Deer hunting seasons peak in November with the main firearms season. The November issue has a lot in it about deer hunting. Allen Morris, for instance, gives tips on how to estimate the age of deer you see in the woods - on the hoof. And there's a story on strategies for deer hunting under the liberal regulations this year. There's even as story that tells you how the moon will affect deer hunting this year. It concludes that deer may be most active a few hours before dawn on opening day - may be ready to lay down for a nap when sunrise happens.

There's a story on building deer stands, some stories of actual hunts from the past and lessons learned. Gary Benton talks about hygiene in deer camp. Forest foods are in great supply in part of the area and fair supply almost everywhere. There's a story on deer camp with a grown daughter and a story on how Indians hunted deer.

There's a story on maintaining the proper attitude and staying alert - and an editorial which begs to differ - arguing that one of the best things about deer season is the quality of the naps hunters can enjoy.

Even the history story - about a fellow who wandered the Ozarks during early settlement times and wrote about it - tells what he thinks of the hunters on the frontier.

There's a story and pictures about the Houston-Rolla District of the Mark Twain National Forest which is a place anyone can hunt deer.

But there's other things too. There's also a story about Trail of Tears State Park, recommending it for those who want to knock about in the outdoors during deer season but who feel uncomfortable in the forest then. Hunting is not allowed in the state park.

There's a story on other upcoming seasons, such as duck season, which opens in most of the area Nov. 1. There's a story on hiking the Blair Creek section of the Ozark Trail. This is part of a continuing series. And there's an update on the wild hog problem in the state.

Russ Doughty describes the "joy" of slipping and falling as he wades Ozark streams trying to catch trout. And Charley Schmidt takes us crappie fishing. There's a story by a Missouri couple who encounter hurricane rains in southern Louisiana while trying to catch redfish.

Recipes. Sunrise/moonrise tables. News. Coming Events. Outdoor tips. A different method of filleting fish is described and repeated below.

A new approach to filleting fish

A new method of filleting fish:
Hold the fish belly up on a table, the head in your left hand (if you are right handed).
Slice the fish between the anus and the anal fin, cutting along the backbone toward the head to cut out the ribs and the intestines, all in one cut.
As the knife nears the gill area, let the fish lay flat on a side and fillet the meat off the backbone as usual. Then fillet the meat off the skin as usual. Repeat on the other side.
It takes a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, it goes much faster than any other method we’ve seen. You don’t have to cut through rib bones and don’t have to cut the rib cage away later.
Daily creel limit on speckled sea trout is 25 in Louisiana - which have a size range similar to bass. This method was apparently developed as a way to fillet a big bunch of specs in a hurry.
But it works on other fish too. So unless cleaning fish is something you like to savor slowly, give it a try.
Just one word of caution. Be careful not to slice your left hand.

From the Past, TRAVELER, October, 1979

A rundown of conditions leading up to the November, 1979 deer season concluded the prospects were good. It was mostly a bucks-only hunt back then in the eastern Ozarks area, and the biggest variable was expected to be the openness of the woods.
The history story led off with an account by John Bradbury, an early English explorer, of being chased by a skunk he had wounded with his shotgun. He finally dispatched it. The French Canadians on the expedition consider it a delicacy, he said, and cooked it up. Bradbury’s account paints a picture of a Missouri River running through prairie mixed with stands of trees.
The Conservation Commission had set quail season in September, reducing the bag limit to six in view of the short supply of quail.
There was a proposal for a law making it a crime to “occupy a littered place.” The idea would be to encourage everyone to pay attention to the litter around them and to police it up. It would also raise the stakes for people who actually litter because everyone else would be anxious to change their ways.
Charles Haynes, well known taxidermist at Lake Wappapello, died. P.N. Hirsch and Co. advertised jeans for $9.99. The jeans were flared.
Al Agnew, who did this month's cover, also did the cover in 1979. It was pen and ink back then, however, and printed black and white. Bob Todd described chasing a flock of turkeys up a mountainside while wearing chest waders. Seems he and George Webster were on a two day float trip that combined duck hunting, squirrel hunting, turkey hunting and fishing. It was the third run-in with turkeys that day. Bob heard them up a steep bank, in very thick cover and was actually able to overtake them to the point that he called one back. But he was unable to shoot for the thick brush.
People reported a squirrel migration was underway in parts of the Ozarks. Rabbit numbers were reported low.
A hike on the trail at Sam A. Baker State Park was featured in word and photos - a good place to go for those who don’t deer hunt and don’t want to wander through places that are being hunted.
Lake Wappapello was a few feet high - enough to put water back in the underbrush, and there was a story of a duck hunt there that involved walking out some of the sloughs in the upper end of the lake.
Writer Rose Alexander told how sassafras was used for furniture making in the Ozarks in the early 1900s. And Emma Dunn had a story that touched on the travels of Henry Schoolcraft - subject of a current Traveler history series.

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