Bird Hunting Today - Hunt a Preserve

Outside Again Adventures Bill Cooper Bird Hunting Today - Hunt a Preserve “Bird hunting ain’t what it used to be,” lamented hunting buddy Treff Earney. “But, it is great to come to a bird hunting operation and enjoy the good quality habitat and strong flying birds.” Biologists have lamented louder than Earney about the decline in upland bird hunting across the continental United States in recent decades. Culprits causing the decline include habitat loss, changing agricultural practices, increased predator populations, pesticides which kill honey bees, global warming and a decrease in hunter numbers. Biologists and conservation agencies know exactly what needs to be done to bring game bird populations back to former levels. Controlling predator numbers, including feral cats, has proven to be an effective method of increasing game bird numbers. Encouraging new hunters to enter the sport helps maintain dollars spent towards maintaining game department funds for upland game bird conservation. However, the most important key to improving game bird numbers is providing good habitat. Legendary conservation leader Aldo Leopold said it best. “Conservation will ultimately boil down to rewarding the private landowner who conserves the public interest.” 1934. The vast majority of land in the United States is privately owned and holds the best habitat for upland birds. Programs like the Conserve Reserve Programs pay farmers to leave some of their lands in wildlife habitat. Such programs, however, are not enough to bring game birds such as quail and pheasants back to the national landscape. Better farming practices, such as no draining of wetlands or tilling of prairies and no fall tilling of stubble and abandonment of tilling from fence line to fence line are the key components to increasing game bird habitat and subsequently increasing bird populations nationwide. It takes a lot of dollars and a lot of time to change agricultural practices across an entire national landscape. In the meantime, hunter numbers continue to decrease in most states and conservation department funds decrease proportionately. Bill Kunz, the owner of Wil-Nor Outdoors, LLC in Dittmer, Missouri grew up as a wild bird hunter. “I, like most quail and pheasant hunters, am passionate about the sport. For me, nothing in the outdoors comes close to matching the thrill I get from seeing a good bird dog lock down on point.” Kunz walked behind bird dogs for hundreds of miles, but read the hand writing on the wall in the mid 1980’s. “Game bird populations, particularly quail, were declining at an alarming rate,” he said. “Bird hunting preserves were coming on the scene,” Kunz shared. “I thought preserves were the salvation of game bird hunting, but I was quickly disappointed after visiting the first few preserve operations. Bird hunting preserves were a fairly new industry and few people knew how to properly raise quality birds. The hunts I experienced proved disappointing.” In an attempt to remedy the situation for himself and others, Kunz began the Wil-Nor Acres Gun Club in 1986 and opened Wil-Nor Outdoors, LLC in 1990. Wil-Nor offers chukar, pheasant and quail hunting, along with dog boarding, training for pointing breeds, sporting clays, a rifle and pistol range, fishing ponds and concealed carry classes. Limited deer and turkey hunting are also available. “My primary purpose in opening Wil-Nor was to provide as near a wild bird hunting experience as possible,” Kunz stated. “I purchase the best birds I can find, from reputable suppliers. Good quality birds are only part of the equation, however. A good bird hunt requires quality habitat and food plots and plenty of room to hunt.” Every upland bird hunter who remembers the good old days of bird hunting also remembers the excellent farms they had to hunt. “In my younger days, I could quail hunt on any number of farms around the area,” Earney recalled. “Everyone had brushy fence rows and draws. Many of the farms had a few row crops such as corn or soybeans and milo, too.” Clean row farming had not been invented yet, either. Annual weeds were plentiful on farms and provided substantial food sources for quail and songbirds. When hill farms began declining as family operations and cattle markets expanded, row crops and brushy fencerows went by the wayside, taking with it millions of acres of prime quail habitat. The rapidly expanding usage of fescue in the 1950’s, as a base to prevent soil erosion on an increasing numbers of cattle farms, sealed the fate of quail populations across a vast landscape. Clean row farming, fall tillage and herbicides created the same scenario for pheasant habitat. Despite the fact that biologists have now identified the problems associated with game bird population declines, it is unlikely populations will ever return to numbers of the glory days. Gains are being made, but if bird hunters are going to keep their sport alive and continue to attract new hunters, shooting preserves will a part of that equation. A Google search will bring up many bird hunting operations across the country. There is no doubt that the quality of the science of raising birds for hunts has increased dramatically. High quality operations now manage thousands of acres dedicated to quality bird hunting habitat. “Expense is big factor for a lot of bird hunters,” Earney said. Working class bird hunters can’t always afford to travel long distances and stay in costly lodges. Such hunting trips are often a once a year affair. And, bird hunters can’t justify keeping a dog for one hunt a year. “I love coming to Wil-Nor,” Earney said. “It is only an hour from home and costs are very reasonable. I can make several trips a year to hunt or train my dog for what it costs to make one trip to an out-of-state, high dollar hunting preserve.” Earney readily admits that bird hunting is not what it used to be. “I miss the old farms I used to hunt,” quipped. The old barns, the old equipment, the farm animals, the crop fields, the farmers themselves; they all combined to create a special atmosphere which was dear to every bird hunters heart. “Bill Kunz is a special guy,” Earney said. “He experienced the good old days of bird hunting and does his best to give us the same experience. I couldn’t believe it, but the last time I hunted at Wil-Nor, Bill took us to an old century farm he had leased. The place was like something out of the past. Huge old barns, log buildings, corn cribs, rusty Farmall tractors, Ford pickups from the 1940’s and real crop fields surrounded by brushy draws and weedy corners took me back decades. That’s the best day I’ve had bird hunting in decades.” Bird hunting preserves are here to stay. The grand bird hunting preserves have their places, but if you want to bird hunt often, find a well managed preserve close to home. You can check out Wil-Nor Outdoors, LLC on www.Facebook.com/WilNorHunt16, www.wil-nor.com, or give Bill Kunz a call at 636-285-7416. Set aside ample time for the phone call. Kunz’s mellow voice will put you right at ease. Too, he likes to talk bird hunting. You may follow Outside Again Adventures on www.aoutdoorstv.com and www.Facebbok.com/Outsidealways.

