ozark trout fisher

I made it down to Peck, and it was one of the better weekends I've spent down there in awhile. That area never stops getting me. If you haven't seen a sun rise or set from atop Stegall Mountain you are cheating yourself out of one of the region's great pleasures. I'm glad to say I got to do both this weekend. As far as the hunting itself, by the standards of public land hunting in the deep Ozarks, it wasn't terrible. I got one shot on an unusually nice 8 point buck, though in retrospect it was ill-advised (it was on the run and in pretty thick brush, a bad recipe). It was one of those times when you are more glad that you got a clean miss than upset that you didn't bring the deer down. I still haven't ever shot a deer and spent more than an hour looking for it, and I wasn't wanting to break that trend. Thankfully it sailed over his head and no one was the worse off for the transaction. Because it wasn't turkey season and I had a rifle in hand, of course I saw a bunch, including one gobbler that I could have hit with a rock. A pileated woodpecker decided to spend most of his afternoon pecking at the big white oak I was sitting under. That made it impossible to fall asleep, which, if I were a more serious deer hunter, wouldn't have pissed me off. 5 minutes before legal shooting hours came to a close, a fat doe came within about 90 yards, and silhouetted herself on a ridgeline. I raised my Marlin lever action, cocked the hammer back...but I just couldn't see her well enough. It may have been legal light but it was dark as hell, and i wasn't up for spending my night looking for little dots of blood on the ground. Before I could rethink what was pretty clearly the right decision, I emptied the shells out of my rifle, and stood up, scaring her away. On the way back to camp, I noticed that there was a small fire burning in the woods along the main road. I don't know what caused that, but I suspect drunk/careless hunters and their attendant campfires, or possibly cigarettes, played a key role. I can confirm as of this morning that it was contained by a sturdy fireline and had done minimal damage. There was no action to be had this morning, but I was tired, and not all that into the hunting. Before long I found myself sitting on a rock atop Stegall Mountain, admiring the view one last time. It's the best in this state, and one I'll miss dearly. So that is about it, my friends. I have no regrets, and I can only hope the hills of southern Indiana treat me half as well.

At some point you are going to have to consider leaving the skunk decoys at home.

Incorrect.

The problem with wild boar is that the disease issues make a "Share the Harvest" type program from the trapped hogs unfeasible. If it turns out any of their diseases cause issues in humans(and the burden in that sort of a program is really to prove that it doesn't) you have a massive and complicated issue on your hands. You don't have to like that way of thinking, but as long as the MDC is a government agency, they HAVE to.

I know a ton of people in and connected with MDC, some of whom's job it is to know what is going on with CWD. And they are very, very worried about the potential impact on deer hunting I'm the state. I can assure you it is sincere. It is more manageable in the West due to vast acreage and spread out herds. In many places, it is present, but at low enough levels that hunters won't generally notice. But that only creates a false sense of security here. Because the population is larger and way more concentrated in MO, the potential for extremely damaging levels of the disease are believed to be MUCH higher. To me that is what seems like common sense. We'll see, but dismiss the threat at your own risk.

Here's my best understanding as to why the MDC (and other agencies) want to eliminate hog hunting. 1. As pointed out previously, the traps used by the MDC and the Feds are far more successful in terms of population control than hunting. Active hunting causes the population to become more scattered and thus harder to efficiently trap. 2. This is the big one: the status of feral hogs as a "game species" in the mind of many hunters can cause major problems. You have multiple cases of folks releasing hogs specifically to increase the population to improve later hunting opportunities. This doesn't sound like a real thing, but unfortunately it is. Release a hog now, be able to hunt its (to use strict scientific terminology) 5 bajillion babies in a few years. The terrestrial and decidedly more dangerous equivalent of stocking pike in a western trout stream. I haven't either the time of the inclination to argue the larger debate here. That is just the issue as I best understand it. I've personally heard too many stories about the rather exciting variety of diseases that feral hogs carry to ever consider eating them. I don't know which if any are communicable to humans, but I can't see how that would be something I could enjoy.

