jdmidwest

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.

I have a reservation at Schell Osage Friday, first time there, have to drive across the state to get to it. What is it like up there? Timber, flooded fields, or lake blinds. We are dry down here in the south. Otter Slough pumps water and should be alright. Duck Creek is in construction phase still and is probably only going to have ten spots or so, all timber. Field units are under construction last I heard. Birds migrated some on Sat. Morning and I saw some coming thru this afternoon. Something is pushing them south.

Local article said today that the rain helped the fighters but did not say that it was out. I think there was more than one fire location and the largest area was around 5000 acres. We came thru Halloween night from the upper Current River fishing trip. The area is really dry, lakes are the lowest I have seen in years. Some of the Huzzah ponds were almost dry on 32. That and all of the fuel from the big wind storms of the past few years and the fresh fallen leaves created alot of fire risk. The winds did not help any I am sure.

River Hills Traveler Fire Story.

You da man.... Great idea.

I knew Sheriff Deputies have the authority in Missouri, did not really know what the scope of a Park Ranger entailed. Not all states enforce the laws with the same individuals.

The Traffic Officer you mention is probably the Park Ranger which is usually responsible for Park violations like speeding, camping violations, rowdiness, etc. His duties are not enforcing the MDC Regulations of the park. I have been at that park and visited by a Ranger and a Sheriff Deputy. I drove into Springfield during the day and decided to stay an extra night past what I had already paid for camping. Shortly after returning that late evening, both showed up looking for money. You need a Conservation Officer to handle Game Violations, those can be contacted by looking up someone at the hatchery, stopping a Park Ranger, calling 1-800-392-1111, going to the park store and asking for assistance on the problem. Most Conservation Agents will be blended in to their surroundings. They don't usually patrol the park looking for expired licenses.

It does not take much to do that so you should be fine. The only other thing to worry about is the fire rating. If you have a basement in your house, watch where you place your safe. I had a friend whose safe fell thru the floor of the house to the basement in a fire and the house collapsed into the basement. The heat rose higher and longer than the safe was rated for and the guns burned up inside the safe.

Will the draw down affect the fall brown spawn any? I noticed the MDC plans to do some habitat construction in the area, what about the redds?

There is a little factory on the other side of that hill that makes things that go bang. Was out with one of my customers in one of the hollows checking out a powder magazine a few years back when he warned me to watch when I got out of the truck. There are lots of rattlers in the area for some reason. Must be the karst. I have been tempted to look for mushrooms in that area but there are too many snakes to deal with. A couple of other friends own a farm nearby and have found several rattlers in the yard of that place also. Is that a scarlet kingsnake or a milk snake? I did not know either existed in this part of the world.

Not the hard hat crew! That bunch shows up every year on the Spring River. They deck out like that even in the hot summer and they look at me funny when I ask what the helmets are for, and tell them you are supposed to duck under the sticks.... Last time they landed on the gravel bar while we were enjoying a beer. A canoe came over the falls and spilled. They all raced for their throw bags and started tossing. A couple of my group paddled over and helped the swimmers while I suggested that they put some rocks in the bags so they could get more distance. They were coming up quite short.

You are welcome. They need all the extra eyes we can provide.

One of the guys at the Turner ramp addressed the driver of the red boat as Tito. I only met him once at a gunshow and would probably not recognize him in the wild.

We were behind the Rumble Fisher all day too. I think Ryan was with a Father and Son in the other Drift Boat out of 11pt Canoe. Tito was in the red fiberglass river jet with 2 customers.

Amidon is more of a walk than a hike as you can park close to the river and the shut ins area. It was hit by a tornado a few years ago and I don't know if the fallen timber has been cleaned up so it may still be rough going. Upper Castor passes thru there and is hardly more than ankle deep. But there is some nice scenery. Hawn State Park has several trails, but I have only been on some of the short ones. Not much for creeks that are fishable either. Pickle Springs is near that and has a circle trail that takes a few hours with some neat formations.

But most creeks around here this time of year still have an abundance of bluegill, greenies, and longears to peck at the lure all day. That was missing also.