Missouri Trout Opener Outlook 2016

Trout Fishing Outlook 2016 Bill Cooper for www.outsideagainadventures.blogspot.com February 22, 2016 The Missouri trout fishing opener is Tuesday, March 1 in Missouri’s four trout parks. Heavy flooding recently created problems in all of the trout parks, but trout hatchery manager Wes Swee, at Maramec Spring park is optimistic. “Flooding was a problem in all of the trout parks and at the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery in Branson,” Swee said at a Trout Fraternity luncheon held at the St. James Sports Club. “Maramec Spring Park lost the dam just below the spring outlet during the recent flooding,” stated Mike Conaway, superintendent of the park. “Conservation Department personnel will begin rebuilding the dam very soon.” “With a few adjustments, trout fishing will continue as normal,” Swee continued. “Normally we stock 2.25 trout per estimated fisherman for any given day. With the losses of fish at the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery, we will reduce the stocking equation for the 2016 trout season in the parks to 2.00 fish per estimated fisherman per day.” Clint Hale , hatchery manager at Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery explained to a media gathering in January that they wanted to take the brunt of the reduction in 2016 and he fully expects available trout numbers to be back to normal for the 2017 season. “On the positive side, we will have good sized fish to stock at Maramec Spring Park this year,” Swee said. “The average fish will run 13-to-14 inches. That is a nice trout.” Crowds are always heavy on opening day of trout season. Swee expects in the neighborhood of 1,500 fishermen for the Tuesday opener March 1. Conaway reported that crews have worked hard to get Maramec Spring Park ready for the opener. The park is now open and visitors may purchase annual parking permits. He encourages people to come out early to purchase permits in order to avoid long lines on opening day. Fishing licenses are available and trout tags may be purchased the day before the opener as well to avoid long lines. Members of the St. James Chamber of Commerce will be on hand to help park cars. Hot coffee and donuts will be available at the Chamber tent. Prizes will be given in several categories in a trout fishing contest. “The weekend following an opening day during the week is usually busier than opening day itself,” Conaway said. “We normally have extra help on those weekends to help keep the traffic flowing smoothly.” Opening day of trout season is a ritual for thousands of anglers. Many fishermen come simply to hook up with old friends whom they only see on opening day or opening weekend. Then there is the good prospect of catching a lunker trout. “We will stock a good number of lunkers throughout the spring branch, so that everyone has a chance of hooking one of the bog ones,” Swee said. The big question among many fishermen is the quandary about what bait or lure to use on opening day. Peggy Hussey, of St. James, swears by what she calls the “Ugly Lure.” Ugly it is. It consists of a simple hair-pin spinner with a hook adorned with ragged looking marabou feathers. It resembles fish intestines. She and her husband tie the lures themselves. Some say Peggy named the lure after her husband, Don. Important items to consider before opening day includes re-spooling your reels with new line, said Roy King, an avid trout fisherman from St.James. ”A lot of people forget bout their lines,” King said. “You just can’t do that, especially if you want to land bigger trout. It’s also a good idea to spool reels with a little heavier line than normal for opening day, because there will be more lunkers than usual stocked. Most people normally use 2 or 4 pound line.” King also ties the most popular trout jig around. You can find them at DJ’s Package Store in St. James. “All of the trout parks saw some damage in the recent floods,” Swee concluded. “But parks crew have cleaned things up and the hatchery managers and crews at the parks have worked hard to to get things in shape for opening day of the 2016 trout season. Come out and enjoy the fun. Follow Bill Cooper and Outside Again Adventures on” www.aoutdoorstv.com, www.Facebook.com/Outsidealways, http://www.waynesvilledailyguide.com/, http://www.leaderjournal.com/, http://www.therolladailynews.com/, http://www.lakenewsonline.com/ .