Twenty-three teams fished last weekend’s Current River Smallmouth Association tournament at Van Buren, with all but one team weighing a five-fish limit at the end of the day.
The total overall weight of fish caught was nearly 178 pounds.
Roberson and Sisco led the day with a weight of 11.21 pounds, followed by Barnes and Cooper with 9.82 pounds.
Third place went to Caringer and Kram with 9.29 pounds, and fourth place was earned by Hampton and Raymer with 8.98 pounds.
The top five was capped by Nicholson and Nicholson with 8.74 pounds.
The day’s largest bass was caught by McAfee and Rutledge and weighed 3.86 pounds. The second-largest bass was taken by Hampton and Raymer and had a weight of 3.73 pounds.
The Current River Smallmouth Association’s next tournament will take place Aug. 28 at Doniphan.
The next tournament on the schedule is set for Saturday, hosted by the Wappapello Bass Circuit.
Fishing is slated to begin out of the Redman Creek ramp at 6:30 a.m., with a weigh-in beginning at 2 p.m.
A pre-tournament meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the Wappapello VFW, off Highway D north of the dam, to assign boat numbers.
Justun Buchanan has more information at 573-429-6312.
If you applied for a managed deer hunt in Missouri this fall, the results of that drawing are available now.
You can go to the Department of Conservation’s website at mdc.mo.gov, and there is a link on the home page to check the results. All you’ll need is your conservation ID number.
If you got drawn, don’t forget you’ll need to purchase a managed hunt permit before your actual hunt.
The Dexter Pintails chapter of Ducks Unlimited will host its annual Sportsman’s Dinner Aug. 28.
This year’s event will be held at the Wappapello Eagles, located at 9103 Highway T.
The doors to the event will open at 5:30 p.m.
Games, raffles and live and silent auctions are on the bill, with several guns to be given away as well.
Tickets should be purchased in advance and cost $40 for a single or $60 for a couple.
Greenwing youth tickets for those aged 17 and under cost $20 each.
Sponsorships are available for $275, which includes a single ticket, or $300, which includes two tickets. Each includes an entry into a sponsor drawing.
For tickets or information, contact Renee Holt at 573-614-0864, Matt Franklin at 573-614-2653 or Wesley Hood at 573-625-1523.
Saturday is the day of the SEMO Friends of NRA banquet in Poplar Bluff.
It will be held at the Black River Coliseum, with the doors opening at 5 p.m.
As always, games, raffles and silent and live auctions are scheduled, as well as a steak dinner by Tasteful Creations.
Tickets must be purchased in advance and cost $40 each. Several sponsorship levels also are available, ranging between $450 and $1,500.
Tickets, if any remain available, can be picked up at Shooters Shack in Poplar Bluff or by calling Andrew Heuiser at 573-429-2423.
I read an interesting and slightly alarming report recently about COVID-19 being found in free-ranging white-tailed deer.
The study, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said “certain white-tailed deer populations in Illinois, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania were exposed to SARS-CoV-2.”
Antibodies to “SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 33% of the 481 samples collected from January 2020 through 2021,” the report said.
The report also noted the surveillance was not designed to determine whether deer were replicating and shedding SARS-CoV-2, but instead it was done to determine exposure in their natural environment.
“The finding that wild white-tailed deer have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 is not unexpected given that white-tailed deer are susceptible to the virus, are abundant in the United States, often come into close contact with people and that more than 114 million Americans are estimated to have been infected with COVID-19,” the report said.
It’s an interesting read, though many questions remain.
If you want to read the report yourself, the link is https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/stakeholder-messages/wildlife-damage-news/deer-sars.
That page is a recap, and there is a link at the bottom with more information.