SUMMER 2010

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE ALABAMA CONSERVATION ENFORCEMENT OFFICER ASSOCIATION

MATT WEATHERS
2010 ACEOA
TOP GUN
 Official Publication of the ACEOA

WWW.ACEOA.ORG SUMMER 2010

EDITOR:
Warren Hinson
in this issue...
ASSISTANT EDITOR: President’s Message ................................................................................5
Gayle Morrow Notes from the Trenches ..........................................................................9
2010 State Officers and Directors ..........................................................11
PUBLISHER: State Top Gun ........................................................................................15
Brent-Wyatt West BP Oil Spill ............................................................................................25
601 Interstate Park Drive
2010 Jackson County FFA Summer Camp............................................31
Montgomery, Alabama 36109
Quality Deer Management Tour ............................................................37
ACEOA District I Convention and Top Gun Qualification ......................43
SALES OFFICES: ACEOA District II Convention 2010 ......................................................51
Bryan Elkins, Sr.
Jim Downing Team Fowl Best of Competition With BP Bottom Dwellers Bang-Up ......57
601 Interstate Park Drive Hunting With Children ............................................................................61
Montgomery, Alabama 36109
(334) 213-6229 “State of the Bay” Remains Strong ........................................................69
Dauphin Island Sea Lab Monitors Gulf Ecosystem..................................77
ACEOA District III Convention................................................................85
Kids Korner ............................................................................................91
Blue Springs, Catfish and Kids ..............................................................95
ON THE COVER Nonresidents Now Have Available of $10 Annual Pier License ............103
ACEOA 2010 Top Gun Winner Matt Mussel Creek Camp for Kids Succeeds In Connecting Youth to Nature 107
Weathers in the heat of competition Renew Our Rivers – Smith Lake Clean-up ............................................115
at the State Top Gun finals held at
the Southern Sportsman Lodge. ACEOA District IV Top Gun Convention ..............................................121
Photo by Chris Jaworoski. ACEOA Top Gun Convention for District V and VI ..............................129
Waterfoul Season Outlook Encouraging ..............................................135
Kayak Fishing Becoming New Mainstream ..........................................139
ACEOA Sponsors Talladega County Youth Event ................................147
Yellow Catfish ......................................................................................151
Butler County Fishing Event ................................................................157
2010 Eufaula Youth Fishing Rodeo ......................................................161
Bankhead Kids Fishing Derby ..............................................................169
Early Signs Successful for Eastern Indigo Partnership ..........................175
Corps of Engineers Host Youth Catfish Rodeos ....................................183
Pike Road Fishing Rodeo......................................................................187
Advertisers Index..................................................................................231
Business Directory ..............................................................................244

ACE Magazine is the official publication of the Alabama Conservation Enforcement Officer Association. Purchase of
advertising space does not entitle the advertisers to any privileges or favors from members. ACE Magazine does not
assume responsibility for statements of fact or opinion made by any contributor. This magazine is created and produced
by Brent-Wyatt West. Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.

