bobwhite quail restoration. Perched on the northern edge of the Mississippi Embayment, the county is a panorama of 160-acre center-pivot irrigation plots. Yet this area of intensive agriculture recently received a national award for quail conservation.
At an April 9 ceremony in Jefferson City, Quail Unlimited presented its National Group Achievement Award to Scott County’s farm and conservation community at the Missouri Quail and Grassland Bird Leadership Council Meeting. The council is a group of concerned citizens and conservation leaders who have played a critical role in guiding the Missouri Department of Conservation's effort to restore quail and grassland bird habitat on private and public lands.
The achievement in Scott County seem almost miraculous to those familiar with both Missouri’s Bootheel region and bobwhite quail’s habitat needs. One conservationist says the feat resulted from a fortuitous convergence of conservation programs.
Larry Heggemann, a private land conservationist for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), came on the scene just as Scott County’s quail restoration efforts were getting in full swing. In 2002, 22 southeastern states developed the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI), a multi-state effort to restore quail through the development of quail habitat. NBCI contains habitat and quail population goals for the United States. A team of Missouri conservation partners then took the information in the NBCI and developed county-by-county habitat goals. Scott County was the first county in the nation to reach those habitat and quail population goals. Several other Missouri Counties are not far behind. The leadership council has fully supported these efforts.
This is quail restoration success story is based on the availability of marginal land, low commodity prices, timely programs and dedication of local staff and landowners to bring it together.
“It was kind of like the perfect storm,” Heggeman recalls. “We had CRP (the Conservation Reserve Program) available. The Conservation Department had a pilot program going on down here and then CSP (Conservation Security Program) came in with a pilot program, too. All three were focused on getting more quail habitat on the ground. They paid good incentives, which encouraged landowners who have poor, sandy ground to put their land into those programs.”
Patrick Hulshof was one of those landowners. Hulshof, 33, went into farming with his father six years ago. He had a degree in agriculture from the University of Missouri and was eager to try innovative farming practices in central Scott County, north of Sikeston.
Patrick was intrigued when local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services workers offered him a way to improve his bottom line. They helped him get cost-share payments through the Special Area Land Treatment (SALT) Program, sponsored by the Scott County Soil and Water Conservation District to upgrade irrigation equipment and improve the efficiency of fertilizer application. Later he enrolled more acreage in the USDA’s Environmental Quality Improvement Program (EQIP), which paid a share of costs to plant soil cover crops.
Then, in 2005, the Conservation Security Program became available in Scott County. This program gave farmers financial incentives and technical assistance for planting cover strips around crop fields to stop soil erosion, improve water quality and provide wildlife habitat. With conservation management plans already in place and a history of partnership with state and federal agencies, Hulshof was perfectly positioned to take advantage of this opportunity, too.
In all, Hulshof has approximately 450 acres of switchgrass, unharvested grains and food plots under conservation incentive programs. Most of that acreage is in the corners of center-pivot irrigation fields, where 20 to 24 acres are not reached by irrigation water.
“We tried to farm it, but it just doesn’t work out,” Hulshof said. “We would need a really good year to compete with what was inside the circles. Some years we would do good and the next one we wouldn’t. Having it in CSP is kind of a guarantee.”
Along with guaranteed profitability, the Hulshofs got something that had been missing from their farm for a long time, good quail habitat.
Hulshof views his partnerships with soil- and wildlife-conservation agencies as a way to do things he likes but otherwise couldn’t afford.
“It allowed us to expand things we always wanted to do but never had the money to do, like leaving strips of grain unharvested for wildlife. We always had to feed our families first, so we harvested everything we had. When CSP came along, it gave us an incentive to leave some out there. That’s when the quail really took off.
“Three or four years ago there were no quail. You never saw one. You didn’t even look for them. Nobody around here had bird dogs. It was a non-issue. Now the quail have gone from zero to where they are just everywhere. If you’ve got a couple of good dogs and three or four hunters, you can get your limit on a half-day hunt.
Hulshof says he is not the only person who has noticed the upsurge in quail numbers.
“I suddenly realize I have a lot more relatives and friends than I used to have. Everybody is always stopping by to hunt. I am not a big hunter. I got my hunting license last year for probably the first time in five years. I don’t know a lot about quail and what they do and why they do it, I just know I like seeing them out there.”
Bill White, private land programs supervisor for the MDC, says the USDA staff in Scott County worked hard at finding landowners who could benefit from CSP and CP33, a facet of CRP that encourages landowners to set aside field edges for wildlife. Their efforts led to one of the largest CP33 enrollments in Missouri. He said post-enrollment surveys have documented a five-fold increase in quail coveys on the CP33 sites in Southeast Missouri.
“Hunter surveys report an average of over one covey of quail found per hour of hunting during the 2007 season,” said White. “That is the best bobwhite hunting by some accounts in over 20 years. Even in the heyday of quail hunting in the 1940s through the 1960s, hunter surveys report about five coveys in eight hours of hunting.”
The appeal of the bobwhite quail extends beyond the local area and beyond the farming and hunting communities. Missy Marshall, director of the Sikeston Area Chamber of Commerce, says her office gets calls from people coming into the area to hunt and fish, and she has noticed an increase in inquiries by hunters and hunting groups.
“The fact that we now have increased quail and turkey populations is drawing hunters at different times of year than we are used to seeing,” said Marshall. “We always have been known for dove hunting, but just in the last couple of years we are getting known for something else, which is great.”
Marshall measures the increase in quail numbers by the number of people she sees wearing hunting attire.
