Members of Poplar Bluff’s two trap teams performed well during the recent Scholastic Clay Target Program shoot at Linn Creek, Missouri, earning awards and, for three shooters, scoring their personal bests.
Two squads from the SEMO Youth Shooters team earned first-place honors, while another gained a second-place trophy.
In the Rookie Division, Matthew Gilliam, Karsten McCauley, Jace Blaich, Nolan Barker and Alex Parson earned the win.
In the Open Division, the winning squad consisted of Sam Johnson, Madison Cash, Cody Grobe, Cooper Rideout and Logan Hart.
Taking second place in the Open Division was the squad made up of Trenton Patterson, Garret Cooper, Cole VanMatre, Layne Clubb and Anthony Cason.
Poplar Bluff High School’s squad, consisting of Eli DePew, Emma DeGaris, Mason Murphy-Foster, Jacob Jones and McKenna Mills, took third place in the Open Division.
Several individual awards were handed out as well.
On the SEMO Youth Shooters team, Hart earned first place in the Intermediate Advance Division.
Hannah Cash took second place in the Collegiate Division, while Tayler Hillis also ended up on the podium with a third-place finish.
Personal best efforts were scored by three shooters at the event. DePew shot his first 99 straight, while Mills captured her first 98 straight. Hart scored 75 straight for the first time.
Poplar Bluff’s shooters will compete next at the AIM state shoot June 26-27.
Trouble Brewing?
There’s a bit of ominous news for duck hunters hoping for a better season this fall in Southeast Missouri, after three consecutive years of mediocre hunting.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department recently completed its spring waterfowl and wetland survey, and the results were not good.
The state, which makes up a large portion of the critical “Prairie Pothole Region” of North America, which produces the highest concentrations of ducks each year, is in a serious drought.
In fact, this spring was the fifth driest on record in North Dakota.
The water index was down 80% from last year and was 65% below the long-term average, dating back to 1948.
“The percentage-based change in the number of wetlands holding water is the greatest seen in the history of the survey,” NDG&F said in a news release.
Of course, that doesn’t bode well for duck production, and the numbers in the survey show it.
Mallards were down almost 49%, while pintails were down 66%.
American wigeon numbers dropped 49%, and green-winged teal were down 49.6%.
Blue-winged teal saw less of a decline, at 9.5%.
The only bright spot was gadwalls, which actually increased in numbers by more than 47%.
Biologists say if ducks can’t find suitable wetlands and habitat in their traditional breeding locations, they will continue to travel until they find them, or they simply won’t nest that year. Hopefully, the former was the case this spring, and hopefully the entire prairie region wasn’t affected similarly, otherwise Missouri’s fall season could be a bust.
NDG&F will conduct a brood survey in July, and that will tell how good or bad the reproduction was this year.
Good Fishing
Fishing has been pretty good lately as the area’s waters have pretty much stabilized.
I’ve heard reports of good catches of crappie at Wappapello, mostly from those fishing the flats.
The bass bite is good, though with the warming weather, it might be better at night.
The bluegill bite has been decent, but it should get better next week as the next full moon comes and the fish spawn again.
Catfishing also should be good, and the lower end of Wappapello, particularly close to the dam, could produce some nice catches.
Smallmouth Tournament
The Current River Smallmouth Association will host a tournament Saturday, based out of Van Buren.
The event is the organization’s annual “His and Hers” tournament, and will kick off at 7 a.m.
Fishing will conclude at 5 p.m., and the weigh-in will take place at the Watercress ramp, just north of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways office.
For more information, contact Paul Henderson at 573-686-5476 or Randy Sullivan at 417-252-4400.
Turkey Webcast
Finally, the Missouri Department of Conservation will be hosting an online webcast June 29 to talk about the state’s wild turkey numbers and management efforts.
The webcast will be held from noon until 1 p.m. that day, and you can register for it on the MDC website at mdc.mo.gov.
Given the results of the 2021 spring season and the frustration of a lot of hunters, it might be interesting to see what MDC has to say.
I don’t really expect anything different than what turkey program biologist Reina Tyl told me in May, but I do applaud the department for making the effort to let residents know what is going on.
Tyl also will answer questions from those attending the webcast.