The end of the year is always a time of reflection for me, and this year is no exception.
It’s been a year of excitement, disappointments, new adventures, health issues and new discoveries.
January is always a tough month in the outdoors, but I look forward to my annual adventures in the brutal cold. Surviving January’s harsh conditions is much easier than it was five decades ago. I now own much better gear and clothing. I can recall painfully cold weather endured in duck and goose blinds. I may get cold these days, but new fabrics and better clothing make my January waterfowl hunts much more tolerable and enjoyable.
My favorite January event I look forward to each year is the Meramec Baptist Association’s Men and Boys Wild Game Dinner. It’s always a festive event with lots of wild game, great give-aways, good fellowship, great music and incredible speakers. Last January Garry Mason, the owner of the Legends of the Outdoors National Hall of Fame spoke to a full house. Normally around 300 men and boys attend. The event will take place January 29, 2026 at the Baptist Camp on AA Hwy in Steelville.
I’m always looking for new outdoor products. Last January, Donnie Conway, a pro trout fisherman from St. James, introduced made to the Fishtechy Proof Ball. It utilizes AI to measure fish length, girth, and weight from side profile videos or pictures taken with a phone camera, even while the fish is in the water. It sure takes the lying out of fishing!
February proved extremely busy. I attended my first NRA banquet in Owensville with Shane Staples and friends. Gun ownership is still very much alive in the USA. The second week I headed to Opreyland in Nashville for the National Wild Turkey Annual Convention. I thoroughly enjoyed hooking up with many old friends and producing numerous podcasts with notable outdoorsmen, including Ray Eye and Phillip Vanderpool. I spent the last week in Mike Jones fish camp on Lake Washington in Mississippi. On the way home, I stopped by Big Rock Candy Mountain, on Current River, to celebrate opening day of trout season with Brandon Butler, Shags Maclean, and Michael Collins.
I opened the March 1 trout season at Montauk State Park, along with a thousand other trout enthusiasts. Opening day always carries a party atmosphere as old angler buddies gather together, often for the only time of the year. I also began a new medical adventure of dealing with throat cancer.
April is one of my favorite times of the year. Spring is arriving, wildflowers are popping and turkeys are gobbling. The 2025 turkey season proved to be one of my most memorable. I didn’t feel well, because of chemo treatments. I drove a Can-am UTV, compliments of CowtownUSA, Inc. to within 75 yards of my turkey blind. As daylight approached a gave one soft tree yelp. Three gobblers sounded off 75 yards on the other side of my blind. Thirty minutes later one of them lay flopping on the ground. That grand bird was a gift from God.
May proved slow as a result of cancer treatments, but I managed a couple of trips to a friends lake for bass fishing. Catching a 6-pound largemouth sure lifted my spirits. Too, I shuttled Michael Collins, owner of Misty Mountains Guiding Service, and clients on the Meramec River.
By June my cancer was in remission. I had not regained all of my strength, but planned a 4-day trip to camp and trout fish at Montauk State Park. I spent a lot of time in camp relaxing, reading, writing, and cooking. The trout fishing proved phenomenal as well.
July was a bit un eventful, but I did go wade fishing at Maramec Spring Park several times. The cold spring waters feel especially good during the heat of the summer. And the trout fishing at Maramec never disappoints.
In August I attended the Legends of the Outdoors National Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the John and Jenny Morris Conservation Education Center in Springfield. I enjoyed visiting with fellow inductees and welcoming new inductees into the fold.
September is always an exciting outdoor month. Dove season begins September 1; teal season begins early the month, and bow season and gigging season starts the 15th. And in the middle of all that, I hosted the #2025moozarksfishcamp, including 11 outdoor writers from 5 states at Maramec Spring Park.
Oh October, the grandest outdoor month of them all, is my favorite. The air cools, the Ozark hills begin to show their colors. Pawpaws turn sweet with the first frost. Smallmouth bass begin moving upstream and feed heavily. Bucks begin to act a little frisky as daylight shortens and hormones begin to kick in. The early Canada goose season allows me an opportunity to collect a Christmas goose, too.
November is special to deer hunters. The annual firearms deer season brings hunters out by the tens of thousands, and I love joining the fun. This year I also enjoyed a pheasant hunt at Prairie Legend Outfitters in Winner South Dakota. It was a media hunt sponsored by Legends of the Outdoors TV. I enjoyed walking the pheasant fields with Jimmy Houston, Garry Mason and others. The Labrador retrievers worked magic with the birds. In late November, I thrilled at the opportunity to once again assist with the Arcadia Valley Baptist Home neighbors (residents) deer hunt. Two elderly hunters took deer, giving Thanksgiving a special meaning.
December is always a splendid month. Snow and cold, family gatherings, and Christmas all add to the enjoyment of life. I rounded out my outdoor year with a spectacular duck hunt at Blue Bank Resort on Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee. I can’t imagine
what adventures 2026 will bring. Happy New Year!