As you all know, next weekend is opening day of Firearms Deer season in Missouri. I've been hunting in the outside-the-fence portion of Peck Ranch Conservation area for a bit over a decade now. The hunting isn't especially good; it's always more of a surprise when a deer does end up in the back of the pick-up by the end of the weekend than if we go home empty. But it's beautiful. The smell of the shortleaf pine, the rocky glades on top of Stegall Mountain, the fog over the fields in Vermillion Bottoms on a November morning. If that place doesn't capture your heart it probably isn't beating. I am taking a natural-resources related position in Indiana, and start pretty soon. I've already got a new place, moved quite a bit of my stuff, the whole nine. It won't be all that different-it's still the midwest, after-all, there are still pretty, forested hills in the southern part of the state, there are still deer and turkey and smallmouth bass. It's a pretty comfortable transition. But it still is different, and given that I'll be an Indiana resident sooner than later (and who in their right mind chalks up the money for non-resident tags when there are big deer in your backyard?) this is probably the last time I hunt at Peck Ranch. And while you never know where life will take you, also probably the last time I'll be in the Ozarks, period, for quite awhile. You can say what you want about coming back, but there will be new streams, new hills, and bigger smallmouth bass. And Michigan and that steelhead and trout paradise just to the north. There are no guarantees I'll be back here for awhile, and honestly, I'm fine with that. But it's gonna be weird. Peck Ranch is always going to be the place where I shot my first deer, where I thought it was easy because it wandered right in front of me a few hours into the first day and stood stock-still, as if it were waiting for me. In the same watershed a few miles to the north, that is always going to be the place where I refined my fly-fishing technique, where I learned that even though glo-bugs and a strike indicator do work pretty well, there are actually other ways to catch trout. Eminence is always going to be the town where I stood under the bridge and happily caught smallmouth bass while my car with the hopelessly blown-out transmission was being worked on a few blocks over. These are things you don't forget. Anyway, I won't be thinking about any of that next weekend. I'll be enjoying the (hopefully) chilly morning, watching the sun rise, and then set, probably not causing the slightest bit of harm to any deer in the process. But when I drive away on Sunday afternoon, it's going to feel a bit different than it usually does.

Yeah, I am looking forward to it. Hadn't thought about steelhead, apparently there are a couple options within an hour and a half of where I'll be though...may need to get into the market for a 7/8 weight. The only ones I've caught up to this point have been little 7" babies that are over-summering in the stream they were born in....don't think that counts. From what I hear my experience fishing trout parks might be a benefit for what the atmosphere is like on some of those streams when the run is on.

Thanks. Chief, the offer is much appreciated! My life will be pretty insane between now and the time I leave, so I don't know that I'll be able to take you up on it, but thanks! I'll admit I've already got a long list of places I want to fish, and luckily, the nature of my work will have me spending time in various parts of the hill country of Indiana and southern Ohio on the regular, where I'm pretty sure there are some smallmouth calling my name. Those places seem awfully pretty, and blessedly have a resemblance to the Ozarks that might hold off the homesickness. I also don't hate being within weekend-trip distance of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region. That said, its still just five-ish hours back to the Ozarks, so I imagine I haven't casted my last line on the Current or Little Piney.

Well, my time roaming Ozark creeks on the regular, and realistically, this awesome forum, has just about come to an end. I've accepted a wonderful opportunity in central Indiana that will allow me to help preserve and learn about the natural resources the Ozarks have made me love so much. There will be creeks and hills and smallmouth there too, but I'll always miss this place, and I intend to come back and visit the Bourb and Little Piney every chance I get. And there are still a few weeks until I have to leave, so one guess where I'll be this afternoon. Its gonna be tough to leave those streams and those hills behind.

Interesting game against UGA this week....offense looked so much better last week. I know EMU probably isn't any good, but Mizzou didn't look like that against ANYONE last year, including the opener against SEMO and against teams like Arkansas State. Drew Lock looked like a top-5 QB in the SEC. The defense didn't look good, and hasn't at any point yet. Still, I'd urge patience there with the new scheme in place. These guys are having to adjust to a new mentality and it was never going to be seamless. Mizzou doesn't have to beat Georgia, though I think they can if they play to their ceiling and a couple things break right. I do think that Nick Chubb & Co are going to get their yards, and put some points on the board. I don't have much faith in their QB situation...but their young guy Jacob Eason has a ton of talent and you just have to hope this isn't his breakout game. If it isn't, and Mizzou's D-line comes to play for the first time this year, really, this one could easily come down to the fourth quarter. I'm not ready to call the upset, or even a REALLY close game. Still, I think it will be something like 31-20 in Georgia's favor with the game being much tighter than that until the fourth, when I expect the UGA running game to really get going. That would be enough to make me think the team is really, actually better, and week 2 wasn't just a mirage against a weak team. If this game is competitive most of the way through and the offense looks competent or better, I'm gonna assume this team will improve enough to get to 6-7 wins and a bowl game. If it's another 34-0 type situation, well...it's time to bunker down and just be glad we get to play Delaware State next week.

Derek Mason is a very good defensive coordinator. Doesn't appear to be HC material though. We saw what happens last night when you have two HCs that match this description in one game. Not easy on the eyes. That's my only real concern about Barry Odom, actually. The hope is that he let's Heupel do his thing and gets out of the way as much as possible. As long as he can make himself do that, we should be fine (after some early growing pains.) I am really hopeful about our new offensive system.

