Kansas.com: Outdoors

Wire-to-wire hunt

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:38 CDT

It seemed normalcy finally arrived when the shot sounded and the antelope fell.

Two days of fiascoes with assorted weather conditions, uncooperative animals and equipment failures had dogged Stacy Hoeme and me relentlessly.

But when we walked to the downed buck, we found one of the most unusual big-game hunts of my life had saved the most bizarre twist for last.

The first morning of the hunt we'd been hampered by dense fog that only allowed us to see a few hundred yards of a ranch that stretched for many miles.

Pronghorn bucks weren't where they'd been in years past or even a day or two before our hunt.

Autumn on the prairie

MICHAEL PEARCE — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:00 CDT

Every autumn, Libby Albers makes a pilgrimage to a place of phenomenal fall foliage. Mile after Technicolor mile she treks amid pastel pinks and rich purples, passing brilliant reds and tawny blonds in the cool, crisp air.

And to see the show, she doesn't travel to Vermont's legendary mountains or the Missouri Ozarks.

Albers finds one of nature's best American fall displays near her Newton home.

"There's a full rainbow of colors on the prairie this time of year," said Albers, an environmental specialist for the city of Wichita. "Just like the tree leaves, the prairie grasses change colors every fall. It's a great place to be."

Back in the cool evenings of mid-September, the prairie began a transformation away from the monotone greens of summer.

Tip of the market

MICHAEL PEARCE — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:43 CDT

In 1984, Mike Sohm started the quest for a better broadhead in a bedroom in tiny Otis, improving existing heads for himself and a few friends.

Today his Magnus broadheads are sold in about 1,000 markets. That includes prominent displays in most major stores and catalogs.

Though he's since moved to the big city -- Great Bend -- he credits an ongoing quest for quality with that success.

"Good quality means job security," Sohm said. "Poor quality means no job at all."

The ability to follow building trends and be innovative have helped the cause.

Elk population seems to be on the rise

MICHAEL PEARCE — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:43 CDT

Kansas biologists have long used roadkill statistics to track the size of the state's deer herd.

It's also telling them there's growth in the elk herd, too.

Within the last two months, at least three elk have been killed on Kansas highways, said Matt Peek, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks elk research biologist.

One was near a well-known herd on Fort Riley. The others were in Ellis and Kiowa counties.

All three were young bulls, probably out and about seeking territory or cows.

Walking paths should see markers by spring

STAN FINGER — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:38 CDT

"Once you become famous, there is nothing left to become but infamous."

--Don Johnson

"You can best fight any existing evil from the inside."

--Hattie McDaniel

By next spring, some of the best reading in Wichita could be found along walking paths in the city.

Burrowing owl

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:59 CDT

BURROWING OWL

Athene cunicularia

Amid the wide-open spaces of western Kansas lives a species of tiny owl unlike any other.

Burrowing owls get their name from nesting and roosting in burrows dug by other animals, such as prairie dogs.

The 10-inch birds hunt both during the day and night, taking everything from large insects to rodents and an occasional small bird.

Outdoor schedules

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:59 CDT

Canoeing

Oct. 25 -- Arkansas River Float, Arkansas River Coalition. Call 316-684-0730 or wallyseibel@aol.com.

Nov. 22 -- Arkansas River Float, Arkansas River Coalition. Call 316-684-0730 or wallyseibel@aol.com.

Dog Field Trials/Tests

Ends today -- AKC Field Trial, Sunflower Retriever Club, Hazelton. Call 316-259-1569.

Solunar tables

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:59 CDT

This table lists top fishing times and days for the coming week. For best results, begin fishing one hour before and continue one hour after the times given. Times apply to all time zones (bold indicates best days).

Today	11:25 p.m.	----
Monday	12:15 a.m.	11:50 p.m.
Tuesday	----	12:40 p.m.
Wednesday	1:05 a.m.	1:30 p.m.
Thursday	2:00 a.m.	2:30 p.m.
Friday	3:00 a.m.	3:30 p.m.
Saturday	4:05 a.m.	4:35 p.m.
Next Sun.	5:10 a.m.	5:40 p.m.