“They are easy to pick out at a gas station or a restaurant,” says Marshall. “For a chamber of commerce director, that’s great. When I see them out and about, I think ‘revenue.’ Any community would be happy to have that kind of economic impact, especially right now. We hope that quail population just multiplies like crazy.”
Hulshof says he thinks a majority of Scott County farmers are involved in some kind of state or federal conservation program. Local USDA and MDC professionals make it easy by providing planning and support for wildlife practices.
“All I’ve done is execute a plan they laid out. They did the maps; they do ll the paperwork. If I go to them and tell them what I want, they will come back to me in a couple of weeks and say, ‘Here’s what you do. You plant your seed here and you need to do this and you need to do that.’”
Hulshof is convinced that Missouri is in for a major quail renaissance, as more farmers discover for themselves what a difference federal farm bill programs and incentive offered by the MDC can make for wildlife and their bottom lines.
For more information about wildlife conservation cost-share programs, contact the nearest USDA or MDC office. More information about Missouri’s effort to restore northern bobwhite quail is available at www.qu.org/seqsg/nbci/nbci.cfm.
-Jim Low-
MDC celebrates National Trails Day with a book sale
Friday, May 23, 2008
Through June 30, you can get a 20-percent discount on a book with everything you need to hike dozens of trails on conservation areas statewide.
JEFFERSON CITY-June 7 is National Trails Day, and the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is offering a bargain on a book to help Missourians find and enjoy more than 700 miles of hiking, biking, disabled-accessible and equestrian trails on conservation areas.
MDC Recreation Specialist Teresa Kight has compiled the third edition of the agency’s popular Conservation Trails. The 102-page, knapsack-sized book is jammed with improved maps, facility information, points of historical and geological interest and details about flora and fauna that hikers will encounter on trails at 40 conservation areas.
“This book should appeal to anyone who likes to hike, bike or ride horseback,” said Kight. “Even for those who have never been to a Conservation area, taking a walk or ride on some of the featured trails can serve as a great introduction to the variety of landscapes and habitats across the state.”
Locator maps help hikers find their way to areas, which are grouped by region. Detailed trail maps show the layout of 98 trails ranging from 0.1 to 20 miles and from level, paved paths to natural-surface trails traversing rugged terrain. There is even a section on trail tips, tools and rules, plus contact information in case you have questions about a particular area.
Conservation Trails normally costs $5. However, until June 30 it is available for $4 plus shipping and handling and sales tax (where applicable). To order, call toll free 877-521-8632 or e-mail pubstaff@mdc.mo.gov. This and other MDC books also are available at www.mdcnatureshop.com.
Spring turkey harvest tops 46,000
Friday, May 16, 2008
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| Hunters checked 43,416 turkeys during Missouri’s three-week spring turkey season and another 2,898 during the two-day youth turkey season for a total of 46,314. That is 4.4 percent fewer than last year. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
JEFFERSON CITY-Hunters checked 43,416 turkeys during Missouri’s three-week spring turkey season, falling slightly short of predictions for the harvest.
Top counties in the 2008 spring turkey season were Franklin, with 838 turkeys checked, Texas County with 801 and Osage County with 696.
The 2,898 turkeys checked during the Youth Spring Turkey Season bring the 2008 spring turkey harvest to 46,314. That is 2,148 fewer than last year, a decrease of 4.4 percent.
Near-perfect weather allowed hunters to check approximately 1,000 more birds on opening day this year than they did in 2007. By the end of the first week, however, they had fallen behind last year’s pace by about 460. They lost another 350 or so during the second week. The third week’s deficit topped 700, closing the season more than 1,500 behind last year’s total. This year’s harvest is the 11th largest on record and the smallest since 1997.
Before the season started, Resource Scientist Tom Dailey predicted a harvest approximately the same as last year’s. Dailey, the Missouri Department of Conservation’s top turkey biologist, attributed the lower-than-expected harvest to two factors.
"We started this season with fewer birds than last year," said Dailey. "Turkey nesting success in 2007 was the second-worst since we began keeping records in 1960, but I was optimistic that the weather would be more favorable for hunting this year, and that would boost the harvest a little."
Weather is a perennial wild card in determining turkey harvest. Warm, calm weather makes turkey behavior more predictable and encourages hunters to spend time outside. Cold, rainy, windy weather makes the big birds skittish and makes hunters more likely to sleep in.
"The severe freeze that hit Missouri just before the season opened last year really put a damper on things," said Dailey. "With average weather, hunters could have taken as many birds this year as they did in 2007, but we didn’t get average weather."
Below-normal temperatures and frequent rain, often accompanied by violent weather, kept a lid on this year’s turkey harvest. The southern half of the state was particularly hard-hit. Parts of southeastern Missouri had received more than 12 inches above average rainfall by early May. Tornadoes ripped through southwestern Missouri during the final weekend of turkey season, and strong winds buffeted the rest of the state on the eve of the turkey season closer.
Dailey also noted a decrease in the number of juvenile male turkeys, commonly called "jakes," in this year’s harvest. Young birds made up just 17 percent of this year’s spring turkey harvest, compared to 22 percent in recent years.
"This goes along with what was observed in the field last year," said Dailey. "The late freeze really hurt turkey nesting, and we saw that in this year’s harvest statistics. The 5 percent of the harvest that we lost on account of having fewer jakes this year would have put us just about where we were last year."
He said he is pleased that hunters were able to harvest as many turkeys as they did.
"The fact that we still harvested 46,000 birds tells you something about how many turkeys we still have in Missouri. My hope now is that we will get back to more normal weather so the remaining birds can bring off a good crop of young turkeys."
Another factor not in turkeys’ favor is the conversion of grasslands to croplands.
