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It is very nice to be sitting back in my favorite chair, surrounded by my favorite people (and dog), and slowly recovering from a wild week down south. However, saying goodbye to the lake, land, people, and food of Washington County, Mississippi was tough! When I last spoke to you all I was just arriving, and marveling at all that was around me, but as I hit “send” (after finally finding a computer hardwired to the world wide web), the seriousness and gravity of the tournament set in, and a fishing we went! Everyone knew the situation, there were six lakes you could fish, one of them was Lake Washington which held the biggest fish, but also the had toughest

Front row: Conner Johnson, Hunter Johnson, Ryder, Levi Johnson.  Back row: Ron Johnson, Rich Johnson, and Aaron Johnson. (Not pictured: Tim Kavan and Scott James) By Tim Kavan The Bootheel Bobwhites Quail Forever (QF) Chapter teamed up with the Bayou Strutters National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) chapter to host a youth hunt on Saturday, September 13th in New Madrid County. The weather was chilly and the wind was brisk, but this didn’t prevent the 3 young lads from taking advantage of this opportunity! This event was originally planned as a joint effort with QF, NWTF and the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) to recruit new hunters to the adventures of hunting upland game. We would like to thank all organizations and

5-year-old Brock Murphy with a big Kentucky Lake crappie he caught with his dad, Kevin   There is no greater time of year for us outdoor-folk than fall. The deer are moving about, the squirrels are cutting, the ducks are preparing for their migration down the Mississippi Fly Way, and the fish are gorging themselves! I've seen plenty of posts from people on Facebook about fall bringing hoodies, campfires, and football, and while I’m a proponent of all three, my thoughts are drawn more towards big bucks, mallard ducks, and plucking crappie from Reelfoot stumps! (The rhymes are free, you’re welcome.) Alright, I may have regurgitated that opening paragraph from last year’s column, but when you hit the nail on

With the approach of the fall hunting seasons, the weather has done a good thing for anyone who enjoys outdoor activity.  There are plenty of hunting seasons open and more to open in the near future. In our neighborhood there are some hunters who chose not to wait for the legal seasons and bag their deer before season.  Some just take the choice cuts from a deer and leave the rest for coyotes, while others just leave a carcass where it lies and drive away. Two game wardens to take care of the enforcement of the hunting laws are not enough to enforce the conservation laws in any county in the state. We had a case in the neighborhood early

[Publisher's note: this article will also appear in Thursday's newspaper.] UPDATE:  The legislature voted at 11:55pm on Wednesday night; the Governor’s veto stands.  Jefferson City is a strange place these days. Literally, things can turn upside down overnight. That's been the case with House Bill 1326 and Senate Bill 506. The bills, deemed the Mo Farm Bills, are supported by both the Missouri Cattle Producers and Missouri's Dairy Cattle industry. They were designed to strengthen Missouri's agricultural industry, which pretty much everyone agreed was a good thing. Just over two months ago these bills were also heavily supported in the state capitol. At the time of passage, the Missouri Cattlemen's Association's (MCA) wrote, “The MCA strongly supports the bipartisan 105