Source: U.S. Naval Observatory

Lake levels, fishing and waterfowl reports

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:54 CDT

Lake Levels

Lake	Normal	Current	Rel
Arbuckle	872.0	869.84	1
Big Hill	858.0	858.13	9
Cedar Bluff	2144.0	2127.42	0
Cheney	1421.6	1421.66	0
Clinton	875.50	875.67	7
Council Grove	1274.0	1273.69	6
El Dorado	1339.0	1338.85	7
Elk City	795.7	797.37	7
Fall River	946.5	950.81	104
Grand	745.0	742.70	12,477
Hillsdale	917.0	917.79	8
Hulah	733.0	733.25	3
John Redmond	1040.8	1038.91	1160
Kanopolis	1463.0	1467.14	157
Kaw	1013.0	1012.54	5664
Keystone	723.0	725.81	11,575
Kirwin	1729.3	1721.28	0
Lovewell	1582.6	1576.61	0
Marion	1350.5	1351.14	15
Melvern	1036.00	1037.75	90
Milford	1144.4	1147.13	700
Norton	2304.3	2292.80	1
Perry	891.50	895.04	25
Pomona	974.0	976.61	89
Skiatook	714.0	712.63	101
Stockton	867.0	869.79	40
Table Rock	915.0	916.60	5272
Tenkiller	632.0	633.48	2360
Texoma	616.3	615.92	1465
Toronto	899.5	901.92	5
Truman	706.0	707.69	4765
Tuttle Creek	1075.0	1079.95	1500
Waconda	1455.6	1456.90	201
Webster	1892.5	1884.02	0
Wilson	1516.0	1517.27	50

Fishing Report

Local

Trout season opens Wednesday.

Cheney: White bass slow to fair using crank baits near stumps on the west side or using fire tiger shad raps off Walleye Island. Wiper fair over points and humps using crank baits. Look for breaking fish and use anything that looks like a 3-4 inch gizzard shad. Walleye slow to fair trolling fire tiger shad raps on fish cove and walleye islands. Channel catfish fair to good drifting shad sides or dead white perch.

It's not too late to bait

MICHAEL PEARCE — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:43 CDT

Summer's swelter and floods didn't let you do enough fishing?

No worries. According to some experts, much of the year's best fishing is at hand.

• Bass. Eric Akred, a local tournament angler, says fall bass are easily patterned and hungry.

"They're like bears heading into hibernation," said Akred, a Gander Mountain fishing department manager. "They go kind of dormant in the winter so the reserves they have when they get active in the spring are what they eat now."

He said most bass on reservoirs and lakes will be up rivers and creeks, waiting to ambush shad heading into the same areas.

Local woman's elk hunt ends in success

MICHAEL PEARCE — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:43 CDT

Pam Regehr has been through childbirth. She's a working mom who tries to keep up with an active 4-year-old son when she's at home.

Both were easy compared to a Colorado elk hunt last month.

"It was physically the toughest thing I've ever done," Regehr said. "Emotionally, leaving my child for 10 days wasn't easy, either."

But after all the pain and worry she ended up bow-killing a very nice bull.

Just getting to the hunting grounds wasn't easy.

Barn Owl

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:08 CDT

BARN OWL

Tyto albo

The old adage about big things coming in small packages could certainly apply to barn owls.

These one-pound, 16-inch tall birds can catch, kill and eat cottontail and jackrabbits. Both are significantly larger than the owls.

Barn owls are found over much of the planet. As their name implies, they often live in old barns, abandoned buildings and belfries.

SOLUNAR TABLES

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:43 CDT

Sunday	5:55 p.m.	6:20 a.m.
Monday	6:45 p.m.	6:55 a.m.
Tuesday	7:05 p.m.	----
Wednesday	8:25 p.m.	8:45 a.m.
Thursday	9:10 p.m.	9:35 p.m.
Friday	9:55 p.m.	10:15 a.m.
Saturday	10:40 p.m.	11 a.m.
Sunday	11:25 p.m.	----

Source: U.S. Naval Observatory

Hunter ed video focuses on Arndt tragedy

MICHAEL PEARCE — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:09 CDT

Hunter education students across much of the U.S. and Canada are benefiting from a video that chronicles the tragic death of a young Kansas hunter.