"Nesting and brood-rearing habitat could be reduced this year as the high prices of corn, soybeans and wheat are tempting farmers to put pastures, Conservation Reserve Program fields and other grasslands into crop production," said Dailey. "A reduction in nesting and brood-rearing cover could reduce production of all of our ground-nesting birds, including turkeys, quail, ring-necked pheasants and songbirds."
He said an alternative to converting entire fields to crops is enrolling existing cropland in CP38 or CP33, U.S. Department of Agriculture cropland buffer programs. These practices allow farmers to crop the best parts of fields while maintaining wildlife habitat on the margins, where yields may be lower.
Dailey said Missouri’s turkey nesting prospects are not very bright because of the late, cool spring. Late springs sometimes translate into reduced nesting success. This year’s cooler-than-normal spring and late growth of vegetation are not in turkeys’ favor.
The Conservation Department recorded three firearms-related hunting accidents - all nonfatal - during the spring turkey season. That is one more than last year and well below the long-term average.
-Jim Low-
Anglers, boaters asked to help stop spread of zebra mussel
Friday, May 16, 2008
The exotic pest’s arrival makes vigilance even more important.
JEFFERSON CITY-Conservation officials once again are calling on boaters and anglers to watch for zebra mussels and do what they can to avoid spreading them. They say the stakes are even higher, now that the exotic pest has been discovered in Missouri waters.
The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) is native to the Caspian Sea region. Adults are dime- to quarter-size. They attach to solid objects and gather food by filtering tiny plants and animals from the surrounding water. Females produce up to a million offspring a year. They can form dense colonies several layers thick, encrusting objects with their shells.
In some waters, zebra mussels thrive and produce heavy infestations. They can clog the water intakes of boat motors and power plants. They compete with native animals for food, and they can smother native mussels, many of which already are endangered.
Zebra mussels can cause dramatic changes in aquatic communities, including sport fish. No one has discovered an economical and ecologically safe way to eradicate zebra mussels once they become established.
"Until people experience the detrimental effects that zebra mussels can have, they might not be that concerned about them," said Tim Banek, invasive species coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation. "But anyone who is concerned about Missouri’s economy has reason to be concerned about zebra mussels."
Banek noted that Missouri’s sport fishing industry pumps $1.1 billion into the state’s economy annually.
"It isn’t just anglers who have reason to worry," he said. "Fishing is a big economic engine for the Show-Me State. Anything that hurts fishing hurts everyone from boat dealerships and bait shops to resorts and convenience stores."
Banek said Missouri’s infestation is too new for people to notice much effect yet. He expects that to change as the magnitude of the infestation steadily grows.
Zebra mussels have been known to exist in the Mississippi River for more than a decade and in the lower Meramec River since 1999. The first confirmed infestation of Missouri’s interior waters came in June 2006. Since then, zebra mussels have been found in Lake of the Ozarks, the Osage River below Bagnell Dam and Lakes Taneycomo and Bull Shoals. The Conservation Department is monitoring those areas to see how the infestations develop and how they affect local resources.
All the recently discovered zebra mussel infestations are the result of the mollusks being transported by recreational watercraft. According to Banek, these incidents are preventable.
"The spread of zebra mussels throughout Missouri is not inevitable," said Banek. "Prevention is mostly a matter of awareness and taking a few fairly simple actions. I don’t think anyone who really understood what is at stake would refuse to take the necessary precautions."
Those precautions include: --Learn what to look for by visiting www.missouriconservation.org/8260 or writing to MDC, Zebra Mussels: Missouri’s Most Unwanted, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102 or e-mail pubstaff@mdc.mo.gov. --Inspect your boat’s hull, drive unit, trim plates, trolling plates, prop guards, transducers, anchor, anchor rope and trailer. --Scrape off any visible zebra mussels, however small. --Remove vegetation from boats or trailers before leaving a lake or stream. --Put zebra mussels, vegetation, bait and other unwanted items in a plastic trash bag and deposit the bag in a trash receptacle away from water. --Drain all water from live wells, bait buckets, motors, transom wells, bilges and other parts of your boat before leaving a body of water. --Rinse boat, trailer and other equipment at a car wash before moving to new areas. If you have been in waters known to have zebra mussels - including Lake of the Ozarks - be sure to use water 104 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter. --Dry all parts of boats, trailers and other equipment that comes in contact with water in direct sunlight for at least five days before relaunching in new waters. Freezing also kills zebra mussels and their larvae. --Run your boat frequently. Running at top speed dislodges zebra mussels before they are firmly attached. --Keep outboard motor’s lower units out of the water when not in use. If you boat in zebra mussel-infested waters, pump hot water through the cooling systems on a regular basis to prevent zebra mussel buildup.
If your boat cannot be dried in the hot sun or frozen, use a 10 percent bleach solution. Make sure to rinse thoroughly, and don't allow the rinse water to enter nearby bodies of water.
"If these measures seem like a lot of trouble, think how you would feel if you couldn’t catch fish in the places where you always used to," said Banek. "How would you feel if you burned up an expensive boat motor because the water intakes were clogged with zebra mussels? How would you feel if the beaches at lakes where your family camps were covered with sharp zebra mussel shells and foul-smelling from dead mussels? How would you feel if thousands of Missourians lost tourism-related jobs? How would you feel if your water and electric bills went up to cover the cost of extra maintenance caused by zebra mussels? None of this is far-fetched. We all have a stake in containing zebra mussels."
-Jim Low-
Leaky pond solutions that hold water
Friday, May 16, 2008
The Conservation Department has help for pond owners with ebbing fortunes.
JEFFERSON CITY-Most ponds lose some water due to leaks, and it’s not uncommon for the water level in ponds to fall in the summer or during times of drought. However, the Missouri Department of Conservation says if your pond is chronically low, then you may have a problem that needs attention.
