Outdoors

DNR now accepting entries for annual photo contest

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is now accepting entries for the 2023 Photo Contest. The deadline to submit photos is Sept. 1. Entries can include images from anywhere in Missouri, featuring beautiful natural resources, unique state parks and historic sites, natural phenomena, outdoor recreation, scenic landscapes, weather, wildlife and people enjoying the outdoors. Contestants

[ Read More ]

Fishing report

Tabervill Report Bobby Dains Dains Fish Farm People are catching a few spoonbills from boats but not off the bank. They aren’t moving. You must find them. Small males are common. I’ve seen one female that went 83 lbs. From there down to 20 lbs. What we need is a warm rain. People are catching

[ Read More ]

MDC reminds snaggers that paddlefish season has started

Imagine catching a giant, prehistoric fish whose ancestors swam during the time of dinosaurs. That is a reality for thousands of paddlefish snaggers during Missouri’s annual spring paddlefish snagging season. Paddlefish — named for their large, paddle-shaped snouts — are an ancient species that can grow to seven feet and weight more than 100 pounds.

[ Read More ]

Visitors to Bull Shoals

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

[ Read More ]

MDC tracks crappie populations at Truman Lake to benefit anglers

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

[ Read More ]

The Beaver Trappers

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,

[ Read More ]

Doggone Barn Bear

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

[ Read More ]

Shepherd of the Hills Conservation Center to begin construction on new facility

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

[ Read More ]

Road Skunks

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

[ Read More ]