Wisdom From The Woods - August 21, 2014
The Woods Clan in the 1960s: Paula Woods, Elaine Woods, Doug Woods, Paul Woods, Mike Woods.
Now that school has started in most of the area towns, there will be fewer fishermen and women on the area lakes and rivers. Also there will be fewer hunters in the woods. The squirrel population in my area has been down even though there are too many ticks for most hunters around here to venture out.
On my last trip to the woods I wore boots and used Deep Woods Off on my pants legs and stuffed the cuffs into my boots. After I got home, I picked about a dozen ticks off my clothes. I used some bleach on my legs for the seed ticks that had worked through the clothes. But I still found several more that had started their trip into my flesh.
Having had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever two times in the past few years, within a day I felt the first symptoms: dry mouth and throat and trouble keeping my balance. A prescription of Doxycycline was the recommended treatment. Days later, I’m feeling better and have better control of my balance.
Here is the warning to everyone who goes into the woods for a hike or any other activity: be sure to check for ticks. My desire to go hunting is tempered, I look forward to cooler weather.
Bass tournaments are held practically every weekend into October. The Current River Smallmouth Association fishes from both Doniphan and Van Buren launch sites and they have a reasonable entry fee. For information on their events, contact Kenny Hunt, tournament committee, at (573) 255-3602. They have tournaments on:
August 23, fishing from the Doniphan site
September 6, fishing from Van Buren
September 27 fishing from Doniphan
October 11, their Classic will fish from Van Buren.
The Wappapello Bass Circuit has an August 23 event with launching from the Sundowner area. Their Classic will be on October 18 and 19.
Angler’s Choice has one more Wappapello tournament. The date is September 14 with take-off time at 6:30 am and weigh in at 3pm. Their launch is from Redman Creek. For information, contact Dennis Outdoors in Poplar Bluff.
Dove season opens September 1. The limit is 15 and you can get more information at the location where you purchase your hunting license.
Bow hunters are getting ready for their portion of the fall deer season on September 15. One of the tell-tale signs that the occupant of a home is an archery hunter is a couple of bales of straw stacked in the yard. They make a good place to hang a target and the straw won’t harm the arrows.
Competition coon hunters have a couple of events this weekend, August 22-23. The events are at Kinder on the 22nd and Poplar Bluff the 23rd.
The following weekend is the UKC’s Autumn Oaks events in Richmond, IN. It is a good place to visit as the event usually has over 600 dogs in the hunt and a couple hundred in the show.
Another warning for anyone who hunts or fishes: beware of snakes and other crawling things. The Missouri Department of Conservation frowns on killing snakes, but at my house, a black snake or hog-nose snake is an enemy and is usually caught and moved, poisonous snakes are done away with. You can legally kill anything that is a menace to your property.