"I use it every hunter education class I teach," said Butch Moberly, an instructor from Shawnee. "It's a remarkable, powerful, very effective tool."

The six-minute video, released by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, chronicles last December's shooting of Beau Arndt.

Arndt, 18, was lying amid goose decoys in a Lyon County field when Thomas Kent of Topeka fired a rifle shot into the decoys from a nearby road.

Arndt was pronounced dead at the scene. In August, Kent was sentenced to 32 months in prison for charges that included involuntary manslaughter and unlawful shooting.

Perry an atypical trail

MICHAEL PEARCE — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:39 CDT

Every year, thousands of Kansans head elsewhere to go hiking.

Bunnie Watkins thinks they could be equally served inside the state, hiking the Perry Lake Trail.

"We get some serious backpackers that want to do the whole trail in two or three days and we get day hikers," said Watkins, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers park manager at Perry Lake. "To my knowledge it's the longest hiking trail in Kansas. We have a lot to offer."

The 29-mile trail winds its way in a circular route near the lake's eastern shore.

The terrain isn't stereo-typical Kansas.

This teal season is worth enjoying for many reasons

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:39 CDT

Rick Tomlinson predicted we'd find teal as thick as mosquitoes. We were at the heart of such a swarm Thursday afternoon.

Flushed by a nearby shot, at least 400 passed just out of range to the south. About a dozen zipped in low from behind, passing barely overhead as four or five zipped 10 yards to our front.

To savor a great hunt, I laid off the trigger. I think there's going to be a lot to savor about the upcoming months of duck season.

It's been a while since there's been such promise within seasons at hand. But there's much doubt about the seasons to follow.

Duck populations this year were high enough for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to bless us with a 74-day season and a daily limit of five. As they migrate south, the birds should find plenty to like in central Kansas.

8-year-old shoots his deer

MICHAEL PEARCE — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:38 CDT

For Tate Menhusen, the secret to killing a big buck is persistence, as in badgering his father enough until he took him hunting.

"It had been raining so hard, and it was so muddy, I didn't think we should go -- didn't think we'd do any good," said Lance Menhusen, of Anthony. "I hadn't done any scouting or nothing."

But 8-year-old Tate and his brother, Ryley, pestered their dad enough he took them hunting when the youth deer season opened Sept. 13.

That afternoon, Lance Menhusen took his two boys to the middle of a pasture near a high bluff, where they simply sat on stools.

"We didn't have a blind or anything like that," he said. "I wasn't really expecting to see much. I was just mainly taking them to get them out."

Success before sunset

MICHAEL PEARCE — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:38 CDT

For 9-year-old Brady Ashton, shooting a trophy buck was as easy as a walk in the park.

Well, make that a walk in the wide-open alfalfa.

That's how he and mentor Mark Dugan closed the distance on a big buck the boy shot last weekend.

"We were running out of daylight and I figured we had to try something," Dugan said. "We went straight at the deer and it worked."

Time spent with Dugan and part of his hunting-addicted family last summer sparked Ashton's desire to someday hunt.

American Kestral

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 05:33 CDT

AMERICAN KESTREL

Falco sparverius

Cool autumn mornings bring happy times for American kestrels.

Big grasshoppers -- one of their favored meals -- are moving slowly and are ripe for the pickings.

Kansas' most vibrant bird of prey prefers open grasslands. Uncommon within Wichita, they're easily found on power lines around most grasslands at the edge of town.

Outdoors schedules

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 05:33 CDT

Canoeing

Wednesday -- Arkansas River Twilight Float, Arkansas River Coalition, Little Arkansas River, North Woodland Park. Call 316-755-1473 or marshallfam@prodigy.net.

Oct. 25 -- Arkansas River Float, Arkansas River Coalition. Call 316-684-0730 pr wallyseibel@aol.com.

Nov. 22 -- Arkansas River Float, Arkansas River Coalition. Call 316-684-0730 pr wallyseibel@aol.com.

Dog Field Trials/Tests