Deer season dominates the November issue of Travler, starting off with an account by Bill Cooper of a hunt in Irish Wilderness. He and wife Dian boated to a camp on Eleven Point River, then hike into the wilderness area to deer hunt.
There's also a story about public places to hunt in southeast Missouri, east of U.S. 67. In all, there are about 50 state owned areas. Also national forest and Corps of Engineers land. This story is repeated below.
Not everything is deer hunting, however. Bob and Pat Todd had a highly successful quick fishing trip on Lake Wappapello.

If you read Traveler over the years, you know the moon rise data is followed for each year deer season. Turns out this should be a very good year for huners.
Jim and Donna Featherston took careful note about a doe that lives near there's place. A two-part series begins in November, following her life for a period of a year.
Deer regulations and hunting conditions are covered as well as a few deer hunting stories. Share the Harvest is covered.
For the non-hunter, there's a story about taking a tour of the big springs of the Ozarks. With one possible exception, they're all in locations closed to hunting.
Zebra mussels were found in Taneycomo and Bull Shoals Lakes, it was reported. This invasive species was found in Lake of hte Ozarks earlier.
Waterfowl hunting seasons look good. Other seasons are spelled out.
Kathleen Brotherton has the first of a two-parter explaining how Indians constructed their bows. Kathleen is also featured in a profile of the writer.
This issue also contains recipes, an editorial, mail, news and the sun/moon rise and set tables.

50 public places to hunt east of U.S. 67

Looking for a place to hunt?
There are nearly 50 places owned by the Department of Conservation, east of U.S. 67, in southeast Missouri. They belong to you, and they’re open for deer hunting. Only a few MDC areas are completely closed to deer hunting.
The open areas range in size from tower sites and small creek access points to the 10,737 acre Coldwater Conservation Area. We’ll discuss a few of them here.
We’ll try to cover an equally varied set of public properties west of U.S. 67 next year.
So as not to bring undue attention to the smaller areas, we won’t mention them. But you can find their names in the 2007 Fall Deer and Turkey regulations booklet put out by MDC. You can find out more online, or by selecting a number of them to visit. You’ll find some are mainly “open” so as not to create a small refuge in a neighborhood.
Others offer a public hunting spot in good deer territory even if the acreage isn’t large.
And those discussed here are clearly large enough to accommodate a number of hunters.
UNIVERSITY FOREST is 7,149 acres, open under statewide regulations. You can take a deer of either sex, but no additional deer may be taken. University Forest is in Butler and Wayne Counties.
This forest was owned by University of Missouri and managed for research and teaching before management was transferred to MDC. It is located south and west of Lake Wappapello.
It may have the most diverse forest situation you’ll find anywhere due to the research and teaching function of the place, which continues. Old growth, clear cuts, fire managed savannah, not to mention small cuts of particular kinds such as thinning out a particular species of hardwood in one location or removing pines from another. There’s areas where forest soil erosion was studied under different conditions. And small demonstration harvest areas where young foresters are taught.
There’s a liberal sprinkling of water holes and an extensive trail system that is used mostly by horseback riders. And as Ozark woodlands go, the area is relatively flat.
If you download the map for this area from MDC’s web site, however, be aware that the map has several inaccuracies. Some roads are closed that are shown as open, and in one case an open road is not shown at all. It leads to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers parking lot where hunting is also legal.
ONLINE MAPS; For a map of University Forest, go to www.mdc.mo.gov/atlas/. Type in the area name. This brings up a list of attributes of the area. On the left there is an opportunity to bring up a map which may be printed. Same for other areas.
CASTOR RIVER Conservation Area is in Bollinger County and totals 9,750 acres. It too is open under statewide regulations, which for Bollinger County reads one deer of either sex. No more.
We’d just read a story by a Kansas City writer on the decline in the number of people hunting - blaming a good bit of it on the aging population. The baby boomers are no longer willing or able to do the things they used to do.
Visiting the two main parts of Castor River that lay north of Highway 34, I was reminded of this story. One area is walk-in only and the other may as well be for an older hunter.
There is a road into the northern-most section and it runs along a narrow ridge. To hunt this area, you’d almost invariably have to go down a steep hillside - and get back up, hopefully with a deer in tow. Not an inviting prospect for the Social Security set.
There are exceptions. A few points slant down more gently.
The next area to the south is larger - perhaps three square miles, with only one public access, which is by a lake. As the crow flies, you’d hike three miles to get to the far corner of this tract. By trail it may be five miles.
On the plus side, it is said bucks get bigger back in this area. So if you are younger, up to the challenge, you might consider exercising your fitness in this area. Just be aware that if several people hunt it, they’ll all be starting from the same point. There are service roads that can be followed.
Camping here is limited to the area near the lake, but it is spacious and open.
South of Highway 34 a few miles is where the largest chunk of Castor River is located. Incidentally, the area only touches its namesake, Castor River, at one point - a low bluff that is unreachable by car.
This part of the area is going to look more friendly for older hunters. It is still plenty hilly, but there are low places where you can hunt uphill as far as you care to, and hopefully drag your deer back downhill.
Of the 17 total parking areas on Castor River, 11 of them are here. There are also places you can pull off the road and camp. There’s even a campground developed mainly for horseback riders and more developed camping. By “developed”, we mean table and fire pit. No hook-ups.
There’s a shooting range here too and it occurred that a person could combine sighting in his rifle with a trip of exploration and scouting.
APPLE CREEK CONSERVATION AREA is 2100 acres and is representative of several areas along the Mississippi River. There, it is a bucks only season rather than statewide rules. Most of Cape Girardeau County, where it is located, has a limit of one deer but may be of either sex.
Apple Creek is in the river hills region, near the Mississippi River, and it too has some very steep terrain. But it is also in an agricultural area and has more clearings. Access is to the ridges but also to some bottomland.
Apple Creek borders it on the north and there’s a boat ramp in case you’d like to try for crappie. There’s also a sprinkling of water holes and three fishing ponds. Camping is limited to two designated areas.
Like Castor River, Apple Creek has a shooting range. It includes a trap and skeet range. It is operated on weekends by a local organization and deserves a separate story of its own.
We found one road gated off that is shown as open on the map. We found several areas where people park along Route CC and walk in.
YOUR PLACE to hunt. While you have as much right as anyone to anywhere on these public areas, it is better for all concerned if you stake out a claim to a hunting spot that’s not occupied by someone else.
Indeed, you could scout out a place and show up opening morning to find someone else on “your” spot. So make plans for more than one deer stand. Your first attempt at settling into a new place to hunt may not work out.
Larger areas probably offer the best chance of finding a good spot you can call your own.
Some other fairly large areas include Amidon (1,630) in Madison County; Red Rock and Seventy Six (559 and 819) in Perry County; Magnolia Hollow (1751) in Ste. Genevieve County; Coldwater (10,737) in Wayne County; Crowley's Ridge 1,878) in Stoddard County; General Watkins (1,106) in Scott County, and Donaldson Point (5785) in New Madrid County.
Or you may find hidden treasure on some of the smaller areas. After all, you don’t need thousands of acres - a good spot on a game trail can be on a small area too.
One thing is for certain. You can’t say there is no place to hunt deer in Traveler Country. If these are not enough, state areas west of U.S. 67 augment large areas of Mark Twain National Forest. Then there’s the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lands around Lake Wappapello and Clearwater Lake. Not to mention the area along the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

