 In the September 2011 issue of
River Hills Traveler
Fall Festival Edition
On the cover & Page 1
Cover Image"Opening Night of Gigging Season" by Bob Todd
Bob Todd captured this stunning scene from the opening night of gigging season in 2009 on the Current River. His story on the traditional Ozark sport of gigging is on Page 5.
Sort your shells, scout your spots — Bill Cooper
Few things in life stimulate the remembrance of past hunts like the activity of sorting shells. Preparing for the upcoming teal and dove seasons brought back memories of great hunts for Bill.
Irb Ellerman’s legacy — gigs built to last — Rick Mansfield
Though Irb Ellerman was a craftsman with many skills, it is the fish gigs he made that are still spoken of with almost reverent awe along the Current River an its tributaries.
Andy — seventh in the brood Irb and wife Osie brought into the world— well remembers the variety of skills his father utilized to support the family.
The rest of the paper
Find a fall festival — Jo Schaper
Here’s Traveler’s annual guide to Missouri fall festivals, in the Ozarks and beyond. Whether you like history, hot rods, country music or wine and cheese, there’s something here for you. Get out, enjoy the beauty and heritage of our region.
Opening night: Fog on river, fish in boat — Bob Todd
Suckers are the most abundant fish in Ozark rivers. Biologist say they make up 80 percent of the fish population. Gigging is a traditional way of harvesting them. Come Sept. 15, Ozarkers will be out in numbers spearing the rough fish and feasting on them at gravel bar cookouts.
Missing part of dog days article left reader hanging — Traveler Mailbag
Linda Weiss chides Traveler on leaving out a big part of Jim Featherston's story in August. She found the entire story on our website, then went on to relate a couple of dog days fish stories of her own. Charlie Slovensky writes to say he owns most of the lures pictured in Traveler last month and caught his first smallmouth on one of them.
The Offering — Jerry Sevem
Traveler doesn't usually run poetry, but we made an exception for this evocative piece by Jerry Sevem.
Makin' Tracks: Corny but true: Traveler runs mostly on love — Emery Styron
Pat Todd, who with her husband, Bob, started Traveler and ran it for years, remarked recently that the paper “runs on love.”Experiences around Traveler Country indicate that’s pretty much on target.
 Get to know your rifle before deer season — Howard Helgenberg
“Was that you I heard doing all the shooting this morning?” How many times have you heard that question at deer camp? Perhaps the question should be “How much time did you spend at the range with your rifle before the season?”
Just by luck, it was a fun day, Sunday, gun day —Greg "Rudi" Rudroff
Rudi's 14-year-old daughter, Sarah, surprised him with a request to go hunting with him, so he took her to the trap range to learn about guns. She got into an impromptu shooting match with a boy about her age and won. Says Rudi, it was a pretty good day.
Big changes in 2012 Readers Choice voting
There’s a big change in Traveler’s Readers Choice Award balloting for 2012. We’re giving away a one-night stay for two in the Ozarks, along with a one-day float trip for two on the Current River to one of our voters, drawn at random. In order for us to hold the drawing, all ballots must be identified with the voter’s name and a phone number or email address. No two ballots with the same name/phone or name/email address will be tallied. The information will help reduce ballot box stuffing. It will also let us contact you if we have questions on your nominations or your name is drawn for the prize. Also new this year is online voting.
Read the entire story online
Farm pond fishing delights anglers statewide — Mary Syrett
The American landscape is dotted with thousands of small lakes and ponds, making them the most accessible fishing waters for a majority of anglers. The virtues of a farm pond were given their widest acclaim during the Great Depression years of the 1930s, when the newly formed U.S. Soil Conservation Service began promoting such bodies of water as aids to soil conservation and as sources of food and recreation. Mary shares her farm pond fishing secrets.
Wappapello fishing ‘unbelieveable’ — Tim Huffman
Bert Bennett has been fishing the lake for many years. In recent years he changed from travelling all over the country fishing the Crappie USA national tournament trail to guiding at the lake. “Wappapello really has been unbelieveable this year,” says Bennett. “We were catching legal limits of fish even when the lake was really high after the flood. It’s just been outstanding. I’ve caught a lot of crappie over 14 inches this year. When everything is normal at the lake it’s no problem now catching a limit of fish.” Learn Bert's success secrets for Wappapello.