The most common cause of pond leaks is tree roots penetrating the dam. Cutting large trees isn’t wise, since decaying roots leave fissures through which water can escape. Instead, prevent the problem from worsening by cutting all trees less than 4 inches in diameter and repeat the procedure as often as necessary to prevent new trees from growing.
Improper dam construction is the other major cause of leaks. Usually the problem is that the soil in the dam or the bottom of the pond is too porous. If the dam is the problem, the surest cure is rebuilding the dam. However, leaky dams and pond bottoms sometimes can be fixed by applying bentonite. This is a special clay that expands to 15 times its dry volume when wet, sealing holes.
Bentonite is used in drilling and is available from drilling supply companies or farm co-ops. It can be used several different ways, which are outlined in "The Problem of Leaky Ponds," an Aquaguide publication from the Conservation Department. Information about designing and maintaining ponds to prevent leakage can be found in the "Missouri Pond Handbook," another Conservation Department publication.
These publications are available on request from Conservation Department regional offices or by writing to Distribution Center, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180. The "Problem of Leaky Ponds" also is available at: mdc.mo.gov/documents/fish/aquaguides/2_070.pdf.
-Jim Low-
Youngsters beat long odds to bag longbeards
Friday, May 09, 2008
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| Youths who took part in the Ozark Greenways Thunderin’ Gobblers NWTF Chapter Jakes Hunt were, from left: Front - Caleb Stagner, Jared Frieze, Holden Daughton and Christopher Haviland; Rear - Lucas Jaudes, Trenton Terry, Matthew Krueger and Dylan Burnell. (Photo courtesy of Jason Bussard) |
JEFFERSON CITY-T.S. Eliot called April “the cruelest month.” Hunters who took part in Missouri’s youth turkey season amid awful weather April 12 and 13 might have echoed that sentiment. But they persevered, and in doing so they created lifetime memories.
Conditions could hardly have been worse for turkey hunting on the Saturday opener. The weather station in Mountain Grove reported winds as high as 35 miles per hour the night before. The big blow abated slightly on opening day, dropping to hat-lifting gusts of 28 mph around 10:30 a.m.
While the temperature had climbed to nearly 60 degrees on April 11, it dropped to 35 degrees by the time young hunters took to the woods. The mercury would not climb out of the 30s again until after the season closed.
Precipitation was mercifully meager that weekend, but what it lacked in volume it made up in variety. Rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow slanted down alternately across the state, stinging the cheeks of young turkey hunters hardy enough to brave the elements.
Harvest statistics provide strong evidence that the nasty weather kept many young hunters out of the woods. Those who hunted checked 2,898 turkeys statewide, 17.5 percent fewer than in 2007, and the second-smallest harvest in the youth season’s eight-year history. But before dawn began seeping through the scudding clouds on April 12, eight youngsters guided by members of the Ozark Greenways Thunderin’ Gobblers set out to pit their skills against those of wily turkeys.
Jason Bussard, Springfield, was among the organizers and guides for the first Thunderin’ Gobblers Jakes Turkey Hunt. He and a few friends and family members started the NWTF chapter in Greene County to get more young people involved in outdoor activities. With help from local sponsors, they outfitted all eight participants with turkey hunting gear. Private landowners provided places for the youths to hunt, and chapter members served as guides.
Five of the young hunters had never shot a turkey before. They were not completely uninitiated, however. A week earlier they took Turkey Hunting 101. The class included hunting safety, turkey behavior, hunting strategies and equipment. They tested their shotguns to see how they performed at different distances, so they would know how close a turkey had to be for a quick, certain kill.
The adults involved in the enterprise had no illusions about their chances of success. Rain, wind and the accompanying motion of foliage handicap turkeys’ two keenest senses - vision and hearing. Under such conditions, the big birds tend to be skittish. They may stay in open areas, where they have the best chance of seeing an approaching hunter.
In spite of less-than-ideal conditions, things got off to a good start when 15-year-old Trenton Terry, of Nixa, shot a turkey just 15 minutes into legal shooting hours. At about the same time, 11-year-old Caleb Stagner, Willard, shot an 18-pound “jake,” as one-year-old birds are known.
Half an hour later, 11-year-old Dylan Burnell, Springfield, harvested a hefty gobbler, and around 8 a.m. 12-year-old Holden Daughton, Elkland, bagged a 23.5-pound gobbler with twin beards measuring 8 and 10 inches.
Later that morning 14-year-old Matthew Krueger, Sparta, showed up at hunt headquarters with another turkey. Then Jared Frieze, 13, of Brighton and Christopher Haviland, 9, Willard, called to report taking birds also. Frieze’s bird weighed an impressive 24.5 pounds.
By 10 a.m., seven of eight hunters had bagged turkeys. Hardly able to believe their good fortune and eager to see if the group would go eight for eight, several young hunters, parents and guides drove to Stockton Lake, where Hunter No. 8, Lucas Jaudes, was about to embark on an afternoon hunt. Tension mounted as the 13-year-old Brighton resident set out. Jaudes admits he felt a little pressure as the gallery of successful hunters cheered his departure.
“I was afraid if I missed I would be the only one not getting one,” he said, “but my guide called to this bird and he just came right in without stopping. I felt really good then.”
The report of Jaudes’ 20-gauge shotgun at 2 p.m. gave notice to the others that the Thunderin’ Gobblers Jakes had run the table.
“We couldn’t believe it,” said Bussard. “We were hoping two or three kids would get a turkey. We were in the cabin looking out the kitchen window, where we could see the blind Lucas was in. We saw a gobbler run across the field toward him, and then we heard a shotgun go off and saw him run out there to get his bird.”
