Outdoors

With the help of partnerships and extensive habitat restoration, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is delighted to bring the once-native Brown-headed Nuthatch back to Missouri. Reintroduction efforts were made possible through MDC’s partnerships with the U.S. Forest Service’s Mark Twain National Forest, Ouachita National Forest and Northern Research Station, the University of Missouri, and

Individuals needing hunter education have classroom and online options. Many people are starting to prepare for this fall’s hunting seasons. If taking hunter education is one of the things you need to do to enjoy firearms hunting opportunities this year, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has several options available. Individuals born on or after

A lady sent me an email about finding a dead buck deer in her pond, and another reader called to say he had found one in his pond too. Both were afraid the deer had Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy, which is the real name of what is commonly referred by a common term, ‘chronic wasting disease’,

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reminds hunters, meat processors, taxidermists, and others of new regulations now in effect regarding transporting deer, elk, and other cervid carcasses into Missouri and within the state, and of new regulations on cervid-carcass-disposal requirements for meat processors and taxidermists. The new regulations of the Wildlife Code of Missouri are

Fishing for catfish has long been an activity that has provided angling excitement and excellent table fare. Individuals interested in learning more about how to catch these popular sportfish by alternative methods (trot line or some other type of set-line device) should plan to attend the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) virtual program “Catfishing –

Bobwhite quail pairs may still be raising young broods in August Bobwhite quail need quality places to feed, rear young, and hide from predators. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) suggests late summer is a good time to evaluate quail habitat on farms and acreages. For more quail, or to keep “bob-white” whistles as a

Learn about the variety of ducks and geese that travel through this region in the fall. Waterfowl identification is often associated with duck hunting. While it is a necessary skill for hunters to have, waterfowl identification is also a valuable tool for everyone who appreciates nature. People can learn more about how to identify waterfowl

I don’t think this land registration thing is going well for the Missouri Department of Conservation. I and many other landowners have vowed to hunt on our own land this year without registering it, and the whole idea has turned lots of deer hunting landowners into skeptics of what the MDC is and what their

It is unusual for the Ozarks to get so much rain in July, but it certainly doesn’t hurt fishing, especially in streams. When I was a kid, any summer rain that raised the Big Piney and made dinghy-colored water flow into it, sent me to a couple of favorite gravel bar spots with a rod

I volunteered to fry fish for those who come to a class reunion at Houston, Mo in mid-September, so this past week my daughter and I took the old johnboat down to the river not far from Lightnin’ Ridge and set a short trotline. We baited about 20 hooks with green sunfish Christy caught from