MOPanfisher

And that is a consistent theme among pretty much all candidates, rhetoric, actions not matching their words or claims etc. I have no problem with the higher education portion being something you have to earn, don't keep your GPA up to a passing grade, you get one semester to straighten up and no more subsidy. Problem is that it adds a layer of bureaucracy to the idea, and either the Gov't gets to do it, (bad idea) or the university has to do it, either way it costs money. You don't get a choice of colleges, there may be say 4 or 5 in a state to choose from, don't want to get a degree from them pay out of your own pocket. Other option that still exists is military service, wear the uniform get tuition paid. (not quite that simple but you understand.)

You are correct, the next rain might just "wipe" it clean.

Sam, I see lots of folks do that around the lake when fishing alone. I have considered doing it, but like you have given rides out to boats when the cheap lightweight polypropylene they seem to invariably use breaks. Have also seem them pull up "gently" so they can grab the rope and accidentally hit gas or something and drag the boat partway onto the ramp. I believe last year a similar situation cost a man his life. No one is entirely sure what happened, but his vehicle/trailer was still backed into the water, a pile of shoes, watch, wallet, cell phone etc. piled neatly beside and his boat floating loose in the lake. His body was recovered a short time later. I fish alone a lot and haven't really come up with an easy way to launch, I try to wear some sort of footwear I can get into at least a few inches of water with. Summer is easy, sandals or wading shoes. Cooler weather I keep a pair of rubber boots so I can wade out far enough to get on front on my trailer and push it off, if I back far enough to float the boat on most ramps it requires me to get my feet wet to get on the trailer or boat. What I really need I guess are more fishing buddies!

That is true Trav. Especially at the lakes, if you don't reserve then quite often you don't camp. Especially true on holiday weekends, and it does reduce the number of "problem campers" for us. The days of hey it looks nice lets get some, week, our tent and a few cases of beer and go camping at the lake on July 4th weekend are long gone on many lakes and popular areas. We have several retired couples who work or volunteer for us. Some have pointedly explained that "My wife works for you, occasionally I volunteer for her", otherwise I go fishing. Some spouses aren't quite so accommodating.

Had a friend who was Puerto Rican and she made a dish that was very similar. The thing I remember most was the green olives in it, was strange to get one in the broth/soup but flavor was great. Chicken thighs are my favorite part of the chicken, except for a well cooked liver.

Eh what do I know I eat carp too. If it involves, bacon, butter, or Cajun seasoning I can eat about anything.

Had to haul a motorcycle to spfld for my BIL, so supper tonight was a little rushed, ended with wife frying taters and onions, tossed some venison back strap onto the hot grill, dead rare in middle, and a box o salad. Meat seasoned with salt pepper and a little garlic powder, sprinkled onto after the meat was rubbed with some hot chili garlic olive oil. Different sizes of backstrap required some maneuvering but still good. Gonna finish with some plain d vanilla ice cream and maybe a cup of coffe. All I really need is a slice of moms apple pie now. (And maybe a nap).

Yard Carp, it's what's for dinner.

Honestly I don't care what political party they claim, if I have respect for them it wouldnt be so bad maybe, all the crap they claim they will do that they don't have the power or authority to pull off, really puts me off. I do like some things Bernie says, education assistance in particular. An educated populace is NEVER, a bad thing for a society, maybe bad for the power of govt but not society.

Call the COE Office and ask about volunteering to work moving debris off the ramps. Willing to bet that you could get signed up pretty easily. Several ramps probably could use it, not hauled off just pushed aside to make useable. Again the rules on spending $ more often work against the local offices. Let's say cleaning the ramp at Viola costs $1500, then cleaning Baxter or wherever is next costs the same. Suddenly you are above the $2500 limit. And you can do it in $2500 chunks ether it's called splitting purchase orders and is illegal. Honestly I don't know what they have for equipment at TR anymore. Many offices forego having equipment and operators on staff, you can rent or hire the work locally. Bigger items or jobs the purchase limit restrictions bite you in the butt.

The COE at TR doesn't have a back hoe or much equipment at all, so it has to be by a contract. If the contract is over a certain amount (in this case I think the ceiling is $2500) it has to go to contracting office, where it will have boilerplate clauses added, advertised and eventually awarded. It's not a simple, cheap or fast process, so it makes to get as much bang for the buck as possible by combining the ramp into the whole park for clean up. We have to play by the same rules, however we are lucky enough to still have some equipment and a small maint crew to operate it. No making excuses, just explaining.