The eight youngsters were lucky in more ways than one. This is the first year that hunting regulations have allowed all-day hunting during the youth turkey season. If the hunt had taken place one year earlier, Jaudes would have run out of time, and the final score would have been hunters 7, turkeys 1.
Jaudes, who had never hunted turkeys before, said his favorite part was being in the woods and watching wild turkeys going about the business of producing the next generation of wild turkeys.
Frieze, one of the more experienced hunters, had shot a gobbler previously. All the same, he was a little daunted by the weather that morning.
“I was kind of surprised when I shot my bird,” said Frieze. “I figured it would be a really tough day. We got out there, and they weren’t talking at all. They only started gobbling maybe 20 minutes before I killed my bird. He was about 300 yards behind us in a tree line.
“We called to him a bit and he kind of started gobbling, and then he quit for a while. Then my guide called to him a little more, and he wasn’t answering. My guide dropped his slate call in the blind, and he was getting ready to reach for it, and then he said ‘There it is!’
“The gobbler came in on one side of us, and then he came in to the decoys and started messing with the jake decoy. We waited a little bit to see what he would do and then I raised my gun up and shot him.”
Frieze said the best thing about the morning was watching the gobbler’s reaction to the jake decoy.
“He stuck his jaw straight out and made that sizzling noise,” said Frieze. “That was pretty cool to see.”
Other turkey hunter-success statistics put the Thunderin’ Gobblers Jakes 100-percent performance in perspective. Only 13.4 percent of hunters who bought permits for the 2008 youth hunt bagged gobblers. The success rate during last year’s youth season - when hunters enjoyed warm, sunny weather, was 17.3 percent. The success rate during last year’s regular spring turkey season was 33 percent.
“It’s something that probably will never happen again,” said Bussard. “I have never seen anybody smile like these kids were. It made all the work we put into putting this thing together worth it. I’m getting goose bumps just talking about it.”
Bussard said the Thunderin’ Gobblers already have lined up landowners willing to give next year’s crop of youth hunters access to more than 2,200 acres for hunting. “If we can get more guides, we will be able to take a lot more kids,” he said. “It would be something to take 15 kids and all of them get birds next year. I don’t expect to see that happen, but you never know.”
-Jim Low-
Conservation Department announces new assistant director, Fisheries and Protection division chiefs
Friday, May 09, 2008
 Bill Turner Larry Yamnitz |
| Tim Ripperger |
JEFFERSON CITY-The Missouri Department of Conservation has announced replacements for three upper-level administrators who have retired in recent months. All three come from within the agency’s ranks.
Conservation Department Director John Hoskins announced the promotions at the April meeting of the Missouri Conservation Commission, the four-person, bipartisan body appointed by the governor to set agency policy. Appointed were: Assistant Director Tim Ripperger, who previously served as Protection Division field chief; Fisheries Division Chief Bill Turner, formerly Fisheries Programs Coordinator; and Protection Division Chief Larry Yamnitz, who had been serving as Protection Division field chief.
“The Conservation Department is fortunate to have a pool of talented, seasoned professionals from which to fill its top positions,” said Hoskins. “One advantage of having one of the nation’s top conservation agencies is being able to attract and keep the best and brightest people in various disciplines. Our people are, without a doubt, our biggest asset in delivering the services that Missouri citizens expect.”
TIM RIPPERGER
Ripperger, 52, grew up in Cooper County. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in fish and wildlife management from the University of Missouri-Columbia and is currently completing a masters degree in public administration at MU. His duties will include supervising the Outreach and Education Division, Policy Coordination Unit and federal aid programs.
Ripperger’s first job with the Conservation Department was as a conservation agent headquartered in Mound City in 1977. He held other field positions before being promoted to northwest regional protection supervisor in 1985. In 2005 he moved to Conservation Department Headquarters in Jefferson City to take the job of protection field chief. His prior work included strategic planning and working with print and broadcast media.
He is an ardent outdoorsman, who has hunted and fished from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico and backpacked extensively in the Rocky Mountains. He has traveled in all 50 states.
“Working for the Conservation Department is a lifelong dream that I am fortunate enough to live every day,” said the new assistant director.
Hoskins said growing up with rural roots and being part of a farming family gave Ripperger insight and knowledge about Missouri landowners that he could not have gotten any other way.
“Working in two major urban centers has broadened his understanding of the needs of a diverse constituency,” said Hoskins. “This geographical balance will be important as a member of the Conservation Department’s administrative team.”
LARRY YAMNITZ
Yamnitz, 52, is a native of Perryville who spent his formative years in the St. Louis area. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in wildlife conservation and management from Southwest Missouri State University. He went to work for the Conservation Department as a conservation agent in Texas County in 1980. He later moved to Conservation Department Headquarters to serve as protection training supervisor, and he was promoted to protection programs supervisor in 1993 and to protection field chief in 2004.
His natural rapport with hunters and anglers, coupled with a talent for communicating with the public about resource management issues, twice earned Yamnitz the Outstanding Officer of the Year Award in the Ozark Region. He has served as president, secretary and treasurer of the International Association of Natural Resources Enforcement Trainers and held the same offices in the Missouri Association of Certified Law Enforcement Training Directors.
Yamnitz said his love for the outdoors grew out of time spent on his family’s farm in Perry County and was reinforced by his involvement in Boy Scouts.
“I love to float fish Ozark streams,” said Yamnitz, “and I started hunting for squirrels as a kid with my dad alongside. I use a recurve bow for deer and have been known to chase a few turkeys and ducks, as well as muzzleloader hunt for deer.”
