Outdoors

By the time you read this, the snow will likely be gone, and I will have eaten the last fried rabbit of the winter. If you don’t eat a fried rabbit or two each winter, you aren’t living right. There were so many of them when I was a kid, and from December until February,

Every year at this time I mention the great trout fishing found on the White River… where the brown trout reach gigantic sizes. Brown trout are more active in January and February because it is their spawning time in waters where they are native, mostly in Germany and Scandinavian countries. Browns are not native to

A few years ago the Missouri Department of Conservation paid out one million dollars as a result of a lawsuit brought about because two agents violated the law by entering a barn without permission or a search warrant. Another was charged with theft in Shannon County for stealing a expensive dog collar from a hunting

Missouri’s 2025-2026 deer-hunting season ended Jan. 15 with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reporting a preliminary total deer harvest for the season of 301,954. Of the deer harvested, 145,222 were antlered bucks, 25,129 were button bucks, and 131,603 were does. Top harvest counties for the overall deer season were Franklin with 6,770, Howell with

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) invites anglers, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts to visit four picturesque community lakes (CL) located in south-central Missouri. Each site offers a combination of water access, picnic amenities, and trails, making them ideal for a day trip or a weekend getaway. These sites offer high-quality fishing access, trails, and family-friendly

Reprinted from the book “Dogs and Ducks and Hatrack Bucks”…by Larry Dablemont– published in 2003 Old Luke had found them and there wasn’t any doubt about that. He stood there in the woodland cover with his tail high and head forward, his body twisted slightly with one foreleg lifted, drinking in the mesmerizing scent of

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) announces regulation changes to spring turkey hunting that will reduce the nonresident harvest limit from two bearded turkeys to one. Nonresident landowners will maintain a harvest limit of two bearded birds with only one allowed to be harvested during the first seven days of the season. Regulation changes will

My secret place is quiet and serene, and beautiful even in the starkness of full-blown winter. There are no roads into it; I get there by boat. Sometimes in the winter there are grey skies threatening rain and waves are whitecapping out on the lake. Sometimes it is a still warm day that hints of

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has been cooperatively working with Ameren Missouri, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the U.S. Geological Survey Columbia Environmental Research Center (USGS-CERC) to conduct research on and management for the federal and state endangered scaleshell mussel. Research focused on understanding the distribution of the scaleshell in Missouri,

There is a remote little gravel bar along the river where I love to camp, quite a walk from the road. I parked my pickup and headed down there, determined to see it as a new year comes, in a bleak, drab winter picture of the river. I came across a nice buck and doe