Lots of short term volunteer jobs out there, can get free camping in exchange for 20 or so hrs a week of work.

Between work and personal (mostly work) wouldn't even guess how many trees I have been involved in sinking to some degree. I have yet to burn the needles off of one.

The last time I looked Bernie was not an independent he was running as a democrat. That aside I am ashamed to.look at the entire list of presidential candidates and think, this is our best and brightest? Presidential candidates love to say what they will do and change, fortunately or unfortunately they have very little ability to do any of it. They have to work through congress. Personally if a candidate came up and stated he would veto every single bill that Congress sent to him I would vote for him. Pass a common sense budget on time.congress and then I might have some respect for them. Otherwise they are like having 435 different cooks all working on a big pot of soup and randomly adding ingredients. If one of the candidates were to debate Ned vs. Crank bait or maybe .243 vs .30 06 I would listen, otherwise I have books to read and lots of channels on tv. Maybe if I could dice them up and pick one or two things from each candidate I could make one.I would fully support.

I agree that everyone has the right to an opinion on the keep or release of any species of fish, and also that fish in public waters belong to everyone, that fish in particular, however our "ownership" ends when he legally catches and takes possession of that fish. It is then his to decide what to do with. I have absolutely no issues with C&R also no concerns over someone who decides to keep that fish of lifetime and have it mounted. Personally I have never had the desire to have a fish mounted, maybe I am just cheap and would rather spend the money on more fishing stuff. Yes we still have the right to our opinions even after someone takes possession of a fish, we can still say "sure wish he had released it" or what ever, opinions are cheap we all have several.

None of the Agents I know would write a ticket for shooting an armadillo I don't think. Would be sort of like writing a ticket for catching too many carp. I know the reasoning behind them wanting to ban hog hunting but don't know well it would work. There are places where the main problem has been a few folks who were raising them and releasing them and selling dog hunts. Kansas banned hunting for them and then went "whole hog" on elimination, traps, shooters, helicopters, the works, and it did work pretty well from what I understand. However they have not been able to do as well in some places with rougher terrain and more trees as the hogs seem to learn pretty quickly that being out in the open is a death sentence. I occasionally get to help a trapper go on "kill day" to get hogs out of a trap and enjoy it quite a bit, and they are delicious!

I always enjoyed hunting with Beagles, took me a little while to learn how to do it. Had a buddies beagles and I followed them things everywhere and never killed a rabbit. Wasn't until later I learned to hang around the jump point or identify likely run routes and wait for them to circle back. Not nearly as much walking as bird dogs, usually were plenty of rabbits, you could hang around close enough to your buddies to talk, just don't be moving or making too much noise when the rabbit was coming toward you. When my buddy got eaten up with duck hunting he gave me his beagles and I kept them for years and finally got a couple more of my own. I got to where I didn't hunt them enough to keep them in good working shape, and got a diagnosis that seemed like I was going to be out of the hunting game, so I gave them away. Some days I sure wish I had them back. had one fat beagle that if you killed a rabbit in the briars would go in and bring it back to you, usually they either want to rough it up, or once its dead they don't care any more. had some awful good days in the field with my dogs, take a break and the beagles would climb up in your lap to be petted. Good Times.

