FINS, FEATHERS, FUR

IRONTON -- Turkey calling and owl hooting contests will be held at Arcadia Valley Elementary School here March 14.

The contests, sponsored by the Ozark Mountain Gobblers Chapter of the National Turkey Federation, will start at 2 p.m.

Divisions in turkey calling include Open Class, Friction Class, and Amateur Class. First prize in the open class will be a Remington 870 turkey gun. Other class winners will received a NWTF limited edition framed and numbered wildlife print. Plaques will be awarded to second and third-place winners.

All proceed go to help established habitat for wild turkeys.

Additional information is available by calling Tony Cole, (314)-546-6103, or Robert Dettmer, (314)-546-2741.

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The Missouri trout season opened at the state's four trout parks last weekend.

Anglers flocked into Bennett Spring, Roaring River and Montauk state parks and the privately owned Maramec Spring Park for the first day March 1.

More than 12,443 trout tags, an increase of 1,898 over last year's total of 10,545, were sold by 6:30 a.m. on opening day.

The biggest increase of 655, was at Montauk, were anglers bought 3,513 tags this year compared to 2,848 at last year's siren.

The other three parks reported opening morning tag sales of: 2,500 at Roaring River (up 224), 3,450 at Bennett Spring (up 599), and 2,980 at Maramec Spring (up 410).

For the fifth time in a row, Ronnie Kaufman, St. James, caught the first fish of the day at Maramec. At Bennett, Bruce Jones, Versailles, got credit for the first fish with a 7-pound, 1-ounce trout caught four minutes after the buzzer.

The largest fish reported was a 10-pound, 4-ounce trout caught at Roaring River by 13-year-old Mindy Phillips, Washburn.

The Conservation Department operates the daily fee trout fishing program. The James Foundation owns Maramec Spring, and the Department of Natural Resources owns Bennett Spring, Montauk and Roaring River State Parks.

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The Bootheel Boss Gobblers, a local affiliated chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, recently held its annual fundraising banquet and auction, raising more than $12,000.

The local club includes members from Cape Girardeau, Perry, Bollinger, Scott, Mississippi, Stoddard and New Madrid counties.

Funds raised by the Bootheel Boss Gobblers benefit wild turkey research and restoration, with 85 percent of the dollars raised in Missouri used in Missouri.

Anyone interested in joining the association may send $10 annual membership fee to Bootheel Boss Gobblers, P. O. Box 39, Jackson, Mo., 63755.

The next meeting of the group will be March 19, at the Missouri Department of Conservation building in Cape County Park.

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OSAGE BEACH Ralph W. Lucas, Raymore, received the Missouri Department of Conservation's (MDC) highest honor at the fifth annual Missouri Forest, Fish and Wildlife Conference. He was one of several persons honored at the gathering of resource management professionals from around the state.

Lucas became the 36th Missourian to receive the Master Conservationist Award. In presenting the award, MDC director Jerry Presley noted Lucas' outstanding work in identifying and ensuring the protection of high-quality prairie areas. He said Lucas, working with The Nature Conservancy, had a hand in setting aside 38,000 acres of land with remarkable natural values. Lucas and his wife, Virginia, even donated 181 acres of their property in Taney County to create what is now Boston Ferry Natural History Area.

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Coming up:

March 13 Missouri Conservation Commission meeting, Lodge of Four Season, Lake Ozark, 9 a.m.

March 13-15 Conservation Federation of Missouri, Lodge of the Four Seasons.

March 27-28 Forest conference, Cape Girardeau.

April 4 Spring Waterfowl Symposium, Continental Regency Hotel, Peoria, Ill., 9 a.m.

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WAPPAPELLO The U.S. Army corps of Engineers at wappapello Lake have been experiencing a problem with illegal dumping at recreation area dumpsters around the lake.

"These dumpsters are to be used by visitors who generate trash and litter during their visit to the lake," said spokesman Michael McClendon. "Those people who dump their trash in the dumpsters are in violation of Title 36, Code of Federal REgulations, 327.9 (b)."

In the past violators have been notified by letter to stop the illegal dumping.

"In the future, citations will be issued if the problem continues," said McClendon. "The fine for this violation is $50."

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WALLACE, Idaho - A hunter who shot and injured a couple he says he mistook for black bears has been sentenced to six months in jail.

The penalty is stiffer than the one initially imposed in July 1990, when 1st District Court Magistrate Neil Walter sentenced Richard Timken to a three-month jail term and a $300 fine for the 1989 shooting.

Timken appealed the sentence because state law bars a judge from imposing both a fine and a jail term for injuring a person with a firearm.

He won his appeal, but wound up with more jail time.

In October 1989, Denny and Francis Kuisti were each hit at dusk by a single bullet from Timken's rifle near their home along the Coeur d'Alene River in northern Idaho. Mrs. Kuisti said she still suffers paranoia attacks and her husband lost the use of his left hand.

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COLUMBIA Tim Barksdale's earliest recollection of watching birds is when, at four years old, he saw a family of bobwhite quail drinking from a dripping faucet in the backyard of his home in St. Louis County.

Twenty-eight years later, his passion for "birding" led him to a new state record for identifying 314 birds in 1991.

Quail aren't what put Barksdale over the top to claim the state birding title. It was his sighting of a Ross' gull.

"On Dec. 31, 1966 I went on my first Christmas bird count with the St. Louis Audubon Society," said Barksdale, who lives in Columbia. "The day I saw the Ross' gull was the 25th anniversary of that first bird count."

"On January 21 I saw all four species of loons that normally occur in North America. Another time during the year, I saw one of the largest concentrations of horned grebe in the winter," said Barksdale. "I also saw a burrowing owl right here in Columbia. The Ross' gull sighting was the culmination of an incredible year for me."