Outdoors in the Ozarks
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I sat on my back porch one day last week watching the birds around the feeders in the back yard.   For thirty years I have never seen a red headed woodpecker come to those feeders until this … more
         I was walking along a wooded ridge top trail years ago when a young fox squirrel fell from a limb above me and landed with a thud not more than ten … more
Charlie Curran, the eighty-eight year old Big Piney river-guide whom I wrote about recently, made a trip over to the Osceola area of Truman Lake with a friend, to fish for catfish.   He took … more
I wrote this article in June of 2012. This week the dream has finally come to be a reality.We are calling it the Big Piney Nature Center and Museum.And yes, it is much like the dream expressed in … more
At the end of the last column, brothers Roy Wayne and Tom Morton and I were sitting in a cave above the river praying the raging thunderstorm would end soon.   I remember Chinese philosopher … more
Squire Lee was an old country gentleman who lived on a sloping hillside above the river. His home was not far from the little cabin where my dad spent much of his childhood. In the river below his … more
The idea of a bear season in Missouri was to make money for the Department of Conservation. It amounts to that and nothing else. There is no “wildlife management” or “For Nature and … more
Both of my sisters married Arkansas country boys, and I ended up with two of the finest brothers-in-law that I could have asked for.   I don’t know if I could have done a better job of … more
My Dad’s birthday was this week. He died at the age of 84 in 2011. I miss him most when I am on the river, where we spent so much time together. Dad was several inches taller than me at … more
Grandpa McNew and my dad bought the pool hall on Main Street in 1960. I was twelve years old at the time, and immediately dad let me start working there, doing this and that and occasionally running … more
Taken from the book “The Buck and the Widow Jones” by L. Dablemont. It was a two days before Christmas in 1939. There was a knock on the door and a boy stood outside, waiting for the … more
The most perfect Christmas trees I have ever seen are found along the highway between Springfield Missouri and Branson. They are perfectly formed, many not much wider than a lampshade and five or six … more
Once a fellow called me to report seeing a hen pheasant down on the Arkansas-Missouri border. I knew exactly what he had seen. I had just seen something similar… a road-runner. About 20 … more
I have yet to figure out how to get trailer lights to work. I have four different boat trailers, which I have wired up, and none of them work like any of the others. One works fine when the pickup … more
The Missouri Department of Conservation may not accomplish much, but you have to hand it to them… they know how to make money. In talking with a retired MDC employee I learned more about that. … more
There are two Little Piney Rivers in Missouri, one flowing into the Gasconade River near Arlington and the other flowing into the Big Piney west of Houston Missouri. Because of declining water levels … more
I took a recent trip to Jefferson City to interview the new director of the Department of Conservation and it turned out to be the disappointment I expected. I was trying to get him to come to some … more
In Canada next week I will take time from fishing to hunt ruffed grouse. Usually when I hunt grouse I find a few woodcock, but there are fewer each year. The odd little birds are migrators because … more
Dad and I closed up the pool hall one late summer night, noting that we had only accumulated a total of 16 dollars as a result of the entire day’s business. That wasn’t a good day, but it … more
As to a date for opening my Big Piney River Nature Center, a mile south of Houston, Mo. put the date of Saturday, Oct. 16 on your calendar. That day we will begin putting in the first displays and we … more
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