Johnsfolly

We enjoy trout. I don't keep any brown trout but stocker rainbows are a diffferent story. The trout parks and urban trout programs fit the bill if we want fresh fish and no crappie/bluegill are biting☺.

I'm very interested in getting one for small game becuase I have heard about how fun they are to shoot - pretty good evidence throughout this thread. Also to save what is left of my hearing☺ while still enjoying the bounty of small game around us. Also likely to thin the bushytails in our yard without distirbing the neighbors ☺.

I would advocate that you should fish it at least once. Then again I would advocate fishing all of the trout parks as well as the wild trout streams to appreciate these different places and the fish that can be caught there.

Good Luck buddy. Can't wait to hear about the hunt and see the photos! I appreciate the tip and remember where and when to fish. However, ever changing plans may nix any Taney trip. I hope to get it worked out this afternoon. If still around home for the weekend, will either try to get back out for another turkey or stick it out in a tree with the bow.

Great job on your predator control! As BH said most if not all critters need to be managed. Getting it with a bow makes that even more special.

Phil Great fish! For many of us that is a trout of a lifetime. Congrats!

Thank you sir. Still haven't picked up the bow for hunting, yet! Hope that you are still on those bucks that you had on camera. I had a friend show me a 200+" non-typical that he had on his cameras several days during shooting light that he will be going after this weekend. Just put some perspective on that last mushroom photo, look at the barbed wire in this photo

We have had times when feral cats were a problem around our house. I was cage trapping them. Over an 18 month period I caught 22 cats, 13 raccoons, and 9 opossums. Of those cats only caught 2 neighbor cats and 3 domestic cats (would meow when approached). The rest were nasty snarling ferals. That was 4to5 yrs ago. Now we are seeing an increase in cats around our neighborhood. Started trapping again and have been catching mostly raccoons.

Ham - Glad to see that you got to have a decent trip with your daughter and dad! Great photos of some nice crappie! I would have loved to have seen another photo of a spotted sunfish, would have been my second (after the one you sent me from a previous trip ).

I emphasize with the drive, a little less from Columbia. Working to get that Friday off to make the trip tolerable. I know that the time with the OAF folks is worth the trip.

BH - I would try bobcat. I have heard several guys talk about how mountain lion meat is good to eat. Would try that to if given a chance.

In Missouri the limit is six !

Got out again on Sunday to hunt for squirrels and fall mushrooms. I was also hopeful that I might bump into some turkeys. I have hunted them on this national forest land many times in the spring, but hardly see them in the fall. Just in case I did bump some turkeys I brought ammo and my turkey choke. It was one of those great cool autumn days and I was excited to be out in the forest. I got into a woodlot that I had found lots of oyster mushrooms in the past. No luck on this trip. I did get the attention of a barker / squealer while looking for oysters or any edible mushrooms. As I set up on that vocal squirrel, another began barking close behind me and I dropped that one. Most squirrels that get that vocal usually get shot. I got another squealer not long after shooting the first squirrel. MoCarp had mentioned selling squirrels tails, these are close to prime condition. I hiked and hunted for a couple more hours. I did find a fresh giant puffball, but did not harvest it since I was heading deeper into the woods. Placed the shotshell next to the mushroom to provide scale of the size of this puffball. I passed a hiker on the trail and he must have picked it because it was not there when I headed back home. I made sure to visit an oak tree that I found a large hen of the woods mushroom last year. Nothing was there this year not even evidence that one had come up earlier this fall. I shot a couple more squirrels. Bumped a big deer. No turkeys seen nor heard during my time out. Still had a great and productive day. Not all mushrooms are for eating. Some should just be admired.

Good luck! I have never shot a turkey with my bow. You using the crossbow? I'm headed SW this weekend to try to catch some new species. I hope to get to Taney one evening/night.

That was funny and disturbing☺.

The water flow rate is dependent upon the amount (volume) of water as well as the width of the channel that the water is flowing through. A thousand cubic feet of water travelling through a 20 foot wide channel will travel faster than that same volume of water travelling through a 40 foot wide channel. It is possible that even 1/2 mile downstream the river widens such that the flow rate drops 400 cfs. I'm not familiar with those sections of river. So this is just a possible reason for the differences that you see between those two values.

When I lived near the ocean, did a lot of spearfishing and mostly while free diving (without a SCUBA tank). Imagine slowly swimming or drifting along the surface looking over the structure, then diving down and hunting in a 3D setting. You are fixed upon your quarry and concerned that you may not be able to get close enough for a shot before your lungs start to ache for a breath of fresh air. In some areas like those that I fished in North Carolina or Florida, you never know what you may get close to while spearfishing. Could be snapper, blackfish, triggerfish, spadefish, sheepshead, cobia, etc. All are exciting and most are good meals once you get them in your catch bag. I never spearfished in blue water and would love to give that a try as well. If you get into the sport, keep us posted on your trophies.