Battle of Leasburg pitted future Missouri Governors — Chris Warren
Historian and reenactor Christopher Warren details Union forces' retreat from Ft. Davidson to Leasburg, where troops under future Governors Col. Thomas C. Fletcher and Gen. John S. Marmaduke met in a battle to be reenacted Oct. 1-2. Get all the reenactment details and information to drive General Ewing's retreat route.
Our Indian Heritage: Romantic legend of Mina Sauk Falls recounted — Kathleen Brotherton
Kathleen relates the fanciful and oft-told legend associated with the name of Taum Sauk Mountain and Mina Sauk Falls. Would you believe the mountain is said to be named for an Indian chief and the mountain-top waterfall for his beautiful daughter. There's a story of forbidden love here, too.
Nature's Corner: Timber rattlers are the largest of Missouri’s venomous snakes — Aaron Horrell
One of five kinds of venomous snakes native to Missouri, the timber rattler is the largest. The one in my photo here is an adult about five feet long. It is swallowing an adult fox squirrel which I estimate to be about a foot long (not counting the tail). Editor's Note: It's worth buying the paper just to see this photograph.
The Seasons: September marks opening of dove, teal, gigging seasons — Bob Todd
Sometimes the heat of summer just keeps on going when September gets here. But even if it does, there are seasons that command attention. Doves, teal, gigging and arch deer and turkey seasons are among those that open this month.
 Waterfowl hunting reservations open Sept. 1. Grand Pass, Eagle Bluffs, Otter Slough under Quick Draw — News release
Hunters can apply Sept. 1 through 15 for duck or geese waterfowl hunting reservations at Conservation Department-managed wetland areas. MDC will accept applications exclusively online. Apply for reservations at 12 wetland areas at www.mdc.mo.gov/node/9638. Drawing results will be posted Oct. 1 at www.mdc.mo.gov/node/9632. Read this entire story online
The Iron Kettle: MDC’s new recipe book aimed at adventurous cooks — Pat Todd
The Missouri Department of Conservation's new cookbook, Cooking Wild in Missouri, is not just another wild game book but is it really a wild game cookbook? Cioppino, Columbia cassoulet with smoked pork and duck; smoked paddlefish Nicoise? If you are an adventurous cook with lots of time on your hands, this may be the book for you. If you prefer simpler recipes with easy-to-find ingredients, maybe not so much.
Through the Years in Traveler: 25 years ago: Onondaga Cave celebrates centennial of discovery
Onondaga Cave celebrated its centennial in September. Traveler recounted the history of the cave’s discovery and subsequent development. Read this entire story online
Sights, sounds on crisp September morning — Jim and Donna Featherson
Changes in the natural world suggest autumn is knocking at the door. Goldenrods, are yellow, cornfields are brown, trees in apple orchards are bending low under a heavy burden of fruit. Nature is in flux.
An Epic Voyage – Paddling the Mississippi and beyond — Jo Schaper
Millions of people have dreamed the Huck Finn dream of traveling downriver, on the Mississippi river’s terms, but only a few, like Robert Meyer, St. Louis, have paddled that dream. In An Epic Voyage, Meyer, 81, recounts his trip, mostly alone, but with the almost daily hospitality of “river rat” strangers along the way, paddling his homemade kayak and camping his way from Lake Itaska Minn., to New Orleans. The book is based on the journal he kept during his 65-day trip, began in 1986, in which he recorded his chance companions, the ordeals and triumphs of the day, the weather and survival challenges along the way. Read Jo's entire review
Rock Talk — Scotia Furnace: Rustic ruins testify to area’s iron heritage — Jo Schaper
It looks like an abandoned castle split asunder, gray hewn stones still stacked neatly along two walls, the front a yawning, unstable rubble slope stretching to the bluff above. The rusty barbed wire fence surrounding the structure, hung with No Admittance signs, has cut gaps. Unlike the restored furnace at Maramec Spring, or the partially destroyed one in Meramec State Park’s Hamilton Valley, Scotia Iron Furnac is hides in a tangle of briars, grapevines and foliage.
Click this Back Issues link to see summaries of Traveler by month, from November 2003 to present. Print copies of back issues are available for up to one year after publication for $5 per copy. Electronic access to our archives from December 2010-January 2011 is available. For access, visit rhetraveler.com or call 800-874-8423, ext. 2 to order.
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