A turkey vulture glides over downtown Marion, getting ready to spend the night on the town’s water tower or nearby trees.

A few items that didn’t make it into Saturday’s front page story about the up to 200 turkey vultures that often roost near downtown Marion. YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO READ THE ORIGINAL STORY ON KANSAS .COM.

– They’re vultures, not buzzards, and there is a difference though both species of birds mostly eat carrion. Vultures are actually closely related to storks.

– Most of the birds seen around Marion’s water tower these days are probably year-old birds, not yet mature enough to nest. Most adults are probably scattered across the countryside raising vultlets, or whatever the young are called.

– Like all migratory birds, turkey vultures are protected by federal laws and can’t legally be shot or killed. There would also be that little problem with firing a firearm in the city limits of Marion.

– A flock of vultures is called a venue, and a group circling in the air are a kettle…not that I could ever imagine cooking a vulture in a kettle.

– Vultures have been on Earth for an estimated 40 million years, which is about how long grazing animals (a.k.a. vulture food) have also roamed the planet.

– Some Kansas birders jokingly refer to road kills as “TV dinners,” referencing that they’ll probably be eaten by Turkey Vultures.

Biologists think vultures are probably attracted to Marion’s water tower because its height makes it easier for the birds to soar away in the morning.

– Though their beaks are strong and very sharp, turkey vultures often use vomiting as a means of protection. (Had it happen to a relative one time…he assured me it was not pleasant.)

– Adult turkey vultures have few predators, though they are sometimes struck by vehicles when they flush beside roadways or the occasionally hit utility lines. Another problem is if they are eating the remains of an animal killed by a human hunter ,and ingest a lead bullet or shotgun pellet. Either can be fatal because of lead poisoning.

Still 6.6 feet below normal, Cheney Reservoir has more challenges than normal. El Dorado Reservoir  could be flat-out dangerous.

“Even with the rain, we’ve come up a whopping 4/10ths of a foot this spring so we’re still about 4.4 feet low. It’s been a while since we’ve been this low this time of the year,” said Craig Johnson, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism fisheries biologist for El Dorado. “There are places where you can be a couple of hundred yards off shore and still only be in ankle-deep water. There are a lot of trees (near the surface) where I don’t remember seeing them in the past.”

Shane Eustice, who regularly boats and guides anglers at El Dorado, fears the timing for such low water could accentuate the problems.

“A lot of people are really going to be anxious this weekend to finally get out, and they’re just going to jump in their boat and go,” he said. “I’m afraid someone  could really get hurt.”

Johnson told of someone who bought a new boat last Wednesday, then wrecked the lower part of the motor in a shallow area the next day at El Dorado. He’s surprised it hasn’t happened more often.

“I see a lot of people going fast in their bass boats, ripping across some of these (hazardous) areas,” he added. “They either know the lake really well, or they’ve just been really lucky.”

Eustice and Johnson say boaters should be careful around all points of land that jut out into the water. Often the water is only inches deep. It’s sometimes the same where old roadbeds go into the lake. Easily boated over a year ago, many areas now could struggle to float a canoe.

Both lake experts said the water several hundred yards off Bluestem and El Dorado Point areas will probably be too shallow for safe boating. Eustice spoke of a sizable island about 400 yards off Bluestem Point that’s so low many boaters may not see it. Even if they do, water on both sides of the island is probably too shallow for most boats.

“You just have to respect every point you go around,” he said. “People just won’t believe you may be 600 yards from shore and still not be in safe water.”

Other potential dangers are where timber was left standing along original river and creek banks when the lake was filled. Through the years many of the long-dead trees broke at various heights. Eustice said hidden trees that once let boaters pass over with no concerns could now lead to a damaged boat, or worse if people are thrown from boats that hit the obstacles at high rates of speed.

At Cheney Reservoir, fisheries biologist Jeff Koch said boaters don’t need to worry about striking flooded timber, but some of the areas close to shore could be too shallow for safe boating. “You just have to plan on staying several hundred yards off shore on the main lake, and if you get closer, do it slowly,” Koch said. “It’s way too shallow up north, but I can’t think of anything in the middle of the lake that could be a problem.”

