As with many articles we’ve passed along this summer about the ongoing drought, this article could be written about many places around the country. Check with your local DNR about conditions in your state.

  Waterfowl hunters will need to do some preseason scouting to find a place to hunt if the current drought conditions continue.

  Shallow wetlands are dry. Shallow lakes are low. Rivers are low.

  "While conditions may change, raising the reservoirs may not happen because of the low river levels," said Rick Trine, supervisor of the central Iowa wildlife district.

  Trine, whose district includes the popular waterfowl hunting areas at Lake Red Rock, said pumping options may be limited because the rivers where they pump the water from are extremely low, including the sub-impoundments at Red Rock.

  Carl Priebe, wildlife biologist for the Nishnabotna Unit, said they turned the 24,000 gallons-per-minute pump on at Riverton on August 15. He said in a normal year, it would take 45 days to fill the area. This year, he is expecting it to take 60 days.

  "That’s just a guesstimate based on the West Nishnabotna River having enough water for us to continue pumping," Priebe said. The smaller pumps are running at the Jenson tract and at Forney Lake. "The areas where we can’t pump are pretty dry."

  Given the current conditions and no relief in the long range forecast, hunters need to do some advanced scouting to find areas with water and cover.

  "They shouldn’t expect to walk out the day the season opens and find conditions like they have in the past," said Trine.

  DNR to Provide Wetland Updates

  The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will provide information on wetland conditions one week before opening day for the early and the late waterfowl seasons online at www.iowadnr.gov/Hunting/MigratoryGameBirds.aspx.

  When it comes to hunting, there’s nobody that loves it more than my pal Earl. He’s your complete huntin’ nut. It doesn’t matter the game, he’s ready. Rabbits may be the most preferred quarry, but birds rank right up there. And he’s good at finding birds. Grouse, bob white, pheasants, even doves.

  Describing Earl is somewhat difficult. He’s not your average dog with average dog traits and markings. Earl is the product of what may be described as "casual interaction" between dogs of differing backgrounds. He appears to be part Beagle and part Basset. A Bassgle, if you will. Or maybe a Beasset.

  He has the brown, black and white coloring of both breeds and those huge, droopy, slightly canted eyes.

  He certainly couldn’t be called pretty either. Big flaps of drool covered skin under the chin makes it look like he’s wearing a turtleneck sweater and more wrinkles above the eyes than a sun-dried tomato. Usually there’s part of his last meal clinging to those big soft ears cause he can’t keep em out of the bowl.

  However none of that is really important. Earl is, like I said, the ultimate hunting dog. His slow, steady pace keeps him right on track and I don’t have to hurry to keep up. He’s a loyal and good buddy with few negative traits. It’s true, he does tend to wonder off at times and howls at every siren but that’s okay cause when it comes to birding, Earl has few peers. I mean he can find a bird even before it’s hatched! True! In the springtime when Earl and I are out just enjoying the newness, he’ll stop at every tree with a nest in it and indicate birds there.

  Yeah, indicate. Earl’s no Pointer. One look at him and that’s obvious. Check any dog reference under "Pointer" and the very first sentence eliminates Earl: "The Pointer should be athletic and graceful."

  Athletic? Hmm. A pot belly, long floppy ears that are perpetually covered in burrs and so big that Dumbo would be jealous. His short stubby legs barely reach the ground, ending in gigantic paws that work just like snowshoes. Graceful? Not by any definition of the word. Earl trips over the grout in the bathroom floor tile. But he can indicate with the best of em!

  Besides, Earl's a true Southern gentleman, way yonder too polite to point!

  Earl’s style when he’s on a bird is to coast to a stop (he can’t really do anything with speed any more) and jerk his head and roll his big ole sad eyes in the direction of the bird. It’s a fairly subtle motion akin to you pointing out that redhead at the bar without attracting her attention.

  Excuse me, I digress.

  Earl’s ability to find birds was never more perfectly demonstrated than one summer day in 1991. Earl and I had journeyed to the nation’s capital to enjoy some of the history, the magnificent architecture and we had heard that the street venders around Lafayette Square sold the best hot dogs in the western hemisphere.

  We had just ordered a half dozen and while we were waiting, a chopper flew directly overhead. Earl immediately turned from the food, something he rarely did, and that look came over him. As the chopper sat down on the White House lawn, Earl took to jerking his head and rolling his eyes at the chopper. I was confused and a bit worried. Was Earl now gonna start indicating at anything that flew?

  My worries were soon put to rest. Suddenly, Vice President James Danforth "Dan"” Quayle stepped out of the chopper and strolled across the lawn. Copyright 2008 by Jerry Ison

   We received this a month or so ago from a guy that calls himself "Archery Hunter" so instead of running our usual Huntin’ Tip this month we’ll pass along his tip as a Backwoods Know-how. Enjoy!

  Instead of spending money on a laser rangefinder to use while bowhunting you can make one yourself that can mount on your bow. Here’s how.

  First take a couple of sheets of paper, copy paper works great, and tape them together so they are 17" high and the width of the sheet, 8 1/2". This will represent the top of the back and the bottom of the belly of a deer. Tape or pin this to your target with the 17" edge running vertical.

  Take another sheet of clean paper and clip it to a clip board. If you don’t have a clip board you can tape it to a piece of cardboard. A clip board is just easier.

  Measure off 20 yards from your target. You want to be pretty exact with your distance. Now hold the clip board up at arm’s length, like you were holding your bow, and site down to your target. Mark the top and the bottom of the "target paper" on the edge of the sheet on your clip board. Mark these marks, 20 yards.

  Next measure off 30 yards. Again hold your clip board up at arm’s length and mark the top and bottom of the "target paper" on you sheet. Mark these marks 30 yards.

  Repeat the process for 40 and 50 yards.

  You can use different color markers for the different distances if you want too. Green for 20 yards, yellow for 30, etc..

  After getting your distances marked, practice with your "rangefinder". Walk off a ways from the “target paper” and hold up the clip board. How did the marks look against the target? Were they close to the 20 yard marks, 30 yard marks? Make adjustments to your marks if needed.

  The final steps are to cut the marked paper to the width of your bow limb and then laminate it. You can buy do-it-yourself laminating sheets at an office supply store. Trim as needed.

  Now tape your "rangefinder" to your bow limb beside your pin sights so it is easy to see when you hold your bow at arm’s length or when drawn.

  This may not be as detailed accurate as a laser rangefinder but it will give you a real close measurement when your batteries are dead, you can’t find the darn thing or there’s no time to pick it up when a deer sneaks in on you.

  You can also forget the paper and make your marks directly on the bow limb itself. Just use colors that contrast against the camo pattern so they’re easy to see.

  Now when you are out in the woods and you see a deer you can use the scale to measure from its back to its belly prior to your shot without a lot of unnecessary movement. You’ll have your bow up and ready to draw after "ranging" your trophy. Can be accurate to within 2 to 5 yards depending on how long you spend making it.

  Send your tips or projects to: mail@backwoodsbound.com and we’ll post them on the site or use them in a future issue of The Bullet.