Traveler's tribute to Christmas this month includes a cover featuring Santa himself with a midwest U.S. version of a reindeer, plus a heartwarming story of a simple gift that brought great joy during a Depression era holiday in the Ozarks.
Bob Todd, Tim Schwent, Mike Grebing and the good dog, Abe, experienced a fine duck hunt in Scott County. Jim and Donna Featherston detail the second half of a year of observing the secret life of a doe on their farm.
The December issue marks Bob Todd's finale as editor of Traveler, a publication he founded more than 35 years ago. Kathleen Brotherton's profile of of Bob and Pat Todd's career appears below. Publisher Emery Styron takes on the duties of editor with the January-February issue. Bob will continue to contribute to Traveler.
Bill Cooper details the top notch waterfowl hunting in the bootheel. and Howard Helgenberg writes about the joys of winter trout fishing. Pat Todd's recipe column feature's Bob's Dill Sauce, Apple Jack Quesadillas, Gramm's Sour Cream Sugar Cookies and Stuffing-Topped Venison Chops. Kathleen Brotherton finishes her two-part series on how the Indians made bows and arrows from the materials at hand. There's a photo of a 450 lb. wild hog taken by James Thompson near Lake Wappapello and a commentary by Bob Todd on the proposal to add seven new federal wilderness areas to those in Missouri. Traveler favors doing it in steps. Maramec Iron Works was a 24/7 operation back before that term was in common usage, according to a story by Jo Schaper. Bob Lewis recalls his greatest adventure on the water, a canoe float through Millstream Gardens after a rise in water levels.Sam Dickerson and his Gramma Pat both had unique deer hunting experiences. Fifteen-year-old Sam got a 14-pointer on the second morning of the season. Pat's experience wasn't a deer.This issue also contains recipes, mail, news and the sun/moon rise and set tables.

