jdmidwest

Read the water and follow the V's to stay in the deepest part of the channel. Carry a big screwdriver to dig the rocks out of the fins, you will know when it happens when you loose power. Reverse does not do much to stop you, gun it and power around if you can. Don't run in leaves or moss beds, it will clog the fins too. 11pt should have plenty of water now. Hall's Bay above Riverton is hard to run. The river above Turner gets pretty skinny.

Last winter was around $45. Free Wifi, clean, hot showers, nice people. They fill up around opening day and deer season. Most other times they have plenty of rooms.

Its the people that buy tickets that support the franchise. If the Cards had retained him, the price of tickets would have went up...

The lodge is open during the day. There is a toilet open near the hatchery building that is heated at the upper end of the park or pit toilets at the lower campground. Electric, no water at the sites. No showers. I usually camp at the Tarry Inn in Licking during the off season, I am a puss in cold weather and need a hot shower and warm bed.

You could look at it that way, more or less. My deed states the same, more or less. But it includes the acreage that is under the water of the land that we own that is under the stream that flows thru our property on one farm and we are taxed on the acreage, not less. Another property, where the stream changed course in the 160 years it has been in the family, the water no longer flows thru it but over on the other guy, is taxed and deeded the same acreage as it was back in the 1850's when it was originally purchased by great great grandpappy and the river went over the property at that time. But the more or less rule does come into play. One farm lost a few acres a few years back when a surveyor mapped out an adjoining property that was deeded to the center of the creek bed. The surveyor went by the current channel, not the original channel in the deed which was now a slough. We lost the whole portion of land from where it flowed at the time of the deed to its present course, about 10k worth of value. In reading an article in STL Today, the Supreme Court argument is more about State and Federal ownership of the stream beds, not private ownership. And it is in Montana, not MO. In my case, the lands we own are deeded to us from the State.

Currently, in MO, a landowner pays taxes on the stream bed also if it runs thru a property. If the ruling goes to the state or public ownership, I wonder if there will be a tax break?

I personally like Fly Tyer Magazine, and I buy it off the shelf instead of a subscription. In my rural area, if it comes in the mail, it may have tire marks, watermarks, or simply a letter with a few scraps of the magazine stating that the USPS did its best. Online, you will find tons of recipes, tips, and videos. Many libraries have a selection of books to rent.

We killed 3 limits of Redheads at Schell Osage last month. I assume they would be on Truman Lake also. Pretty rare on this side of the state. Our Canvasbacks come thru early on this side of the state, usually before the middle of Nov. We have seen several the past few years but did not take any. I missed a drake last year and had one pass over the blind this year on opening weekend. Ringnecks are a dime a dozen on local lakes usually, but this year I have only seen 1 flock.

Probably CDC feathers for bouyancy. Pick up a Snow Shoe Hare foot and give it a shot, it floats pretty good. The best part is the fur between the toes.

Sell your youngest kid for a fishing trip? Is Brian's rates that high? I have caught some nice smallies this time of year in the upper stretch. I almost think they move up river into the "warmer" spring water.

Things have been moving good here since the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Lots of Pintails this year. Our blind has killed 5 drakes so far. Normal years would only produce one at the most. We had snows on our lake last Thurs and Fri. Mallards have started coming down also.

Hey Chief, did you use a steel BB when you shoot the doves? Might want to check the regs, no rifles or pistols of any type on Migratory Birds.... And of course, your admission is double trouble, both Federal and State. I use airguns alot around the house. I bought a nice Stoeger X20 this summer and it killed alot of pests in the garden. Growing up, I had a Crosman 140 22 cal that kept the blackbirds at bay off of the hog feeders, rabbits out of the garden, and other varmits. Then I graduated to a 22 and started on bigger game. But I still own a nice collection of airguns, I can practice all day in the rural subdivision without bothering anyone else with the noise.

I have used them, they are ok for the price. I ordered some streamer and nymph hooks. They are of equal quality to Mustad, sharp and sturdy. I did have a problem with some beads, the 1/8 beads were drilled out a little large and the beads slipped over the hook eyes. I will use them for something else.

The part about the Goretex part is true. Even in regular boots and coats, I have never had much luck with other permeable membrane materials other than true Goretex. Both the Drakes and the Hodgemans were their own material, not Goretex. The Orvis waders I own are their own material too, no Goretex labels on them, but they hold up good. I have used Columbia's Omnitex and it usually fails in gloves, hats, and coats in a good rain. I have not used any of the Dry Plus that Cabela's makes, I have been looking at their wader also.

I have used Lacrosse that failed early on. I want a good breathable that will last.. I can go with some fishing wader I have used and buy some cleated boots to get the job done. But, I like to separate the 2 passions and keep separate gear.

I have been buying waders for fishing and hunting for 30+ years now. I have shredded many pair of rubber/nylon waders, tore holes in neoprene and sweated like a pig in them. I bought my first pair of goretex waders in 2000 and still wear them fishing. They are stocking foot, never leaked, been duck hunting, in and out of several boats, fished in, and even used as brush pants in a rain storm a few time. I think the neoprene boots will wear thru before the goretex material fails on them. But, I have been thru 2 pairs of "breathable" waders in the past 4 year that are solely used for duck hunting. The first was a pair of Hodgeman Horcotex. They started seeping at the seams on season 2. The second was a pair of Drake EST that have sprung a leak on the second season in the left knee. Drake is replacing them with a nice pair of neoprene's. What does everyone else use for waterfowl? I like the breathable tech. They are lightweight and comfy. They vent better after setting dekes and chasing cripples. But they don't seem to be designed for the long haul. Both of mine have been failure of the material, not punctures. The Hodgemans were failing at the seams and the Drakes were a failure of the inner membrane.

