Outdoors

I was on the river last week the day before the storm, all by myself. I fished for a couple of hours without seeing a fish. For this late in the spring’s beginning, the water was very cold, as clear as I ever saw it in March But it was a wonderful day, alone and

When late autumn winds were putting a chill on Truman Lake, Missouri Department of Conservation Fisheries Management Biologist Chris Brooke and assistants were counting and measuring hundreds of crappie netted from the lake’s depths. Nature’s ancient processes guide the life patterns of fish like crappie. But anglers play a role in their ecosystem, too, at

At the University of Missouri, the science classes had the best of instructors. My college advisor was a mammology instructor by the name of Dr Campbell. The man came to despise me because of several things. Mostly it is because at the age of 18 I was too obnoxious. Instead of keeping my mouth shut,

I got a call this morning from a dairy farmer who says there is a bear hanging around his barn that sends his dairy cows into a panic, and they won’t even go into the barn to be milked. He says he believes it is a female with a cub because he has seen the

Combining popular conservation programs with Branson’s tourist boom has turned the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) Shepherd of the Hills Conservation Center into a facility that has become overwhelmed by popularity. In order to better accommodate its large annual visitation numbers, the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) Shepherd of the Hills Conservation Center will close

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has issued construction permits to the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District for two new solid waste processing facilities in the St. Louis area. The Bissell Point Wastewater Treatment Facility – Biosolids Processing Unit will be located at the northeast terminus of East Grand at the Mississippi River in St.

I learned something about skunks recently. I drove from my home to Bull Shoals Lake in North Arkansas last week, then up to Texas County and eventually back home to Lightnin’ Ridge here about 40 miles to the north of Springfield. In doing so, I learned that we have more skunks in the two states

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reminds Missouri hunters and anglers that related annual permits expire at the end of February, including 2022 permits for small game, fishing, trout fishing, and combination hunting and fishing. Buy Missouri hunting and fishing permits from one of many vendors around the state, online at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits, or through MDC’s

In 1924, the state purchased Bennett Spring and part of the surrounding area near Lebanon to create one of the first state parks. Since then, Bennett Spring and its valley have continued to attract visitors. Following the park’s purchase, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) contributed to much of the park’s modern-day character by building many

This should make you laugh… a letter I got from Butch Stone, a grizzled old veteran outdoorsman from the Ozarks who makes his own bows and arrows and hunts successfully with them. He says… “I came across a bunch of young people, seining below a low water crossing. Four big Mo, conservation trucks. Of course