Scenic Riverways. Two dozen years ago, November 1983

In the 1983 fall firearms deer season, it was bucks only unless you had a permit to take a doe. For everyone, including landowners. Previously, while the general public drew for doe permits, landowners were allowed to take a doe if they chose. Problem was, too many does were being taken in some areas, retarding the growth of the herd.
Moonlight was favorable for the opening hunt - going down about 10:30 Friday evening and leaving the rest of the night dark.
There was a brand of electric fence insulators that were giving hummingbirds a bad time. The hot wire and the ground were close enough together that curious hummingbirds were making contact and executing themselves. A push was on that fall to replace those insulators with a safer model by the next summer.
Charlie Slovensky wrote about how his uncle managed to take trophy bucks - he always shot the first legal deer he saw and eventually had several trophies. Charlie also wrote about your odds of success when you leave your deer stand.
Charlie was honored that year by the Gateway Long Spurs with its George W. Carson Sportsmanship Award.
While Charlie was advocating sticking to the deer stand, editor Bob Todd was telling how to walk up a deer. The idea is to move quietly, stopping, zigging and zagging so they don’t become aware of you too soon, and when they do, can’t figure out where you are headed next.
There was an acorn shortage that fall much like this time around. It was not judged critical for deer season, but probably would result in deer moving more and perhaps foraging more along forest edges.
Bob and Pat Todd ventured out to Stockton Lake in western Missouri and Bob caught a tiger muskie. Unfortunately, Bob got hooked trying to get the fish out of the net and had to spend part of the day getting the hook cut out.
Where to hunt? The Fredericktown District of Mark Twain National Forest and its 80,000 acres was the subject. There was a picture story on the district.
There was a story on hunter safety education. Bob and Pat took the course. Pat’s recipe column included a venison meat loaf and a four layer casserole.
Groundbreaking took place that fall for a proposed ski resort in the Arcadia Valley.
Don’t know if the statistics hold up today, but in 1983 it was discovered one out of five people who is arrested for a major deer violation has a felony record. And one third of those had been arrested for violent crimes. Forty percent had been drinking. Sixty per cent said they ate the meat, and the unemployed were as likely as the employed to leave the deer to rot.
The November cover was an Al Agnew pen and ink portrait of a buck.

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