Several areas that MDC owns could be managed a little better for waterfowl. They have tried at Apple Creek with levees and gates, but the area is located a long ways from any road way. I have hiked decoys back to it only to find it drained of water. Several areas around Poplar Bluff and Doniphan could be leveed up and gated, water could be pumped from streams and ditches that go thru the area. But that takes money and labor. Most areas that are flooded corn are usually marked as No Trespassing and very private. Same goes with areas around big rivers to the levees, private land goes over the levees to the waters edge. If the rivers are in flood stage, then there are hunting opportunities in the backwaters, provided you access from public land.

There are several areas across the state that could be managed for waterfowl but I doubt if they would put out the money for the levees, wells, ditches, and manpower. But the "southern zone" of Missouri is lacking waterfowl managed area except for lakes and rivers.

If I remember right, at first when I started hunting public land, we shelled out $5 each at the start of the draw. And the areas even offered dekes for rent. They rolled the dice and you decided to pick or pass, fall back and roll again. It took some time also, but most ended up hunting something.

MDC haa tried for years to screw up the hunting at the best areas that they are supposed to provide. Years back at Otter Slough, they went to the all party draw to choke out the single hunter that decided to hunt without a bunch of others. Then came the Quick Draw System, hunters could put in and see what they got ahead of time on a weekly basis, no reservations. I applied every day last year and was chosen for one draw, it was a frozen out time of the year when the ice was thick. But I have a big axe, the hunt was good and we killed a good lot of ducks. Others I know were chosen and declined several times because they did not have a good pill. Even the last pick at the areas can produce a limit of ducks if you can figure out how the ducks are working the area and decoy them in. Several years back, I drew pill 2 and picked what the area rep thought was the worst spot. I put out 7 dekes and killed a limit of mallards and 2 other ducks. What I realized was that a lot of hunters applied and were chosen, but did not show up. This skewed the morning draw to the point that the poor line hunters did not attempt to try since most of the good positions were tossed out in the Quick Draw. Then, there was still the all party draw. The all party draw system just guaranties most hunters will get out to the area after shooting hours and most ducks have left the area in the commotion. I purpose to kill the Quick Draw System, Kill the All Party Draw, and manage the areas to the point that all hunters can enjoy what our tax dollars have been used for to allow us some prime waterfowl habitat to hunt. Go back to the old ways, they really work. Schell Osage was Great! Otter Slough, you need some pointers. Quick Draw Errors!

Schell Osage turned out to be a great place. Things are alot better up there, more water, better crops, no cockleburs, blinds are brushed good, all day hunting, and ducks moving around all morning each day. We drew pill 23 and 21 each day and took advantage of something they don't do down south. Schell puts the ADA blinds in the pick if no Disabled Hunters show up to claim them. We hunted F1 both days and had a mix bag of ducks. We limited out on redheads on Thurs, we killed teal, shovelers, ringneck, mallards, and gaddies. We had some pintail work the dekes but they stayed out of good gun range. Really good hunting for the bluebird skies we had to deal with. We were out of the blind each day by noon and met the average kill of the place of 3.32 birds each day. Thurs. eve we went out and found several geocaches, one on a hill called Hackleman Cemetary, a nice peaceful place with graves dating back to 1820's. Had walleye for supper at Stockton. Visited Truman and Pomme De Terre also for the first time. Came across some of the rivers I see posted on here. Surely a great place to be for a sportsman. I will put in for it again next year for sure, just wish it was closer. The 6 1/2 hour drive is a pain. Was a little worried at first when we arrived and saw the lot full of big duck boats. We were the only ones there that was "human" powered. Once inside, we found out some of the blinds were more than a mile from the ramp. But we paddled it out and still made out before shooting hours. Billet, when we hunt fields locally or rivers, we have covers for our yaks to hunt out of them or camo them at the blind. If we have corn or timber, we step out and hide in the material available. Locally at Otter Slough, they allow zone hunting, you can move around the entire unit assigned. At Schell, you had to keep to the blind mounds unless you hunt the timber A unit. Same thing goes at Duck Creek at most positions, zone hunting. Zone hunting is usually done out of the yaks or in the corn/timber standing in water.

Great. Hunting poor line on Thurs and reservation on Fri. Looks like 4 Rivers has openings if Schell falls thru on Thurs. Or we will do a little sight seeing, first time out to that neck of the woods.

More Info. Looks like the blow down timber is hampering the fire teams. The damage around here from the same storm closed roads from the criss cross downed trees and made timber salvage hard. Salem Fire from River HIlls Traveler.

Thanks for the info. Was wondering if we needed a boat or was shallow enough for kayaks we normally use around here. Do you know if they supply jon boats for each blind? If so, we may toss in a small motor.

I heard it was locals burning out the areas where out of towners come into hunt. What ever, it seems to be arson connected to deer hunting land. That place has been a tinderbox since the big wind a few years ago. It was probably just a matter of time. I spent some time around Potosi this weekend and the area was really smokey, I assume it was from the wildfire. It gets that way during controlled burns also.