Thoughts from opening night: 1. Is Tennessee any good? They didn't look like it. It could be that they just overlooked Appalachian State and will end up being fine, but we assumed that about Auburn last year when they almost lost to Jacksonville State....and they ended up dropping from the top-5 to a 6-6 season. The bottom line is it's too early to tell. Your performance in Week 1 doesn't always mean much about your team going forward, unless you actually lose. Still, if they don't play better next week against V. Tech, you can add Butch Jones to the list of SEC coaches that might be looking for a new job in December. 2. Speaking of that....Derek Mason might not even make it to December. What the heck was he doing putting a backup QB in, when his starter was playing effectively, in a critical game against an SEC opponent? It killed their early momentum and they took a loss they absolutely could not afford. Now their bowl hopes are basically dead, and if they can't beat Georgia Tech in a couple weeks (and I doubt they can) you are maybe looking at a 2-10, 3-9 type season for a team that many thought could win 6-8 games. A disastrous night for Vandy against a South Carolina team that looked awful even in victory. 3. The Mizzou/WVU game needs to get here, quick.

No one is panicking... yet....but there have been a few too many times in the state where what seemed like one person's less than intelligent pipe dream has turned into an actual threat. See MDC defunding attempts. Or pretty much anything the legislature does. So we'll see. But if it does start to go anywhere I think they will find more people care about that muddy old creek than had been expected.

Thank you for posting this. Those of us that love that river are watching this closely and will be ready to oppose it with great vigor through every legal channel imaginable if and when the time comes. I generally take the approach of seeing these things as a serious threat until they're not. I hope it is known how much some of us love that river and we are willing to work day and night to defend it from someone that wants to royally screw it up. It is even more appalling to have this kind of crap come from a local who should know and love that stream. But do you expect anything different out of Franklin County? Don't know why you would.

Yep.

Wow. To cause the economic impact that you're going to see in this part of Montana due to a massive closure, you'd have to assume there is a really high level of concern. Hope for rain up there I guess.

What? Jerks, morons, and all form of people you wouldn't want to spend much time with have always existed, and will continue to exist until the end of time, in roughly the same proportion there is now. It's so easy and so incredibly lazy to blame that on one generation, but I find there is danged little correlation to be found there.

I would, except I've been in the same exact situation and they have. So I suppose it depends on the situation whether anything happens, but the idea that police can't or won't ever respond to situations like that is one that conflicts with what I know. I do believe sometimes people choose not to do their jobs. That sounds like the case in your situation, which sucks. If nothing else figuring out the insurance implications (even in a perfectly innocent situation) is often way easier with a police report.

I don't believe that's correct. Causing damage to someone's vehicle and knowingly not attempting to rectify the situation through insurance or some other agreed upon fashion is a crime. It matters not at all if it occurs on private property, except in the sense that in some cases they wouldn't have to issue a citation whereas it wouldn't be an option if an accident occurred on public property. None of that is to say that anything would come of reporting this. Odds are at this point it very well may not. But the idea that the law somehow doesn't apply because something occurred on private property is one that is not based in fact.

Sorry that happened. The main thing is that you didn't lose your composure and make the situation way worse. I think I would have called the police, and given the information you have, maybe you still should. People that rude/ignorant only respond to hard consequences, and minor damage or not, there's a legal responsibility on his part to resolve the situation. Mistakes happen especially with big trucks in a crowded parking lot but in those couple of situations I'm always the one to find the owner of the vehicle and report the situation to the police if necessary. Why that doesn't appear to be common practice is beyond me, especially given that there are security cameras everywhere at this point. You can't fix someone like that but you can make them think twice about walking away from a situation and being blatantly unapologetic if cops start talking to them about it.

I am glad no one is keeping track of the times I've needed to perform minor, self-surgery while out on the water to remove hooks. And a few times when I was younger those certainly did turn into urgent care trips. The worst was when I got a large topwater lure hung up in a tree while night fishing and it came back at me at 1000 mph. I half expected this result, and covered my eyes with my hand. My eyes were fine but the hand not so much. It's been stated but sunglasses and a hat can short-circuit some of the worst-case scenarios. My favorite tale (pun intended), from a person who worked in an emergency room near LOZ, involved two gentleman who sat on a bench that someone had left a very large crankbait on. As the story goes, each of them got one of the two treble hooks embedded in an unfortunate location and it led to perhaps the most awkward ER visit ever. It sounds too good to be true, but I guess you never know.

Nice! So many people think you have to hit the deep Ozarks to find decent stream fishing. Always fun to prove that wrong.

I got exactly what you were saying. I also thought it was a little silly.

Yes, because Nick Saban and El Chapo are basically the same person.