Outdoors

Register now for MDC’s Nature Needlers program series kickoff in January

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is inviting crafters interested in combining Species of Conservation Concern (SOCC) with stunning embroidery to register for Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center’s free 12-month Nature Needlers program series kickoff in January. SOCC include rare or declining species, due to habitat loss or disease. “This class is a series of

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The Cedar Tree and Me

The most perfect Christmas trees I have ever seen are found along the highway between Springfield Missouri and Branson. They are perfectly formed, many not much wider than a lampshade and five or six feet tall. There they are there for the taking, small, medium and large; all perfectly formed due to their environment, which

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Fishing report

Taberville Report by Bobby Dains Dains Fish Farm 417/432-3391 At 3 p.m. on Friday, Dec.13, there is nobody fishing. Two guys bought some bait and fished Wednesday night. I didn’t hear back from them. I expect fishing to really start about the first of February. Let’s stop the fishing report until then. If we have

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Get your kids involved in a citizen science project this winter

Brightly colored feathers and musical songs paired with opportunities to see birds up close from a windowsill make them the perfect wildlife to connect young people with nature.  Watching birdfeeders during winter is an easy way to identify a variety of bird species while keeping children fascinated as well. It is a scavenger hunt of

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MDC reports hunters harvested 11,424 deer during CWD portion

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows that hunters harvested 11,424 deer during the state’s chronic wasting disease (CWD) portion of the firearms deer-hunting season, Nov. 27 – Dec. 1, in CWD Management Zone counties. Of the 11,424 deer harvested, 3,917 were antlered bucks, 1,052 were button bucks, and 6,455 were does.

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Discover Nature with MDC through Eagle Days

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) invites people to discover nature through Eagle Days events and by watching bald eagles around the state. From December through February, Missouri’s winter eagle watching is spectacular. Because of Missouri’s big rivers, many lakes, and abundant wetlands, the Show-Me state is one of the leading lower 48 states for

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MDC thanks deer hunters for help with CWD sampling last weekend

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) thanks the thousands of deer hunters who participated in its mandatory sampling efforts in 43 counties this past weekend to test for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in harvested deer. Thanks to hunter participation, MDC collected tissue samples from more than 18,500 hunter-harvested deer on Nov. 16 and 17 for

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Chest Waders and Quackers

I would rather hunt ducks than do anything else pertaining to the outdoors. I remember when I was laughed at for doing so. It was in the early 70’s in December when I lived on a mountaintop out west of Harrison Arkansas. I had been hunting on Bull Shoals Lake for much of the day

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Fishing report

Taberville Report by Bobby Dains Dains Fish Farm 417/432-3391 At 8:50 a.m . on Saturday, there are no fishermen. I expect them next week. Blue cats and flat heads bite all winter. The river looks good. I have gold fish, small bullheads, carp big enough to cut up and perch. Store hours are 9 a.m.

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MDC asks those in the outdoors to report sightings of key species

Fall in the Missouri outdoors offers some wonderful wildlife viewing for the hundreds of thousands of hunters in the field, along with many hikers, wildlife watchers, and others. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) asks hunters and others to report sightings of key animal species they see when outdoors. They include elk, black bears, mountain

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