Simply getting a boat launched on to Cheney could be the biggest problem. Koch said the only operational ramp is in the state park on the east side of the reservoir.

Two boat ramps, the west ramp in the Boulder Bluff area and another east of Shady Creek Marina, are closed at El Dorado. Johnson said boaters should show caution around some courtesy docks because of shallow water conditions.

NIce crappie are spawning in the shallows at most central Kansas lakes.

It’s here. After probably a half-dozen half-hearted starts and stops because of weather fronts, it appears the 2013 crappie spawn is running full-speed in central Kansas.

Craig Johnson, Wildlife and Parks biologist for El Dorado Reservoir called this morning to say he saw a lot of anglers, catching a lot of fish, at the lake on Monday. Johnson, an avid angler, said most traditionally popular areas held fishermen.

Up at Marion Reservoir last evening, Alex Case said he probably saw about 60 anglers spread out along the lake’s dam, catching nice-sized crappie and white bass. Arriving late, Case said he kept a half-dozen nice crappie and released more than that number of white bass.

Bob Roberts, of Salina, traveled to Milford Reservoir with a friend just to check out the fishing conditions. Fishing from shore they caught most of a five gallon bucket of nice crappie. Roberts has heard it’s been some of the best spawn crappie fishing the lake has seen in a while. He also reports that the spawn has finally started in earnest at Glen Elder Reservoir. (Any making the trip to Glen need to remember their 20 crappie limit this year.)

Further north, former KU All-American Wayne Simien, Jr. caught a dozen nice crappie from the shore at Clinton this morning and predicts he may be a tad late for work again tomorrow morning.

Of course the great action is the result of steady weather and the water finally warming into the 60s. No clue how long the fishing will stay hot, but it’s never more than the next cold front away from turning off.

Only in the turkey woods.

A rainbow over the South Loup River was the consolation prize after a failed afternoon of turkey hunting. Photo by Ed Schulte.

Last weekend longtime friend Ed Schulte and I headed to his boyhood home amid the cornfields, pastures and meandering South Loup River of central Nebraska.  No stranger to the Merriam’s/Rio Grande hybrid turkeys of the Nebraska and Dakota prairies, I was confident.

We’re talking hit the baseball off the top of the tee with three swings confident.

I was to take care of the calling and equipment, while Ed took care of lodging and hunting grounds. That meant staying with Ed’s relatives, Don and Diana Axmann.

With a feed and seed business, and a lifelong resident of the area, Don had us set to hunt three great properties along the South Loup. When we showed interest in another place, Don’s quick call got access there, too. That’s the way we were treated, both by Ed’s large family, friends of the family and complete strangers.

The people were as refreshing as the weather was blustery on two of our four days.

The first evening we just scouted properties, located several groups of gobbling toms at sunset and I got to know the Axmann’s. Judging by the dominance of red and Husker memorabilia in his basement, it was quickly obvious that Don was addicted to anything Nebraska football. Quiet on the outside, his dry since of humor  is appreciable.

Diana reminded me of her sister, Ed’s wife, Ronda – friendly, talkative, positive, perpetually happy, and very talented in the kitchen.

Goal #1 was to call in a tom for Ed, who’d only ambushed turkeys in the past. With plenty of mouth, slate and box calls along, and a pair of ultra-realistic, decoys, I figured no problems.

Hunters plan, turkeys laugh.

And really, the first day went well enough.

The morning’s hunt never had a chance thanks to a guitar string-tight barbed wire fence that probably dissuaded enthusiastic toms from coming our way. It happens when you’re hunting an area for the first time

No biggie. That afternoon I lured in a nice tom that came in at a bad angle and was probably within the fringe of shotgun range. Figuring he’d come on in and give Ed a shot, I held off the trigger. The tom simply turned and slowly strutted away. Coward.

Ed Schulte and the prairie tom that played by the rules, and came to calls and decoys.

Towards evening, Ed got to see a nice tom come to calls and decoys. He made the shot, which left us a day-and-a-half to get me at least one  bird.

