Poplar Bluff High School's trap team finished out its 2018 season with a bang, literally, by winning its self-hosted fall classic event at the Poplar Bluff Gun Club.
The PBHS A Squad, consisting of Austin Stoner, Dylan Hale, Cattarah Caringer, Garret Cooper and Tayler Hillis, took top honors in the Team Division with a score of 468.
Poplar Bluff's B Squad (Trenton Patterson, Jon Pike, Andrew Miller, Jakob Valenzuela and Jaydon Everts) took second place with a score of 430, and Greenville High School earned the third spot with a total of 421 birds broken.
In individual competition, Stoner was the high overall shooters with a score of 99. Taking first place was Patterson with a score of 97, and Cooper earned second place by breaking 95 clay birds.
Caringer was the top Ladies Division shooter with a score of 93, followed by Hillis in first place with 90 and Maria Bailey in second with 72.
Junior high school shooters also participated, and the high overall shooter was Valenzuela, who scored 81 birds. Cameron Jackson broke 72 clays to take first place.
Harvest Climbing
Missouri's archery harvest continues to slowly climb, with 9,679 deer taken so far across the state.
In Carter County, the tally so far is 139 deer, and in Ripley County, it's 122.
Butler County bowhunters have taken 110 deer, and those in Stoddard County have tagged 87.
Dunklin County still is sitting on eight deer, with only one taken over the last week-plus, while Wayne County still ranks high in the state with 206 killed.
With the big cool-down we're getting now, I'd expect deer movement to pick up along with increased effort by bowhunters. Combine that with increased buck movement over the next few weeks and the harvest should begin to climb quickly.
Harvest Lagging
While the deer harvest continues to climb, turkey numbers are another thing altogether, and almost halfway through the fall firearms season, only 652 birds have been taken statewide.
Locally, two have been taken in Butler County, one in Carter County, two in Ripley County, 19 in Stoddard County and seven in Wayne County.
The low harvest speaks volumes about the current state of the turkey population and the lack of interest hunters have toward it, and with acorns now starting to fall steadily, at least in some areas, the birds will become even harder to find. With that, I wouldn't expect the total harvest to get a whole lot better before the season closes out on Oct. 31.
Decent Fishing
Fishing for crappies at Wappapello Lake has been getting a little better lately, though there's not been a lot of traffic on the lake.
The majority of crappies he's seen caught, said Charlie Brotherton, have been fairly shallow and taken with minnows under a float.
"The bass fishing is still pretty good," he added.
Also, some anglers still report good catches of catfish, using primarily trotlines and jugs.
The water temperature remains pretty high, at around 80 degrees, but with air temperatures expected to fall into the low 40s for several consecutive nights, it will begin to drop quickly. Once it does, Brotherton said, the crappies will go very shallow because skinny water warms up faster in the afternoon sunshine.
River Classic
The Current River Smallmouth Association will wrap up its 2018 season Saturday when it hosts its annual Classic tournament out of Van Buren.
As always, fishing is slated to begin at 7 a.m. and conclude at 5 p.m.
Both the launch and the weigh-in will take place at the Watercress ramp, just north of town.
Paul Henderson, 573-686-5476, can get you hooked up with more information if you need it.
Angler's Choice
The Angler's Choice circuit also will finish up its 2018 season with a final tournament on Sunday at Wappapello Lake.
The launch from the Chaonia public ramp is set for 7 a.m., with a stop time of 3 p.m.
Ken Owens is the tournament director and can be reached at 573-820-3715.
Trading Days
The Butler County Coon Club will host a trading days event beginning at daylight Saturday.
Dogs, guns, hunting equipment and more will be available, and you're encouraged to bring anything you'd like to sell to the event.
The cost will be $2 for everyone, including vendors.
The clubhouse is located off County Road 607, south of Poplar Bluff, and if you need more information, give Terry Uhl a call at 573-714-1624.