Turtle shooters

[Ponydog]

As summer comes calling , the number of turtles I have seen seems to have reached epidemic proportions in SE Missouri .....usually as a kid , we plinked turtles with the 22.........and I wonder if anyone besides me takes the time to spend a hot lazy Sunday afternoon fine tuning the ole shooting eye on a few sliders or snappers...??   They sure do flip like a pie plate when they are tagged with a .17 ....

[Ponydog]

I guess I need to reply to my own post......after reading the Missouri conservation page...I read the shooting of turtles is prohibited....looks like the population is safe ......and my turtle days are done....

[dukkillr]

 

[Graybeard]

Illegal here in Bama too and my pond is rat on the state highway that runs in front of my house. Way to close to do safely anyway but for sure too close to do anything illegal there.

[Ponydog]

And to make it worse......I do a bit of Cotton Scouting on the weekends for a Boll Weevil eradication program.....bet I saw anywhere between 200 and 300 turtles in the ditches and slews the cotton I scout is surrounded by ....just an observation........yes , maybe turtles should be protected......but I also know if we were protecting the quail as well...maybe we'd have something to shoot in the fall.....and not be so burnt out after nothing to hunt after ducks.....since I started the scouting in April......I have seen exactly 2 quail............heck, I have seen more pheasants than quail.   Quail unlimited needs to find the funds in Missouri , to get folks to raise "quail friendly acreage..."......I mean thousands of acres........so the farmer still receives the exact same payment as his last years yield for the crop...as the field actually planted provides quail cover, food, and much needed habitat.   In that scenario.....( ask any duck hunter or deer hunter)    Habitat. ( like food plots for deer) , and set aside wetlands for ducks.....increases ALL forms of wildlife.
I cant tell you how many deer hunters see turkey in their food plots...........pheasant as well.......southeast Missouri could be the next best thing since South Dakota and North Dakota for pheasant....if we just had a few thousand acre tracts here and there that could be off limits to agriculture.......without question...the worst culprit there is here to wildlife, is agriculture.   I see it every weekend.....more and more farmers bulldoze out the last remaining fence row....the last group of trees......fill in that last wet spot that help ducks or provided the "go to " place for the last water when all else was dry ....SE Missouri is becoming a "dust bowl" . If it were not for the available water table and readily available irrigation ...this area would be a wasteland.... 

[nomosendero]

And to make it worse......I do a bit of Cotton Scouting on the weekends for a Boll Weevil eradication program.....bet I saw anywhere between 200 and 300 turtles in the ditches and slews the cotton I scout is surrounded by ....just an observation........yes , maybe turtles should be protected......but I also know if we were protecting the quail as well...maybe we'd have something to shoot in the fall.....and not be so burnt out after nothing to hunt after ducks.....since I started the scouting in April......I have seen exactly 2 quail............heck, I have seen more pheasants than quail.   Quail unlimited needs to find the funds in Missouri , to get folks to raise "quail friendly acreage..."......I mean thousands of acres........so the farmer still receives the exact same payment as his last years yield for the crop...as the field actually planted provides quail cover, food, and much needed habitat.   In that scenario.....( ask any duck hunter or deer hunter)    Habitat. ( like food plots for deer) , and set aside wetlands for ducks.....increases ALL forms of wildlife.
I cant tell you how many deer hunters see turkey in their food plots...........pheasant as well.......southeast Missouri could be the next best thing since South Dakota and North Dakota for pheasant....if we just had a few thousand acre tracts here and there that could be off limits to agriculture.......without question...the worst culprit there is here to wildlife, is agriculture.   I see it every weekend.....more and more farmers bulldoze out the last remaining fence row....the last group of trees......fill in that last wet spot that help ducks or provided the "go to " place for the last water when all else was dry ....SE Missouri is becoming a "dust bowl" . If it were not for the available water table and readily available irrigation ...this area would be a wasteland.... 

The MO. bootheel is part of my territory for now. Do you work in the Kennett or Hornersville area?

Treehuggers/Libs do not think we should shoot Turtles or anything actually, but have no clue as to what happens to animals in some regions. I am
aware of one river in East AR where the farmers use a little too much rice herbicide right up to the edge of the river. Years ago you could float the river & shoot snakes & turtles until you were tired & the next day you could not see any difference. Then the law was passed that you could not shoot turtles. But we noticed that even though you could not shoot them, the turtle were becoming more rare each year & now you will see very few. We are convinced the chemicals are doing this. Do treehuggers gripe about this? No, as always they are clueless armchair experts. Does the Game & Fish Commission who is aware of this do anything, no way! Farmers can do anything they want to do. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with farmers as a group & I know some who take pains to strike a balance with their living & conservation. I am just pointing out the fact that our gov. as usual has responded to the whining of a few & not looked at the real problems.