We had two hunts at some of the prettiest prairie turkey habitat I’ve ever seen. Amid the mile-long stretch of timber along the South Loup was a 20 acre or so plot of alfalfa totally hidden from any roads. About 20 turkeys, including at least five longbeards, were in the field when we checked it. Farm trails seemed perfect travel routes to and from the field for turkeys in the area.

The first afternoon at the spot we set-up along the edge of one of those trails and had a hen in our decoys within 10 minutes, but the toms in the area showed up late and didn’t want to play. We moved our blind to where they’d been that evening.

The next morning, our last of the hunt, the air was filled with gobbles when the birds were scattered amid three roosting places. When they hit the ground, though, – silence.

We had two henlesss longbeards pass along the field oblivious to the decoys and calls. A mixed flock of about two dozen hens and toms showed no reaction, not even  yelp, gobble or strut to my calls, an hour later. Even four lone jakes, probably the most gullible creatures in hunting, totally ignored calls and decoys that had fooled so many birds, through so many seasons.

I did a made move-and-call dash through the woodlands during the final minutes of the hunt. Nada, but tt least I went down swinging.

We wondered if it was the weather, or hunting pressure we didn’t know about, or just turkeys being turkeys that day and flipping me the feather.

No problem, really. The beards and spurs will be a bit longer next spring, Ed and I know two properties better and still have at least two more to explore.

Hopefully next year the turkeys of central Nebraska won’t again be so  rude.

The people and the country won’t let us down.

Go Huskers!

K-State Fishing Team member Lance Maldonado shows the 1st place trophy he and partner Nate Kozlowski won in Alabama last weekend.

K-State’s bass fishing duo of Nathan Kozlowski and Lance Maldonado took first place last Saturday at the prestegious FLW College Central Conference qualifier at Pickwick Lake, on the Tennessee River in Alabama.
The college  juniors and  longtime friends from Junction City have fished together  since they were about five years old, and beat out a field of 50 boats, many from colleges much closer to Pickwick Lake. Teams finishing second through fifth place were all from nearby Kentucky.

A FLW release said two teams from Wichita State’s fishing team participated, finishing in the bottom half of the event.

Kozlowski made the 24 hour round-trip drive the previous weekend to pre-fish the lake. Maldonado joined him on the return trip to Alabama last Friday.
“It was 12 hours down, six hours of fishing and 12 hours back,” Maldonado said.

Maldonado said they weighed in five bass that totaled 17 lbs., 8 oz by fishing eddy areas around big boulders in the tailrace fishery. Having fished Kansas’ Milford Reservoir countless times in their lives, he said they were ready for the mixed-bag angling that included smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass. The anglers boated 30 to 40 bass, total.

Ironically, they must return to Pickwick for another FLW event in about 10 days.

This is the second big win for the K-State Fishing Team in two years.
In April, 2012, Ryan Patterson, of Garden Plain won the FLW College Fishing National Championship on South Carolina’s Lake Murray. With his partner ruled ineligible, Patterson had to defeat 24 two-man college teams for the victory that gained him national media attention, including a mention in Sports Illustrated.

You read below for a few more details.

Mike Oldham, the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge manager.

- Mike Oldham, refuge manager, said a total of 45-50 people attended their three public meetings in Stafford, Wichita and Great Bend last week.

-Ron Klataske, Audubon of Kansas director, commented in Wichita that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife  staff  promoting the meetings didn’t do an adequate job of notifying the public. I also expressed concern that The Wichita Eagle didn’t appear to have been notified. Fish and Wildlife personel at Wichita’s gathering said they followed normal procedures.

- After the three meetings, Oldham indicated he’d heard only from hunters more interested in keeping the North Lake region open to  public hunting, than keeping other portions of the refuge open for hunting when whooping cranes are present. Under a current proposal, the refuge could remove the North Lake area from places open to public hunting.

As a trade, some areas previously closed to public hunting could be opened, thus allowing hunting when whoopers are present because they’re seldom in the proposed new areas. Oldham said the wetlands habitat within those units has been improved recently.

Several years ago, sportsmen at early planning meetings expressed a desire to keep the refuge open to hunting when whooping cranes are present. Since, U.S. Fish and Wildlife planners have been working to  implement a plan for such desires.