Hoskins said, “Larry’s ability to think strategically, deal effectively with difficult and complex issues, and value the importance of teamwork and cooperation have earned him trust and respect throughout the Department. These attributes, along with his personal work ethic and moral code, will prepare him to successfully lead the Protection Division and be a key player in the future of the department.”
BILL TURNER
Turner, 57, is a native of Medford, Minn. His interest in conservation dates back to middle school, when he wrote a paper about becoming a forester.
“Somehow I gravitated to fisheries instead,” he said. “Fishing has always been a favorite pastime. My granddad and I spent many summer days panfishing on lakes and river fishing. It has always provided our family with great times.”
Turner earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and a master’s degree in aquatic ecology from St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minn. He joined the Conservation Department in 1977 as a fisheries biologist and received promotions to fisheries management biologist, and fisheries programs coordinator.
His most recent work included negotiating a settlement with Ameren-UE for damage to fisheries resources at Bagnell Dam and helping develop guidelines for hydroelectric generation there for the next 40 years. Requirements that Turner helped write into Ameren-UE’s operating license will help prevent fish kills and reduce detrimental effects of rapid changes in river flow below the dam and keep the level of Lake of the Ozarks more stable, creating better spawning conditions for fish.
Turner is an active member of the American Fisheries Society (AFS), co-founding and chairing the North Central Division’s Rivers and Streams Technical Committee. He has served as president of the AFS Missouri Chapter and is a member of the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the American Water Resources Association.
Turner’s honors include the Missouri AFS John L. Funk Award of Excellence, the AFS North Central Division Meritorious Service Award, the Fisheries Division Employee of the Year and the Missouri State Employee of the Month awards.
“Through his extensive background, Bill has honed the characteristics necessary to lead a vital division,” said Hoskins. “His proven technical expertise, ability to address multiple, shifting demands and negotiate positive outcomes will be invaluable as he undertakes Fisheries Division Chief responsibilities. These talents, along with his personal commitment to excellence and integrity will make him a vital member of the department’s leadership team.”
Ripperger, Turner and Yamnitz assumed their new duties May 1.
-Jim Low-
Second-week turkey harvest down 800 from last year
Friday, May 09, 2008
With one week of hunting left and a fairly normal weather forecast, Missouri’s top turkey expert still expects a harvest similar to last year’s.
JEFFERSON CITY-Missouri hunters checked 12,698 turkeys during the second week of the spring turkey season, boosting the total for the first two weeks of the season to 35,006.
The second week of the season - like the first - had typically variable spring weather. Alternating chilly and balmy, rainy and sunny weather kept hunters guessing, but the weather was good enough overall to give hunters a fair chance at shooting gobblers.
Hunters checked approximately 800 fewer turkeys during the first two weeks of this year’s spring turkey season than they did during the same period in 2007. Last year’s end-of-season harvest was 44,945.
The harvest during the first two weeks of this year’s season is about 6,000 fewer than in 2006, when hunters checked 51,415 turkeys.
Top counties for the first two weeks of the season were Franklin with 683, Texas with 651 and Osage with 599.
Resource Scientist Tom Dailey, the Missouri Department of Conservation’s top turkey expert, said his pre-season prediction that hunters would kill 45,000 turkeys likely was a little high, but he does not expect hunters to miss that mark by much.
“Since we were 800 behind last year at the two-week mark, I don’t think we are likely to make that up in the last week of the season,” said Dailey. “But the weather forecast calls for fairly normal spring weather, so I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t have a third-week harvest of eight or nine thousand birds. That would put us in the mid-forty thousands for the entire season.”
Hunters shot just over 9,000 turkeys during the last week of the 2007 season and nearly 10,000 during the final week in 2006.
-Jim Low-
Conservation Commission to meet May 29-30 in Jefferson City
Friday, May 09, 2008
JEFFERSON CITY-The Missouri Conservation Commission will meet May 29 and 30 in Jefferson City.
The Commission will hold a closed executive session at 10 a.m. May 29 in the auditorium at Conservation Department Headquarters, 2901 W. Truman Blvd., Jefferson City. It hold an open budget workshop at 1 p.m. The regular open meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. May 30 in the auditorium.
Items to be placed on the agenda for presentations or other business should be sent in writing to Director, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180, fax (573) 751-4467, at least 10 working days before the meeting date. The deadline for the next meeting is May 14.
People requiring special services or accommodations to attend Conservation Commission meetings can make arrangements by writing to the same address, or by phone at (573) 751-4115.
Commissioners are: William F. “Chip” McGeehan, Marshfield, chairman; Lowell Mohler, Jefferson City, vice-chairman; Don R. Johnson, Festus, Secretary; and Becky L. Plattner, Grand Pass, member.
-Jim Low-
Drivers can help troubled travelers
Friday, May 02, 2008
 |
| Motorists should never take dangerous actions to avoid running over nomadic box turtles. When circumstances permit, however, they should avoid hitting the harmless creatures or even move them to the side of the road in the direction they are headed. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
JEFFERSON CITY-You are cruising down the highway on a beautiful spring day when you spot a fist-sized stone on the pavement ahead. Then you notice the stone is moving. Your reaction could have serious consequences for you and for one of Missouri’s most beloved animals and the state reptile, the three-toed box turtle.
Box turtles probably are more likely to die by being struck by a motor vehicle than any other way, according to Missouri Department of Conservation Herpetologist Jeff Briggler. He would like to see fewer of the harmless creatures die on highways. On the other hand, he doesn’t want people put in danger in the process.
Missouri has two species of box turtles. The three-toed box turtle is primarily a woodland species and is found everywhere but the extreme northern part of the state. The ornate box turtle is found in all but the southeastern corner of the state, but is more adapted to grassland and is most common in western Missouri.
