Outdoor living

In spite of unfavorable weather conditions during much of the three-week spring turkey season, Missouri hunters set a record by toppping last season's record by 1,730 birds.

In the Youth Weekend Hunt, 3,269 birds were checked and in the recent three week regular season hunters checked 56,882 bearded birds making the spring total 60,151 birds.

The top counties were Franklin with 1,099, Laclede 1,071 and Howell with 985 birds checked. The Kansas City Region, which now includes Vernon County, had 7,479 birds checked

There were eight reported hunting accidents, one fatal.

Millions of waterfowl have crossed Missouri and headed north while thousands more have settled in the state to nest. Hundreds of white pelicans passed through Vernon County as recently as last week.

Loons, normally thought of as a northern bird, have spent more than a month on Stockton Lake.

Tom Roberts, Springfield, is an avid bird watcher and said, "I never thought that I could see so many different species of birds around our area, but I think I have seen more and different species this spring than anytime in history."

"You can tell that it's spring in the Ozarks by looking at all the activity at the boat ramps. I'm looking forward to hooking into some walleye and catfish now that the turkey season has ended," said Gene Gardner, Nevada.

Gardner, 76, has fished Stockton ever since it became a lake and has caught a lot of fish from catfish to northern pike.

He recalled back when the northern pike were first stocked in the lake and, like a lot of anglers, thought they would be a great addition to the fisheries in the lake, but they soon disappeared.

"I did manage to hook several lunkers before they vanished," he said.

Recently Gardner took his grandson fishing at the lake and caught a limit of crappie and two keeper walleyes.

"It was my first trip to the lake this spring, but it was just the first of many," he said.

Like Gardner, Carl Kitchen, Kansas City, has fished Stockton, Truman and Pomme de Terre for years and said, "We had an incredible fishing season last year. I caught more fish during 2003 than in the past 30 years. It was a year to remember and the 2004 season looks very promising as well."