I’ve told you before that I think Fall really starts September 1st. That marks the first of the fall seasons to start in the Midwest, dove season. Most years I hit the opener on one of the public fields managed by either Kansas or Missouri. This year it was a fantastic looking field not far from here that had several hundred doves when I scouted it Monday (with my scouting partner in our new backpack):

Unfortunately it started raining last night and didn’t quit until around noon. Doves don’t really fly in the rain. The Old Man and I ended up seeing a fraction of the doves I saw Monday but we also had less competition than I expected. We each needed a few when we quit around 10 as the rain ratcheted up again.

Considering the weather it wasn’t a bad was to start the 2010-2011 season. Hopefully I can add to it in the next several days.

So it would be fair to say that I’m not a huge fan. The Nuge needs to kill so bad he ends up doing most of his “whacking and stacking” in pens. Not hunting, not even close. But somehow he anointed himself our official spokesman. I don’t think he speaks for me, and I’ve never been particularly sure he even understands hunting as I see it. Anyway, he pled no contest a couple of days ago to a negotiated deal on 3 game violations in California.

Rock star and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent was fined $1,750 Friday in Yuba County Superior Court after pleading no contest to a charge of baiting deer on his hunting show “Spirit of the Wild.”

Yuba City attorney Jack Kopp, representing Theodore Anthony Nugent, entered the plea to Department of Fish and Game charges of baiting deer and not having a deer tag “countersigned” at the closest possible location, said Deputy District Attorney John Vacek.

Nugent, who did not appear in court, also illegally shot an immature buck on the show but was not charged, according to Fish and Game.

The rest of the news story is here.

Again, I’m not a fan of Ted and his act, but I don’t have the level of hatred this story has exposed in some of the more hardcore hunters in the online community. Take a look here.

The invasive Silver and Big Head Carp have been moving up the Kansas (or Kaw) River for years now. They are believed to have started in fish farms in the Southeastern states. They then got into Missouri which the Kaw flows into. It was just a matter of time. Then several days ago the Kansas Department of Wildlife announced that spring and early summer floods caused a record spawn. The article can be found here.

Tonight I decided to check it out myself:

There are literally hundreds of thousands of these 3″ silvers stacked up below this low powerhead dam. I’ve never seen anything like it. They were constantly jumping on shore, upstream, on my feet, and into my backpack. You could catch dozens in one swipe with a 5 gallon bucket. I can only imagine what will happen in the next few years as these fish get too big for any of our local predators.

Honestly, I don’t know what can be done at this point anyway. The Kansas River has little recreation value and even less fishing value. Perhaps 5 years from now it will be a premier flying carp bowfishing destination?

One shot, a miss.

I hate the summer. After Canada in early June there is little going on around here besides work and sweat. But my Google hits have been climbing up with searches like, “Kansas Deer Hunting” and “Pheasant numbers” so obviously I’m not the only one looking for September 1st to get here.

Last Tuesday I shot in a fund raising deal for Ducks Unlimited. A guy named Jake Lahm was there selling his custom duck calls. He had about 5 wood calls and about the same number of acrylic. I blew about all of them. In general his calls were easy blowing with good low end and average scratch. He seemed like a good guy and a great caller. If you live in the KC area and are interested I’d encourage you to visit him in person and pick out a call that fits you. There are other call makers in the KC area, even some that I have a personal history with and would recommend, but they have nothing on Jake’s calls. You can see more at JLcalls.com

Friday I spent most of the day studying the requirements for the upcoming season on the large WRP property I hunt and pseudo-manage. It was hot and humid and generally not much fun. Some day when I’m in a bad mood I’ll write a post about the joys of partnering with the federal government on habitat management. Rest assured it is not a positive experience. I have the exact same Biology degree these people do, I’m from the Midwest, and I’ve spent my entire life around wetlands (they have neither of the last two). Yet what I think is worth exactly nothing. Anyway… I checked the Pawpaw trees and some tree stands before it got dark and the bugs were about to carry me off.