Three-toed box turtles have three toes on each hind foot, unless they have lost a few appendages to predators or frostbite. Ornate box turtles usually have four toes per hind foot. In keeping with their name, ornate box turtles also have more vivid yellow stripes on a black background on the tops of their shells. The bottoms of their shells typically have streaks of black on a yellow background.
Both species suffer significant casualties each spring. Turtles are struck by cars throughout the warm months, but they are at special risk at this time of year, when they are moving around looking for mates and establishing home ranges.
Nor is romantic wanderlust the only factor contributing to box turtles’ special spring peril. Like other reptiles, they are cold-blooded. Walking out onto warm asphalt and basking in the morning sun feels good when the air and earth still carry winter’s chill. That sets them up for disaster.
Being long-lived animals, box turtles have a low reproductive rate. Before roads crisscrossed their habitat a low reproductive rate was no big deal. Animals that continue laying eggs past 60 years of age can afford to take their time replacing themselves. But the unnatural mortality caused by speeding cars is a problem.
“Box turtles’ survival strategy doesn’t take cars into account,” said Briggler. “Not much is known for sure about the impact, but all you have to do is count the dead ones alongside any stretch of highway in May or June to know that highway mortality is a fairly significant drain on the population.”
Briggler says there is a fine line between things drivers can do safely to avoid hitting box turtles and dangerous actions.
“I would never want anyone to swerve to miss a turtle,” he said. “But if there is a shoulder, or if there is no oncoming traffic, you can steer around turtles.”
Likewise, Briggler does not want motorists to endanger themselves to help turtles across the road. But if conditions permit them to park their cars entirely off the roadway and traffic is not heavy, turtles can be carried to the side of the road where they were headed and placed at least 15 feet beyond the pavement, facing away from the road.
Briggler also is troubled by the too-common practice of capturing box turtles for pets. He said the animals’ nutritional needs are not easy to meet in captivity, so captive turtles are likely to die due to improper care. In most cases, that means slow starvation.
“If you want to keep a turtle in your yard for a day or two for the enjoyment of watching them, that’s fine, but make sure they have somewhere they can get out of the sun, and return them to the same spot where you picked them up.”
He said turtles are intimately familiar with their home areas. If released in strange surroundings, they might have trouble finding food or wander across roads trying to meet their daily needs. By keeping your eyes on the roads, you can spare the lives of many box turtles.
-Jim Low-
Conservation Commission adds late portion to youth deer season, expands area covered by four-point rule
Friday, May 02, 2008
Changes in this year’s deer regulations include a present for young hunters - a second youth hunt during the holidays.
JEFFERSON CITY-Changes in deer-hunting regulations approved by the Missouri Conservation Commission at its April meeting include one that enjoys popular support from hunters and one that is likely to be a hit with hunters 15 and younger.
The Missouri Conservation Commission has more than doubled the number of counties included in the so-called “four-point rule.” This regulation was tested in 29 counties from 2004 through 2007. This year, with strong support from hunters, it will apply in the same counties as before, plus 36 new counties.
The Conservation Commission also voted to add a second, late Youth Portion of Firearms Deer Season. Hunters under age 16 will have their own times to hunt Nov. 1 and 2, 2008, and Jan. 3 and 4, 2009.
Counties included under the four-point rule this year are Adair, Andrew, Atchison, Audrain, Barton, Bates, Benton, Boone, Buchanan, Caldwell, Callaway Camden, Carroll, Cedar, Chariton, Clark, Clinton, Cole, Cooper, Daviess, DeKalb, Franklin, Gasconade, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Henry, Hickory, Holt, Howard, Johnson, Knox, Lafayette, Lewis, Lincoln, Linn, Livingston, Macon, Maries, Marion, Mercer, Miller, Moniteau, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Nodaway Osage, Pettis, Phelps, Pike, Pulaski, Putnam, Ralls, Randolph, Ray, St. Clair, Saline, Schuyler, Scotland, Shelby, Sullivan, Vernon, Warren and Worth.
The four-point rule allows hunters to take a buck only if its antlers are less than 3 inches long or have at least four points 1 inch or longer on at least one side.
The Conservation Department decided to try antler restrictions for two reasons. One was to encourage hunters to shoot more does. This could help the agency control deer numbers in areas where they rise above target levels.
The four-point rule also was designed to allow more bucks to reach ages of 3 years or older. This would produce a deer population with a more normal age and sex distribution.
The traditional hunter bias toward shooting bucks, rather than does, creates a population with a disproportionate number of does and young bucks. Requiring hunters to pass up deer with no more than three points on a side allows more bucks to live to maturity. A population with more mature bucks has more large-antlered deer. For many hunters, the opportunity to take buck with big antlers is an important part of a high-quality hunting experience.
Information gathered during the four-year test of the four-point rule showed it increased doe harvests in central Missouri counties, but not in pilot counties in northwestern Missouri. The four-point rule increased the number of mature, large-antlered deer in both central and northwestern counties.
A mail survey of firearms deer hunters statewide found a majority of hunters in 74 of Missouri’s 114 counties favored the four-point rule. The 30 counties where half or more of hunters do not want the four-point rule are in southern Missouri, generally southeast of a line from St. Louis to the southwestern corner of the state. More than 70 percent of hunters expressed support for the four-point rule in 22 counties that lie mostly in northern Missouri.
Hunters and nonhunters who expressed opinions at public meetings and through written comments were even more strongly in favor of the four-point rule. Comments from 60 counties ran in favor of the four-point rule by 70 percent or more. Only fourteen counties had comments with less than a majority in favor of the four-point rule.
