A spring hunter education skills class has been scheduled in Poplar Bluff for those needing to be certified before purchasing turkey hunting permits.
The class, for those age 11 and older, will be held from 5-9 p.m. March 23 at the Poplar Bluff Junior High School.
To be allowed into the skills class, you’ll first need to complete the knowledge portion of the course, which can be done online or by completing the chapter review questions in the hunter education manual. Manuals can be picked up free at most permit vendors.
Once you have completed the knowledge portion, you can register for the skills class on MDC’s website at mdc.mo.gov.
When you arrive for the class, you’ll need to show proof of completion of the knowledge portion of the course.
If you have questions, give Butler County Conservation Agent Mark Skelton a call at 573-300-3693.
Drawing Results
If you applied for a spring managed turkey hunt through the Department of Conservation’s website, the results of the computerized drawing are supposed to be posted today.
To find out if you were drawn, go to mdc.mo.gov and click on the “Spring Managed Hunts” link in the turkey hunting section of the front page.
Once you enter your ID number, you’ll either be greeted by good news or you’ll get the standard “Your party was not chosen for a hunt” message.
Fur buyer Marc Romine will make his final stop of the season in Poplar Bluff on Friday.
Romine expects to arrive at the Sale Barn around 9 a.m. and will leave at 11.
Markets remain weak, he said, so prices are low.
If you have bobcat or river otter pelts needing to be tagged before you sell them, Conservation Agent Mark Skelton plans to be there.
The Indian Creek Bowhunters will host its second 3-D archery shoot of the year Saturday at the Missouri Department of Conservation’s range off County Road 546.
Shooting on the 20-target course is slated to begin at 8 a.m., and visitors can start the course any time up until noon.
As in the past, shooters can take part in the fun class or they can compete for trophies.
The cost to shoot will be $10 in the fun class and $15 for trophy-class participants, and any kind of archery gear is welcome.
Questions about the club and its events can be referred to Tony Harwell at 573-718-7135 or Brad Massey at 573-785-0647.
Missouri’s paddlefish snagging season kicks off Sunday, and if the water doesn’t rise from a big rain, you can expect quite a few people to hit the water below the Clearwater and Wappapello lake dams then.
Both the Black and St. Francis rivers harbor good numbers of paddlefish, but the Black may have a slight edge.
MDC Fisheries Management Biologist Paul Cieslewicz gill-netted several paddlefish below the Clearwater Lake dam last week and noted the fish were plentiful.
Some fish are outfitted with jaw tags, which help biologists track movements when the fish are caught and the band numbers are reported, and some have radio tags implanted, which also help to track fish movements.
Cieslewicz plans to be set up below the Clearwater dam Sunday morning, and while supplies last, he’ll have a free T-shirt for anyone catching a paddlefish.
The paddlefish snagging season will continue through April 30 with a two-fish daily limit and a 24-inch minimum length limit (measured from the eye to the fork of the tail).
For those with a competitive nature, the East Ozark Bass Club will host a tournament Sunday at Clearwater Lake.
The launch time from Piedmont Park has been set for 7 a.m., and fishing will conclude at 2 p.m.
I don’t have contact information for anyone with the club, but you should be able to register on the morning of the event.
If you travel through the Cane Ridge area of northwestern Butler County and southern Wayne County, you’ll want to be aware of some road closures set to take effect Sunday.
Each spring on March 15, officials from the Poplar Bluff Ranger District of the Mark Twain National Forest close most of the side roads in the Cane Ridge spring walk-in turkey hunting area to vehicular traffic. The reason is twofold: to provide better hunting and to allow nesting wild turkey hens to have less disturbance during a critical time of year for them.
Closures also will affect some roads in the Otter Creek SWITHA near Piedmont.
Closed roads will be gated off, though some may have only signage depicting their closed status. During the closures, access is allowed only by foot or bicycle.
The roads will re-open on June 1.
The Eleven Point Ranger District does things slightly different for its walk-in turkey hunting areas.
In those four SWITHAs, the roads will be closed beginning April 1 and continuing through May 15.
If you aren’t sure about an area or have questions, call the Poplar Bluff Ranger District office at 573-785-1475 or the Doniphan/Eleven Point Ranger District office at 573-996-2153.