I also talked to a gunsmith last week who claims he can put a new stock on my 6.5×55.

And finally, I’ve run twice in the last few days and hit the stupid machine another time. I hate running. I hate the stationary machine even more. But I like killing elk, and it’s time to start getting ready for the October mountains…

I was a Missouri resident more than a decade ago when there was talk of turning elk loose in parts of the Ozarks. I was personally excited but I predicted that it would never fly with the residents of Southern Missouri. These are not people you would call open thinkers. As I claimed at the time, there was just no hope for, “Them there giant deer things”.

But now 10 years have passed and we’re in the heart of NASCAR season. There will never be a better time to try again!

CAPE GIRARDEAU Mo – The Missouri Conservation Commission has directed Missouri Conservation Department (MDC) staff to reinitiate plan development that would enable the agency to restore elk around Peck Ranch Conservation Area (CA) while addressing concerns raised nearly a decade ago.

Following the presentation, the Commission directed Department staff to reinitiate plan development, based on current information and knowledge, incorporating the following:

•A well-defined elk restoration zone around Peck Ranch CA focusing on an area in Carter, Shannon and Reynolds Counties,
•Established herd management guidelines, including a release protocol, population objectives and hunting as the primary management tool,
•Effective health protocols, including disease testing and a contingency plan to ensure the health of domestic livestock and wildlife, and
•Provisions for dealing with elk that leave the restoration zone.

The area around Peck Ranch CA was selected because it has suitable elk habitat, a high percentage of public land, low density of public roads and a limited amount of row crop and livestock production.

Now it’s time to see if the cool, thinking, members of the state can slide one by the, uh, Ozarkians. The whole release is here.

In my line of work I sometimes marvel at the disconnect between those who go to jail and those who should go to jail. Fortunately for the world at large, a Dallas judge got it right when he sentenced Robby Rose to 15 days in jail for cheating during a recent bass tournament. It seems he stuffed a lead weight into the fish before weigh in hoping to win a $50,000 bass boat.

You can find more on the story here.

So I’m not much of a cook. I’m also not much of wild fruit scrounger. On my two caribou hunts I’ve spent more time eating blueberries than hunting. Other than that, it’s mostly roadside stands and grocery stores. But I found a fantastic stand of blackberries hiking with the daughter last week. They were still red but already huge by Kansas standards. Today I checked it out again and found that most were still red but some were ripe. The daughter and I ate a bunch and returned home with a nice grocery sack full. So what to do? Well my mother hooked me up with an idiot-proof peach cobbler recipe when I first moved out. I adapted it to blackberries.

First: Berries in the pan.

Second: Mix 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of oatmeal, and 2/3 cup of brown sugar. Pour it over the berries.

Third: Pour 1 stick of melted butter over the dry mix.

Fourth: Bake at 350 for an hour.

It really is the most idiot proof cobbler possible and still very good. Good enough to deal with the briars…

Just a quick reminder that the Wyoming leftover licenses are on sale now. Also you can now buy your preference points there. I suggest you do so if you think you will be hunting Wyoming before you die.
Check here.

Also, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has the early portion of the Special Hunts Application available. Everyone should apply. It’s free and there are some wonderful opportunities available.
Check here for more details.

So I try not to steal the work of others but this is simply too funny not pass on.

Click here. Seriously, it’s worth it.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – July 2, 2010 – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its preliminary report today on mid-continent breeding ducks and habitats, based on surveys conducted in May. The total duck population is nearly 41 million, which is similar to last year’s estimate and 21 percent above the long-term average.

Habitat conditions across the U.S. and Canadian prairies and parklands were generally good. However, further north, wetland conditions in boreal regions of Alaska and northern Canada were only fair at the time of the survey. During the survey and into early summer, many regions important to breeding ducks received significant precipitation, which could increase later breeding efforts and ensure brood survival.

The rest of the report from Duck Unlimited and the US F&W Service is here.