FINS, FEATHERS AND FUR

SIKESTON -- The February meeting of the Missouri Conservation Commission was canceled.

Hazardous travel conditions prompted the Commission to cancel the meeting, which had been scheduled Thursday at the Ramada Inn here.

Jerry Presley, director of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), said the Commission will consider items from the February meeting agenda at its next meeting, March 11, at MDC headquarters in Jefferson City.

MARION, Ill. -- The Illinois State Chapter Wild Turkey Expo and Calling contests will be held March 5 at the Marion Holidome.

David Hale, of Knight and Hale Game Calls, and Tim Grounds, world champion goose caller, will present seminars during the day.

Admission to the show -- which will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. -- is $5.

The show will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Following the show, a social hour, dinner and auction will be held. Additional information on tahe dinner are available by calling the Williamson County Tourism Bureau, 1-800-GEESE 99.

WAPPAPELLO -- Two Wappapello Lake public boat ramps will be closed during a rehabilitation project of the two ramps.

Ramps will be extended at Strickland and Pisos Point, to permit safer use while the lake is at winter pool. A grooved surface for better traction will be added for better traction.

CARTERVILLE, Ill. -- The Illinois Big Buck & Turkey Expo will be held March 12-13 at John A. Logan College in Carterville,

Show hours will start at 9 a.m. both days.

Deer mounts for the Big Buck contest will be measured from 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday and form 9 a.m. to noon Sunday, with awards at 4:30 p.m. Mar. 13.

Appearing at the show will be Gary Sefton, Franklin, Tenn., the 1994 world deer calling champion, and Bill Seibel of Ballwin, Mo., who will discuss turkey-hunting techniques.

Several seminars will be presented.

Admission cost is $6 for adults and $2.50 for children, 6-12.

WAPPAPELLO -- Boaters at Wappapello are urged to use extreme caution at this time.

"Many tree stumps and sandbars will be exposed, or just below the surface as we return to winter pool (354.74 National Geodetic Vertical Datum)," said Michael McClendon of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "To avoid problems, boaters should familiarize themselves with the lake characteristics and proceed cautiously when out of the channel and main body of water."

Lake level and facility information is available by calling the 24-hour Recreation Hotline, (314)-222-8139. The hotline is update three times a week.

WAPPAPELLO -- The Corps of Engineers at Wappapello Lake has rescheduled the Fish Shelter Day to Feb. 26.

"We still need volunteers and boats to help place trees in the lake," said Michael McClendon, of the Corps of Engineers.

Christmas trees will be placed in the lake as fish shelters.

Anyone interested in helping should report to Redman Creek or Sundowner boat ramps between 8:30 and 9 a.m. Feb. 26.

"We'll place trees in the lake until noon," said McClendon.

Those helping will be treated to a lunch of chili and hot dogs to be served by tahe Wappapello Lions Club.

Additional information is available by calling Wappapello Lake Management Office, (314)-222-8562.

More than a half-million geese are still concentrated in the Southern Illinois/Western Kentucky area.

The count passed the 500,000 mark a month ago 553,000. The latest count Monday showed 603,000 geese with 533,000 in Southern Illinois.

The Monday census revealed 125,000 in the Horseshoe Lake area of Alexander County, 82,000 in the Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge area in Williamson and Jackson counties and 96,000 at the Union County Wildlife Refuge, and 118,000 at Rend Lake. 70,000 geese were counted at Ballard Refuge in Western Kentucky.

The official goose harvest for the 1993-94 goose-hunting season in the Southern Illinois Quota Zone show 36,672 geese harvested.

The harvest figures show 24,341 at Crab Orchard, 7,046 in the Horseshoe Lake area of Alexander County and 5,285 in Union County.

PIERRE, S.D. - Varmints, beware.

The Varmint Hunters Association is relocating from Lone Grove, Okla., to the Pierre area.

Group President Ned Kalbfleish says varmints are nuisance critters like prairie dogs, groundhogs, ground squirrels, foxes and coyotes. The organization boasts a 20,000 monthly circulation for its Varmint Hunter magazine.

Kalbfleish first got the idea to move to South Dakota from fellow varmint hunter Tom Houghton, president of H-S Precision of Rapid City. The company makes specialized guns, stocks and other hunting paraphernalia.

The Varmint Hunters Association has a temporary lease on a building in Fort Pierre and will move in March, Klabfleish says. The group plans to build a permanent home in Pierre.