We are done rearing monarchs for this season. Livie ended up releasing 8 female and 7 male monarchs. Five butterflies never emerged from the chrysalis. Surprised that we had one of best season in terms of butterflies reared and released especially since it seemed like they didn't start laying eggs until later this year. We did get a first this year, a major hatch of milkweed tussock moths (also known as milkweed tiger moths). First picture is just after they hatched. This guy is getting fattened up and is almost ready to pupate. They don't like to eat too much of the latex like the monarchs, so they cut the veins close to the stem to allow the latex to drain before they eat the leaves. I found out that they overwinter in their cocoons. So it will be next spring before we see any adults from this hatch.

While out squirrel and mushroom hunting last Weds we got into a couple of turkeys. We even had a couple of hens come into my diaphragm calls and land in trees 45 to 65 yards from us. We backed out hoping to not spook them before I could get after them properly. So with fall turkey tags in my pocket, I switched gears in this little woodlot on National forest land. This property is within 10 miles from my house. I got out again Friday afternoon/evening to go after these turkeys and was in the woods by 5:15 pm. Armed with my Tight Wad turkey choke and turkey load shot shells I figured that I would just get into a bunch of squirrels, though distracting I am focused on turkeys. As I got a 100 yards or so into this woodlot, I heard a couple of soft clucks in the woods out near the distant field edge. I made a couple of calls on my diaphragm call and no response. With birds already in the woodlot I couldn't get much deeper into the wood than I was already. I set up next to a giant white oak tree that one hen landed in on Weds when we were out for squirrels. On Weds the birds had come into this area from my right. In front of me was an open oak flat that was split by a winding creek. The far edge of the creek was about 45 to 60 yards from me. If the birds came into that flat I was not sure that they would try to cross the creek. I was also in no position to be able to try to break up any flock that came in from that side. As the sun was setting, I made some more clucks and soft yelps this time on my slate call. I caught some movement out in front of me on the farthest bend in the creek. I put up my binoculars and confirmed that a hen was coming in. As she skirted the creek edge, I spotted another and then another following her. With the birds so close I quietly called to keep their interest. When it appeared to me that they were not likely to cross the creek, I stopped calling and just watched them. There were now at least 6 and possibly 7 birds within 80 yards of my position. Once I stopped calling they turned and headed towards a couple of large oak trees. Those trees were in the spot that I had hoped to reach this evening before I heard any birds. One after another the birds started flying up to roost. They flew into one or two close trees and a couple of ones farther from me. I backed out and hoped to get on them in the morning. I wasn't too comfortable that if I spooked them trying to get into that area they would just get out in the open field. I was not able to convince my Betterhalf to get up and hunt along the field edge opposite of where I intended to be to keep the turkeys in the woodlot. So I did what I could to get in as quietly as possible in the morning and set up near one of the large oaks for an ambush. It was about 5:45 when I crossed the creek in the oak flat. as I got near a large sycamore tree, I saw and heard a raccoon. This guy saw me and started a quiet chitter. I had to pass this tree to get to my set-up point. I saw it come down the tree a bit as I approached and passed it. The whole time it chittered at me. When I set-up next to the first giant oak tree (opposite of the raccoon tree). I kept waiting to hear the raccoon coming after me. Fortunately that fear never manifested. As I waited for sunrise and the turkeys to become active on the roost, I kept thinking whether I was close enough to get into any birds or if they had moved closer to the field edge before settling down on their roost. The minutes dragged on and the mosquito bites accumulated. As the woods lightened with the dawn, I waited for some birds to begin talking before I called. I caught movement high in the tree near me and confirmed it was a turkey. Now it was a waiting game. Finally the bird above me dropped off the roost and was met with a load of #4 shot and dropped. One turkey that was in the same tree flew off to my right. The other turkeys called from the roost and I called back hoping to get another to light down near me. I waited close to 20 to 25 minutes before going to tag my bird. Figuring that I could get back into these birds later this month, I wasn't aggressive in trying to get a second bird. I ended up seeing/hearing at least four other birds. I took my prize and envision fried turkey breast and carnitas with the legs and thighs !

As always another great video! Looks like a challenging but rewarding place to fish.

Gavin I hope that you catch some nice fish to honor your friend using the rod that you built. Can't wait to hear how you did.

We haven't had his faijitas but have been fortunate to have the master chef's version of szechuan duck using goose at Billetheadville ☺. We have made goose fanitas using goose provided by BH. Both meals were delicious!

Et tu BH? They were catching a binch of fish but not too much size difference than what is found here in MO. Sure you could find smallies that size within an hour or two of Billetheadville. Don't know if that would qualify as "close to home". Takes me a bit over an hour to find smallies like those.

Ness I'll have to find out what starter she has been using.

Those are nice reds but that black drum is a giant! Great photos from the brine!