Outdoors

Young turkey hunters harvest 2,540 birds during youth weekend

According to preliminary data from Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), young turkey hunters harvested 2,540 turkeys during the 2019 spring youth season, April 6 and 7. Top harvest counties were Franklin with 61 turkeys harvested, Laclede with 56 and Texas with 52. Warm weather and sunny skies helped increase this year’s youth-weekend harvest over last

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Big Fish, Big Risk

In my new book “Recollections of an Old-Fashioned Angler” I begin by writing about going trotlining on the river with my dad. I was only 6 or 7 years old and I sat there in the old wooden johnboat watching him run that line, which was lunging in his hands. Then I caught a glimpse

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Paddlefish, snagging report for March 20

by Trish Yasger. MDC For Truman Lake, Lake of the Ozarks and the Osage River (below Bagnell Dam). The snagging season got off to a good start despite colder than normal water temperatures and high flows. Snaggers did really good opening day on Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Lake and the Osage River. Snagging slowed

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New Stockton spotted bass regulation increases opportunity

Increasing angling opportunity and potentially improving conditions for other sportfish are the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) goals for Stockton Lake’s newest spotted bass regulation. This year, the minimum length limit for spotted bass on Stockton is 12 inches. This regulation went into effect March 1 and replaces the previous minimum length limit of 15

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MDC invites public to learn about turkey hunting basics

Spring turkey hunting involves a variety of skills. Knowing how to locate a gobbler, call him into shotgun range, handling firearms in a safe fashion, and knowing the regulations are all parts of a successful and safe hunt. Hunters can learn more about the fundamentals of this popular spring pastime at two free Missouri Department

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Scott Tassi takes win and big bass

Kansas angler, Scott Tassi, topped the leader board at the D126 American Bass Anglers tournament held on Stockton Lake March 16. Tassi weighed in a 5-fish limit that went 15.18 lbs on the scales anchored with Big Bass of the tournament, a largemouth bass that weighed 6.02 lbs. Robert Cowen took 2nd place with a

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MDC finding fewer endangered prairie chickens despite conservation efforts

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reports that Missouri’s endangered prairie-chickens have dwindled to dangerously low numbers despite decades of conservation efforts. A bird once sustained on vast open grasslands now only has relatively small islands of usable habitat for nesting, feeding, and protection from predators and weather. That’s not enough for prairie-chickens, and perhaps

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Paddlefish report for March 12

For Truman Lake, Lake of the Ozarks and the Osage River (below Bagnell Dam). The 2019 paddlefish snagging season opens Friday, March 15, and runs through Tuesday, April 30. Weekly snagging reports for Truman Lake, Lake of the Ozarks and the Osage River will begin after March 19 and will be posted on Wednesdays. Updates

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A Chance to Meet Readers

I hope that many of the folks who read this column can attend the tenth annual Grizzled Old Outdoorsman Swap Meet, held on Saturday, March 16, in the church gymnasium of the Brighton Assembly of God Church. It is easy to find, just off Hwy. 13, five miles south of Bolivar and 15 miles north

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