- Oldham said federal regulations limit how much of Quivira can be opened to public hunting at about 40 percent.

My personal perspective -

- It appears that Oldham and other Fish and Wildlife staff members are indeed trying to include public desires into the 15 year management plan, though the good of the wildlife on the 22,000 acre refuge will come first…as it should be.

- Because of the small turnout at the meetings, it appears that a vocal minority may have the opportunity to help set the refuge’s future.

- It’s good to see consideration be given to the wildlife viewing quality at Quivira. In my opinion, it’s the top viewing/wildlife photography destination in Kansas, by far. On a good November afternoon I can shoot 300-700 frames of deer, wild turkeys, ducks, geese, sandhill cranes and, if I’m fortunate, whooping cranes.

Gov. Sam Brownback looks at one of two toms he shot, while only having one permit. Danny Armstrong is giving directions to the area to a game warden, after Brownback self reported the unintentional problem.

A long weekend that usually holds some 20 hour days, and an annual chance to see some good friends, held a bit more excitement this year. No doubt Gov. Sam Brownback’s unintentionally shooting two turkeys while having only one permit, then intentionally  self reporting the inciden,t will be one of  the most memorable events of the 27th Governor’s Turkey Hunt in El Dorado.

All political views aside, it’s hard for anyone to not admire the fact that Brownback took responsibility for his actions even though he was basically following the directions of guide Danny Armstrong, who mistook one turkey for another. He made no excuses, and asked for no special treatment.

The first shot wasn’t ideal, as Brownback was told to shoot a mature tom as it feeding along in front of the blind with its head down. Normally birds are standing, with their head and neck stretched up when the shots are taken. A brief mechanical problem prevented a quick follow-up shot afte the bird rolled, regained its feet and trotted off at an angle that made it tough for the left-handed shooting Brownback to shoot again.

Armstrong hadn’t seen the bird turn to the west and thought it was headed to a meadow to the south, where he had Brownback take a shot at a bird walking away from the hunting blind. That three or four jakes were strutting around that dead bird were an early indication a different bird had been shot.

Armstrong went looking for the original bird after he and Brownback had gone to the dead jake. He found the tom about 30 yards from where it was shot, tangled in a woven wire fence.

The tom turkey shot seconds later by Gov. Sam Brownback.

Brownback’s first question was if it was legal to go purchase a second permit for the bird. Armstrong and I told him permits aren’t valid until the next day. It also would have been illegal for Armstrong or me to tag the bird since we hadn’t shot it.

Brownback then said he’d just have to pay the fine for a ticket. He used his cell phone to call Seth Turner, the state park manager at El Dorado State Park. Turner’s job also qualifies him to enforce wildlife law violations, though he tried repeatedly to contact other agency law enforcement officials.

At the scene of the hunt, Brownback volunteered that it would reflect badly on everyone if he wasn’t issued a citation.

As Turner said at the time, and Kevin Jones, Wildlife and Parks law enforcement chief later confirmed, I know of at least four instances when such unintentional cases of game being shot over the bag limit were not issued tickets by game wardens.

Keeping a good sense of humor, Brownback said, “I’m laying this off on Robin (Jennison). He’s always trying to get more money out of me for Wildlife and Parks. He’s getting some, and it’s my money.” Jennison is Wildlife and Parks secretary.

Rather than hold the story for Sunday’s outdoors page, I decided it was important to get the facts public as soon as possible rather than let the rumor mill spin things in inaccurate directions.

News spread fast. By 4 a.m. the next morning one hunter reported seeing it on the bottom of the screen on the Weather Channel. About an hour later another saw it in a similar way on CNN.

By 9:04 a.m. that Saturday morning I got a call that I’d “upset a bunch of game wardens” because I referred to Turner as a game warden as well as a state park manager. Technically, Turner is also a park ranger, meaning he can enforce state park regulations and wildlife regulations.

Several years ago The Eagle decided to refer to those who are enforcing wildlife laws and regulations as game wardens so the public would instantly recognize their duties.

A handful of happiness – a ripe morel. PHOTO BY MICHAEL PEARCE

My buddy Lonny must have sent me a half-dozen texts Sunday afternoon. Some had pics attached, while others did not.