Saw this in my e-mail this morning, thought I would share. MDC proposes banning hog hunting on conservation areas mdc news release MDC proposes banning hog hunting on conservation areas "*New regulation would help end disturbance by hog hunters of MDC hog-trapping efforts and help end illegal releases of feral hogs for hunting.*" *JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.* – At its meeting on Jan. 22, the Missouri Conservation Commission voiced initial approval for recommended changes to the Wildlife Code of Missouri that would prohibit the hunting of feral hogs on lands owned, leased, or managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). The next step in the rulemaking process includes a 30-day public comment period on the proposed regulation changes, which will run from April 2 through May 1. Public comments can be submitted by mail to: Missouri Department of Conservation, Regulations Committee, PO Box 180, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-0180. Comments can also be submitted by email to Regulations@mdc.mo.gov <Blockedwww.Regulations@mdc.mo.gov>, or online at mdc.mo.gov/node/24141 [ Blockedhttp://mdc.mo.gov/node/24141 ]. Following final Conservation Commission consideration of citizen input and staff recommendations this summer, the anticipated effective date of the regulation changes will be Sept. 30, 2016. Potential penalties for illegal hog hunting could include fines and the loss of hunting privileges. ***Hog Hunting Causes Headaches* The Conservation Department discourages hunting specifically for feral hogs in Missouri. Research from other states shows that hog hunting actually increases feral hog numbers and locations because of illegal releases of more animals into the wild for future hunting opportunities. According to MDC Wildlife Division Chief Jason Sumners, hog hunting on conservation areas ruins efforts by MDC staff to trap and kill entire groups of feral hogs, called sounders. Groups can consist of several dozen animals. “The proposed ban on hog hunting on conservation lands is a direct result of misguided hunters disrupting trapping efforts by MDC staff,” Sumners explained. “MDC staff set large, corral-type traps on areas where there are known feral hogs. They then bait the area with corn for several days or weeks to attract the targeted group of hogs, get them used to the surroundings, and get them concentrated in the trap before triggering it. This work takes weeks, with the goal to trap the entire group of hogs.” He added, “After weeks of work to catch the sounder of hogs, we then get an individual hunter who finds out about the site and shows up at some point and shoots a hog or two. The rest of the group then scatters and moves to a new location. As a result, weeks of work have been wasted and new areas now have feral hogs.” Instead of hunting hogs to help reduce their numbers, MDC encourages hunters and others to report feral hog sightings to their local conservation agents or MDC offices. Staff can then confirm local numbers and locations, and determine how best to capture and kill the entire group of feral hogs. MDC owns or manages about 1,000 conservation areas around the state with nearly 30 known to have feral hogs, mostly in southern Missouri. One goal of the new regulation is to prevent the illegal, intentional release of feral hogs on other conservation areas. *Releasing Hogs is Illegal* Releasing hogs to non-enclosed areas or to the wild is illegal in Missouri. MDC encourages the public to report these types of illegal activities to local conservation agents or to call its Operation Game Thief hotline at 800-392-1111. In the future, the Department will also recommend to the Conservation Commission to revoke the hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges of any individuals found guilty of intentionally releasing feral hogs. The Department is also working with elected officials, conservation groups, and agricultural organizations to raise awareness of the problem with feral hogs and hog hunting. *Threats to Native Species* Feral hogs are an invasive, nuisance species in Missouri. They are not naturally found in the wild in Missouri and the growing populations and numbers of locations are a result of people illegally releasing them to run wild – often to later hunt them. Feral hogs cause significant damage to wildlife habitats, compete with native wildlife such as deer and turkey for food, prey upon native wildlife such as turkey and quail, destroy natural areas along with agricultural lands, pollute ponds and streams, and spread diseases to domestic livestock and people. Diseases spread by feral hogs include swine brucellosis, pseudorabies, trichinosis, and leptospirosis. The Centers for Disease Control has confirmed several cases of hunters contracting potentially life-threatening bacterial infections from field-dressing feral hogs. For more information on feral hogs, visit the MDC website at mdc.mo.gov/your-property/problem-plants-and-animals/invasive-animals/feral-hog-control [ Blockedhttp://mdc.mo.gov/your-property/problem-plants-and-animals/invasive-animals/feral-hog-control ].

Sorry, forgot the second part of the question. The water in the dam area is heavily stained, don't know for sure how far upstream it extends.

Yes, MDC will put them on their website as before.

True enough, especially the smaller stuff when we'll dried burn bright and fast, have eaten a few meals cooked over the coals.

Actually we will be sinking some cedars with MDC later this week. Down around damsite park area though. Last 2 years there have been a bunch sunk in the Bolivar area.

I have been that guy before. Some days they would be way out in front of the dogs doing the hop and stop routine, other day they would come by flat out getting it. I used to carry a Savage .22/20. Some days couldn't miss other days well I definitely could miss.

MSHP has side scan, ours is a Down Imaging. Ham if you want that soggy, grit filled firewood I will happily give you a permit. From experience it sucks to cut, stays wet a long time and the grit in it dulls chains quickly. Thats why we go for skid loader and dump truck.

FYI, this is what Bolivar Landing Launch ramp looks like today. Water has dropped enough that I think we can clean it off aufficiently for launching. Plan to have a crew there tomorrow to work on it, nice weather this weekend, get amongst em. One note of caution beyond the obvious, there was a car that went in there on 29th of Dec., neither we nor the MSHP have been able to determine if it is still out there or has been removed. So be awarw, and if you see one ease let me know. Hopefully either we or MSHP can drop a boat in and cruise the immediate are with sonar to see if it is there.