“We found that most hunters in most parts of the state like the four-point rule,” said Resource Scientist Lonnie Hansen, the Conservation Department’s top deer biologist. “We also discovered people liked the rule more the longer it was in effect in their counties. Approval of the four-point rule increased in adjoining counties during the four-year trial, too.”
Hansen said the rule’s popularity was a major factor in extending it.
“It didn’t work quite as well as we had hoped as a management tool. It did a better job of shifting harvest from bucks to does in central Missouri than in the northwest, where we really need more population management tools. But hunters really like it, especially in the northern half of the state.”
Hansen said the Conservation Commission decided not to implement the four-point rule in counties around urban areas at this time because it actually seemed to reduce deer harvest in some northern-Missouri counties.
“The four-point rule doesn’t seem to be the best way manage deer in urban areas, because we encourage harvest of all sex and age categories,” he said.
The late Youth Portion of Firearms Deer Season will give youngsters the last shot at deer hunting at a time of year when many can take advantage of it. Hansen said the additional days of youth deer hunting are part of the Conservation Department’s continuing effort to make hunting more accessible to young people.
“A lot of Missourians take vacation around the holidays,” said Hansen. “Youngsters who get deer rifles for Christmas will be able to use them. The youth-only season allows adults to focus their attention on teaching kids to hunt. That enhances the hunt’s value as a time for family.”
The length and timing of other 2008 fall deer and turkey seasons remain unchanged from last year. These include: --Archery deer and turkey - Sept. 15-Nov. 14 and Nov. 26-Jan. 15 --Urban Portion of Firearms Deer Season - Oct. 3-6 --November Portion of Firearms Deer Season - Nov. 15-25 --Muzzleloader Portion of Firearms Deer Season - Nov. 28-Dec. 7 --Antlerless Portion of Firearms Deer Season - Dec. 13-21
Other changes in deer hunting regulations approved at the April
Commission meeting include: --Removing two counties in the Springfield area - Christian and Webster - from the area open to hunting during the Urban Portion of Firearms Deer Season. --Removing seven southwest-Missouri counties - Barton, Christian, Dade, Jasper, Lawrence, Polk and Webster - from the area open to hunting during the Antlerless Portion of Firearms Deer Season. --Adding one central-Missouri county - Miller - to the area open during the Antlerless Portion of Firearms Deer Season. --Adding 12 southwest-Missouri counties - Barry, Barton, Christian, Dade, Jasper, Lawrence, McDonald, Newton, Polk, Stone, Webster and Wright - to the area where hunters may only fill one antlerless-only deer tag.
Additional details of deer and turkey hunting regulations will be published in the 2008 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, which will be available from permit vendors statewide in July.
-Jim Low-
Hunters shoot 22,308 turkeys during first week of season
Friday, May 02, 2008
This year’s first-week harvest was down just 2 percent from 2007.
JEFFERSON CITY-Hunters checked 22,308 turkeys during the first week of Missouri’s spring turkey season. The state’s top turkey biologist says that is very good, considering the circumstances.
The first-week harvest was virtually the same as last year, when hunters bagged 22,764 birds. Top harvest counties were: Franklin, 459; Osage, 414; and Texas, 411.
Missouri Department of Conservation Resource Scientist Tom Dailey said he was pleased to see the opening-week figures.
“Keeping up with last year’s harvest is good news,” said Dailey. “The state’s turkey flock has had some tough breaks in recent years, especially last year.”
A severe cold snap the first week of April 2007 made things tough for both turkeys and turkey hunters. The deep freeze forced some hens to desert their nests and reset the clock on turkey mating behavior. As a result, last year’s first-week turkey harvest was the smallest in 10 years, and this was followed by production of young turkeys that was the second-lowest on record.
Missouri’s spring turkey season is timed to put hunters in the woods at about the same time that turkey hens begin incubating their eggs. This timing permits hens and gobblers to take care of the business of replacing themselves before hunters start harvesting male turkeys. It also makes gobblers more receptive to the calls of hunters.
Hunters had different conditions this year. This spring has been cooler and wetter than normal, and turkey mating behavior might be behind schedule.
“The week before the season opened, our volunteer gobbling study indicated that the number of gobbles heard per observer was only 27 compared to 38 in 2007,” said Dailey. “There is a chance that gobbling will pick up as the season progresses. We know there are relatively more 2-year-old-birds, but fewer jakes, because of fair production in 2006 and very poor production in 2007.
Opening day was warm and sunny. Hunters checked more than 7,000 birds that day alone.
Thunderstorms marred the second day of the season in much of the state, but weather during the following five days was generally favorable for hunting.
Before the season opened, Dailey predicted that this year’s final turkey harvest would be similar to last year’s, with hunters taking approximately 3,000 turkeys during the two-day youth season and another 45,000 during the regular spring season. He stands by that prediction. In previous years the first-week harvests have been 45 to 50 percent of the total taken during the three-week season, so this year’s harvest likely will not be much different than in 2007.
“Weather is the least predictable factor in turkey harvest,” said Dailey. “If we continue to have good weather, this year’s harvest could be around 45,000 again. Wind, rain and colder-than-normal temperatures might cut into that a little, but we have a strong start.”
Dailey said he hopes the weather also will help turkeys make up some of the losses they have suffered in recent years. He said a strong spring harvest will not prevent turkey numbers from increasing if hens get a chance to bring off a strong crop of poults.
“With some luck, we will have average weather in May and June, and the state’s turkey flock will begin to rebuild,” said Dailey. “Turkeys are surprisingly prolific. Their numbers can bounce back within a few years with the right conditions.”
-Jim Low-