For Lonny and thousands like him it was one of the best days of the year…morel mushrooms had begun appearing on his favored ‘shrooming lands.

As usual, his first finds were generally small and isolated to only a few of the many spots he’ll be patrolling regularly for a few weeks.

Oh, the place of his finds was south of Wichita, in the Arkansas River bottomlands.

Of course I could be more specific. Yes, I can drive right to the exact place. But I won’t.

Being taken to a someone’s best morel spot is somewhat of an honor, and shows you have his or her trust. It doesn’t even need to be implied that you’re to never return unless officially invited. To divulge even a general set of directions to the hallowed place would be akin to telling a complete stranger the friend’s work hours, the code to the security system at their house, and where in the home to find the guns and the heirloom diamonds and gold. Actually, it may be even worse.

People will do some things to find great-tasting morels they won’t do in other aspects of their life. We’ve had illegal ‘shroomers trespassing on our farm that would never illegally cross the fence to hunt or fish.

They’ll also stay up much into the night trying to figure out where this year’s morel motherlode could be. They’ll exhaust every rural legend they’ve ever heard about what makes ideal morel conditions, and how they can improve the ‘shrooming on their favored lands.

Me? I’m not that addicted, but walking from through the woods after Lonny’s texts with a nice gobbler over my shoulder, my eyes were locked on the ground. You just never know…,

YOU CAN CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON MORELS.

I’d traveled to Gove County to tag along with some researchers studying lesser prairie chickens. A side benefit was to spend some time with my good friend Stacy Hoeme, pursuing wild turkeys Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. We figured a few hours was all we’d need, since Stacy had seen about 60 birds in the limited habitat of trees and an alfalfa field. The plan was to do it with our bows.

In the conservation of time, let’s just say about everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. The ranch was down to just one or two lone toms by Tuesday afternoon. It’s my guess the coming cold had sent them back to their wintering spot by a feedlot several miles away, where the eating would be easy.

So, amid Tuesday afternoon’s brutal winds, that were sometimes pushing sleet like shot pellets from a fired shotgun, we put up a blind where we’d seen the one bird. It was also a place where Stacy said turkeys often crossed between two clumps of trees.

Because of a lack of birds, and abundance of cold and howling winds, we left our bows behind when we headed across the prairie with shotguns on Wednesday’s opening morning of any-weapon spring turkey season. Optimism wasn’t high. Heading out that morning I realized they were probably the toughest conditions I’d met in 34 spring turkey seasons, in which I’d called birds to gun in heavy snows, downpours, 90-plus degree heat, below freezing temps and gusting winds.

When we reached the river bottom I placed a hen and a jake decoy and hurried into the relative shelter of the blind . After waiting a few minutes I gave a few yelps on a slate call, followed by a few sharp cuts. Bingo! Gobbles from multiple birds came from not far away. Peaking out of the blind I saw one tom roosted almost straight over the decoys, riding a limb that was bucking in the wind like a rodeo bull.

A few minutes later I called again, and again the birds gobbled. I told Stacy our odds weren’t too good for a short hunt, as the birds  would probably move away since  they’d roosted so close to the blind. At best, I figured they’d move away from the area, and that maybe some excited calling an hour or two later might lure them back. But the hunt would be over within a few minutes.

I have no idea how they didn’t see us coming across the prairie and spook as we got to the blind, unless their eyes were blurred by water and ice, too, but they didn’t.

It wasn’t long until we had four toms marching our way, their nearly horizontal beards showing the high wind velocity.

Coming around the trees the sight of the decoys put the three forward birds into the best strut they could muster. The wind pushed their fans nearly flat,  and they appeared to be leaning shoulders into  the wind, like someone trying to force their way through a tight door.

Stacy shot one bird and I took another as it tried to figure out why his buddy was on the ground.

The toms were two-year-olds, with classic 8 1/2 to 9-inch beards, 3/4-inch spurs and probably weighed 17-18 pounds.

I think it’s the first time I’d called strutting turkeys to guns with a below zero windchill.

It was fun, and a pretty good accomplishment, but I’ll take a calm, 50 degree morning any time.