Snowstorm sets stage for lifetime, Traveler

By Kathleen Brotherton
Some will debate "love at first sight" is possible. Others say when they met that "special someone" for the first time, they knew instantly they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. So it was with Pat, the first day she met Bob. With Bob, it took a little longer.
Bob was in college on his way to an interview at the M.F.A. home office in Columbia, MO where Pat worked as a receptionist. Since the youthful Bob was a bundle of nerves, Pat tried to lighten the mood only to be ignored. For Pat, it was love at first sight.
Fate stepped in few days later, by way of a snowstorm. While Pat and her girlfriends were playing in the snow in front of their apartment, Bob and several of his buddies happened to be driving by, stopped and asked the girls to go out. Bob didn’t recall having met Pat. However, everyone introduced themselves and the group went out. On the way home Bob asked Pat to go to a movie the next week and as the saying goes, "The rest is history."
Bob soon realized Pat "was a keeper" too, when on a fishing date at Crooked Creek Pat was carrying their stringer. It was a good fishing day, so the stringer was nearly full making the weight of all those fish quite a burden for Pat to carry. So she slung it over her shoulder and carried it that way. Bob knew right then, Pat was the girl for him! Three months after that first date they were married and they’ll celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary next May.
From this union, was born a daughter Kim, Moberly, MO, a son, Boyd (Bo), Festus, MO and later, The Traveler.
In college Bob’s interest was in biology, the land and its content, not publishing. "I learned I’m not a specialist. A journalist is a generalist so I indulge my interest in the land and its creatures that way." He explained.
Following Bob’s graduation with an Agricultural Journalist’s degree from Mizzou, the couple lived in Kansas for three years. From there they moved to Jackson where Bob was a reporter for the Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian for ten years. It was also the birthplace of The Traveler.
They finally moved to the Piedmont area nearly 25 years ago. Pat, too, has always been involved with the publication. Bob credits a J-school teacher and his influence for creating The Traveler and its non-mainstream format.
Happiness to the Todd’s is to hunt and fish on their picturesque, 140-acre farm nestled in the beautiful Ozarks. But they also try to squeeze in a little time to float some of their favorite waterways, the St. Francis, Current and Black Rivers. "I like the Meramec basin, Eleven Point and Big Piney too, but they’re farther from where I live so I don’t fish them as often." Bob said. But when it comes to hunting he said, "I enjoy stepping out the back door to enjoy the sport." Both Bob and Pat have pictures to prove they’ve been very successful hunters.
Pat’s Dad was an avid hunter and took her with him sometimes, but she’d only been fishing a few times as a kid. So many of Bob and Pat’s dates were spent fishing, with Bob as her mentor, teaching her all the fishing angles he knew from his own experience.
Outdoor life has always been a family venture for the Todd’s. They still enjoy float trips, swimming, hunting with Kim and Bo and the grandchildren, (Shannon, Sam, Jessica, Holley and Nelson) and they’re very proud of all their accomplishments.
You can’t push a kid’s interest in outdoor activities he feels. Find time to do these things yourself, he says, and guide them when they show an interest. Some kids are encouraged to hunt or fish at a very early age but he warns this may lead to rebellion farther down the road.
Pat and Bob hope their great-grandsons, A.J. (almost two) and Ethan (seven months) will follow family outdoor traditions as they grow up. At this point only one grandchild, Holley, has been bitten by the "writing bug" as an aspiring poet.
As far as Bob can recollect, his first published feature would have been about commercial fishing on the Missouri River south of Columbia in the Columbia Missourian. He’s also freelanced for Missouri Conservationist and a soybean journal in the past.
When he’s not hunting or fishing, he’s taking time to rough out a novel and plans a book of the "Ol Craz" wild turkey series taken from past Traveler articles. Since they heat their home with wood, making firewood is something he enjoys along with reading. He and Pat are both interested in bird watching, investigating wildflowers, and hunting mushrooms in the spring.
Pat’s interests are varied, but her favorite summer activity is to just sit in or beside the Current River and read a good book and watch birds or people. In winter you’ll find her crocheting while watching a close game of football on TV, or watching it snow outside while baking yummy-smelling cookies. Pat’s a terrific cook and credits Bob for teaching her when they first married. Cooking and trying new recipes, reading old-south mysteries, flower arranging and sewing keep her busy in her free moments.
Pat’s roots are in Boonville, but Bob’s mother was from Mississippi and his Dad was from upstate New York. Both parents were forced from their birthplaces by the Great Depression and met in Memphis, TN where Bob was born. Shortly afterward the family moved to St. Louis to find work.
His Mom loved to fish and his Dad was a small game hunter who started taking Bob along when he was 11 or 12. "They both enjoyed fishing in different ways and I like to think I picked up a little from both of them." He said. Actually, Bob’s first shots came from a BB gun, while living in the city. He targeted sparrows, starlings and pigeons and said in some ways it was harder, since he had to keep from hitting unintended targets like windows.
It was on a friend’s farm that Bob took his first real shot with his Dad’s new 12-gauge. He admits it rocked him pretty well, but the next Christmas his parents presented Bob with his own 20-gauge to hunt squirrels, rabbits and quail.
His parents eventually rented a cabin near Williamsville through friends who were originally from the Wappapello area, where they could spend weekends. Meanwhile, a friend with roots in Bollinger County introduced him to the joys of camping on Crooked Creek where they’d spend several weeks living off the land . . . mainly squirrels, frogs and fish. One time some geese from a nearby farm got into their lard supply kept in a nearby spring, he remembers, "We couldn’t fry anything. Mostly we roasted stuff and ate raw potatoes. We ate a lot of lemon drops."
The boys spent winters plotting and planning while earning money (mostly by finding scrap copper and selling it) to enjoy summer excursions. At other times, they’d hitchhike to go fishing on Castor River, Big River or Establishment Creek.
Bob thinks that kids miss a lot, if the only sports they know are athletic, where they push rules and their own physical well-being to the limits. Hunting and fishing allows one to set his own limits, within the law, adding, "There’s nothing wrong with pausing while you’re fishing to try to identify a bird or a flower."
He’s interested in other sports too, but says the mystery of finding out what’s under the water is more appealing. It’s very satisfying if a cast works out like you think it should, and it’s exciting since you can’t always call the shots against your worthy opponent. Bob finds the experience of discovering new ways to catch a fish or fishing for a new species thrilling.
Every few years Bob and Pat like to just jump in the car and head out for places they’ve never been before. This fall they traveled to Maine by way of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick and took in many eastern and midwestern states on the way back. In the past they’ve also enjoyed fishing trips in the coastal marshes of Louisiana and Canada. Over summer, Bob did a little wilderness whitewater rafting in Colorado’s Black Canyon of the Gunnison with Kim and granddaughter, Shannon.
Bob has high praise for most aspects of Missouri’s conservation programs, but says personally, "I’d have them become a more outspoken voice for conservation in areas such as suburban development and fuel efficiency, things like that. Someday, someone is going to have to step up to the plate and say we need some population control if we are ever to solve our conservation problems. The earth, and Missouri in particular, is only so big. You can’t have more and more people endlessly. All resources require conservation. We only have one earth. If we spoil it, there’s no place else to go."
As winter approaches, many dread even the thought of snow. But had it not been for that fateful snowfall almost 49 years ago, two talented people may not have joined forces to become a family, and others may not be sharing the continuous enjoyment the Traveler provides.

Bleak winter in Ozark forests: Two dozen years ago, December 1983

“It is going to be a bleak winter in the Ozark forests. As deer and turkey and squirrel hunters have discovered, there is an acorn famine in much of the Ozarks.”
That was the top story in the December, 1983 issue of Traveler. While we have a few acorns this year, there were virtually none that year. However, unlike this year, production had been good for dogwood, persimmons and some other secondary forest foods.
In its first year, the Reagan Administration plan to sell off public land had raised only $200 million of a $1.23 billion goal. No federal land was sold or for sale in Missouri.
There was a story about a very successful duck hunt at Duck Creek Waterfowl Area and the winter “Fish for Fun” season had begun at Montauk State Park.
Shepherd Mountain Ski Resort at Ironton opened. And Ozarks wildlife artist Al Agnew was getting his feet wet in the commercial arena, offering art prints of pen and ink deer and turkey that had been featured on past Traveler covers.
Editor Bob Todd wrote up his effort to process his own deer. It was a dawn to dark effort that convinced Bob a commercial processor is the way to go.
Deer hunters had set a new record at 57, 691. The fall turkey season yielded about 12,000 birds. The Ozark Trail reached 160 miles in length.
There was a plan afoot to raise Duck Creek’s main pool by two feet, making more water to flood hunting areas and also to reduce problems with aquatic vegetation. The plan fell by the wayside - the reservoir leaks if its elevation is raised.

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