by Kenneth L. Kieser | info@ruralmissouri.coop Branson’s History of Fishing Museum features a collection of lures and other items valued at $6 million. Curator Bill Bramsch makes a visit there more enjoyable with amazing stories about this vintage tackle and those...
For Matt Taylor, the magnetic draw of the lake is in his blood. As a two-year-old he played on the bank while his father fished. A decade or so later, Fellows was where he developed a lifelong love of sailing. “This lake is incredibly fickle,” he says, with a smile...
John Hess explores Brawley Creek Every day of every season, there’s a play unfolding on the banks of Brawley Creek in Johnson County. John Hess is there, camera in hand, watching the actors. Today he might have his eye on the Virginia bluebells, tomorrow a luna moth...
Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation celebrates 25th anniversary Missouri’s outdoors is a great place to have fun, but maintaining access and enjoyment for future generations is a serious business. Just ask donors to the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation...
Second generation continues family hobby, ventures If there is such a thing as reverse empty-nest syndrome, then Mel Toellner — or Bird Man Mel as he’s known to friends, family and viewers of his YouTube channel — probably has it. Since last summer he’s stepped back...
Hillsboro man gives rescue huskies a new beginning Richie Camden often gets more than a second look when he travels on the Katy Trail or near his home in Hillsboro. Sometimes cars honk at him or people snap photos. However, this attention is not necessarily focused on...
Cedarcreek paddler conquers cross-country canoe trip When the new year ticks over, Amanda Hoenes will enter 2022 with one less resolution than in years past. What was once a childhood dream — a 3,300-mile canoe adventure along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers —...
Collectors preserve Jefferson City's decoy dynasty It sounds like the beginning of a joke: a semiretired surgeon and a consultant walk into a room. One is an antique collector, the other is a third-generation waterfowl hunter from Iowa, and where they meet in the...
Missouri Hunting Heritage Federation trains the next generation Even if you’re not a hunter, you see them throughout the fall: The camouflaged bowhunter glassing a ridge, or the orange shapes emerging from the fields and woods, headlamps bobbing as full dark reclaims...
An underground adventure with Roubidoux Grotto It didn’t take Kelsie Johnson long to figure out she had no fear of the dark. Spending her middle school years caving Camden County with her mother and her best friend’s family sent her on a lifelong adventure...