Getting hit by lightning is not worth the few extra fish. It was in the summer of 1987. Bill Selby, a fishing buddy of mine, and I were floating on the lower end of Little Piney Creek near Newburg, Missouri. It was late afternoon and we could hear thunder in the distance. We had rented…
Most people are familiar with “marathons” and “half-marathons.” In fact, many of us have run, walked (or limped) in one or more charity runs in our lifetimes. But you might not have heard of the “ultra marathon.” The ultra marathon is by definition any marathon longer than 26.2 miles. The “ultimate” challenge for most distance…
I have a confession to make. When I go wade-fishing on a southern Missouri stream, I sometimes end up being obsessed and on the lookout for cottonmouth water moccasins, especially if my buddies start yapping ahead of time about all the snakes in the stream where we are going to fish. Like a lot of…
Both sows are wearing a locator collar. In the den photo, the sow has been tranquillized so that she and the cub can be examined for health issues. (Photo courtesy Laura Conlee, who is a furbearer biologist with the MDC.) The black bear program in Missouri is progressing on schedule On June 19 of this…
For more than 75 years, thousands of floaters on the Current River, while paddling between Pull-Tight Spring and the Highway 19 bridge in Shannon County, Mo., have passed the “Alton Club” and have wondered what that was all about. From the river, they could see picturesque, rustic buildings on the hillside overlooking the river,…
I think every single time I have gone on a canoe trip with my buddies in the Ozarks since 1972, sooner or later, someone jokes about hearing a banjo. They are referring to a scene from the movie, “Deliverance.” This persistent joke is not really intended as a comment about people living in the…
The lowly armadillo has finally arrived in Missouri. It has only taken several million years, but he made it. And in case you did not know it, prior to the point in time when North and South America were linked by the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, there were no armadillos in North America;…
To all the other old duck hunters in this crowd besides me, did you ever think you would see the day when it would be perfectly legal in Missouri to shoot snow geese from February until April with unplugged shotguns, electronic callers and no kill limits on the number of geese killed? Our disbelief stems…