ACE Magazine 1
President’s Corner
by Chris Jaworowski- Wildlife Biologist and ACEOA President
reetings ACEOA members and supporters! I
G hope this issue of ACE Magazine finds you in
the air conditioning. After a summer of record
high temperatures, an oil spill in the gulf, and a
gloomy economy, I thought it would be a good idea
to give all of you some good news. ACEOA is
stronger than ever and has big plans for the future.
Though ACEOA, like most organizations, has felt
the crunch of the economy, I am proud to report
that support of ACEOA from Alabama businesses
has not wavered. Thanks to contributions through
the purchase of ads in ACE Magazine, ACEOA has
funded conservation oriented events across the
state. Hundreds of youngsters have enjoyed our
shooting sports trailer while learning to shoot shot-
guns, rifles, and handguns under the close supervi-
sion of our ACEOA firearms instructors.
Other summer activities this year included Youth
Fishing events, Top Gun qualifiers, and District
Conferences across the state. Thanks to the con-
tinued support of ACEOA from businesses across
the state we are planning to sponsor even more
outdoor events this year in order to share our
knowledge with the next generation hunters, fisher-
men, and conservationists. I hope that you enjoy
this issue of ACE Magazine and appreciate your
support of ACEOA and Conservation Enforcement
Officers in Alabama.
ACE Magazine 5
Notes from the Trenches
by Rusty Morrow, ACEOA Executive Director
read the headlines and watch the news daily and
I observe that there are daily incidents that require law
enforcement to respond. I watch the police in Phoenix
Arizona get mugged and abused by angry protestors. I
watch the border patrol in these same areas battle a con-
stant flow of illegal immigrants entering our country with-
out help from our Federal Government.
Law enforcement often gets a bad rap. They are made
out to be the bad guys. I worry that it may be the trend.
The public should sit back and visualize what our coun-
try would be like if we did not have the dedicated law
enforcement officers to protect us. Our safety is too often
taken for granted.
The obstacles for today’s law enforcement agencies
are never ending. How do they stay ahead? Most agen-
cies prepare through extensive training giving their offi-
cers the advantage and hopefully the information that
could save their lives.
No law enforcement agency is safer than another.
Conservation Officers jurisdictions have doubled with the
flow of illegal drugs into the rural areas. They are faced
with serious problems much like the officers in urban
areas. They encounter many subjects that may be trans-
porting or using Methamphetamine (Meth) or other
mind-altering drugs. These people are a serious threat to
our officers. Before my retirement I began to see the rural
areas of Lowndes County become a hot spot for Meth
Labs. They would cook in the back of their trucks and
return to Montgomery with the finished product.
Now the flow of Meth is coming across our borders and
entering our communities. Distribution is still taking place
in our rural areas. These people are dangerous and offer
a serious risk to our Conservation Enforcement Officers.
I mention only a few of the challenges our officers face
in today’s society. Meanness and hate is widespread.
Please support your local law enforcement and don’t be
too quick to judge. Put yourself in their situation with all
they face each day. Their goal is oftentimes to keep you
alive and keep themselves alive in the process.
I spent twenty-five years as a law enforcement officer.
I managed to do those twenty-five years without hurting
anyone or personally getting seriously hurt. Today, I
believe that would be very difficult to do. In a twenty-five
year career, I believe an officer has a very good possibil-
ity of having to hurt someone or personally being hurt. I
can offer no statistics for this assumption. I just see the
events going on in our
society today. I believe
the enforcement agen-
cies see this also and
spend more time in
preparing their officers
for the streets. This
requires stronger and smarter law enforcement officers. It
is not a job for the faint of heart. What I recommend to all
my friends in law enforcement is that when their time is
up – RETIRE. Leave the enforcement duties to the young
officers. It is often even difficult for them. The older offi-
cers in today’s society are at a disadvantage. I don’t care
how macho they are.
My wife, Gayle, and I recently attended the retirement
party for my former partner, Keith Mickle. He accumu-
lated over thirty years in law enforcement and he was
certainly one that I had hoped would hang it up. I want-
ed him to know there was more to life than chasing bad
guys. He will have so much more quality time with his
family and friends. He is what I refer to as a survivor.
We had a great time at the party and enjoyed
exchanging ‘war stories’ about Keith. My ole buddy, Joe
McClure, was on hand to help roast Keith. You may
remember Joe as the guy in the floppy hat in the story,
“Is This Enough Orange?”(Spring Issue ACE Magazine)
Joe is always a hoot!
Maybe we’ll hear from Keith in future issues of ACE
Magazine. There is still much more to write about from
the early years in Lowndes County.
I always go out of my way to thank military personnel
for their dedication, service and sacrifice. I would encour-
age you to do the same. Remember also that your local
and state law enforcement officers are also dedicated to
their job and make sacrifices daily to keep you safe and
preserve the environment for future generations. Thank
them as well when you have an opportunity.
Our conservation officers are blessed to have support
from all of our corporate sponsors in Ace Magazine. They
appreciate what we do. They express it with donations to
fund our programs. We are forever grateful to our
Corporate Sponsors.
Enjoy the Summer Issue of ACE Magazine. When you
are finished share it with a friend.
ACE Magazine 9
2010 State Officers and Directors
Executive Director
Rusty Morrow

2010 ACEOA State Officers

President – Chris Jaworowski
Vice President – Trey Pose
Secretary/Treasurer – Chris Lewis

2010 District Directors and Associate Directors

District I Director – Ernie Stephens
District I Associate Director – Wendell Fulks
District II Director – Scott Kellenberger
District II Associate Director – Jerry Fincher
District III Director – Jeff Makemson
District III Associate Director – Cliff Robinson
District IV Director – Grady Myers
District IV Associate Director – Heath Walls
District V Director – Vance Woods
District V Associate Director – Bo Willis
District VI Director – John Bozeman
District VI Associate Director – Don Reaves

ACE Magazine 11
ACEOA State Top Gun Competition
by Trey Pose, ACEOA Vice President

ACEOA State Top Gun Finalists.

nce again shooters gathered at the Southern This year’s competitors were Hasty Hudson, Chris

O Sportsmen Lodge for the 3rd Annual ACEOA Top

Gun event. Shooters from all 6 ACEOA Districts
met at the lodge to compete against each other and the
sweltering July heat. This year officers tested their
marksmanship skill and themselves on 4 challenging
courses of fire. This year’s courses of fire included 2
challenging courses requiring shooters to carry
sandbags, run, complete a tire pull, and engage steel
targets as well as multiple bowling pins while racing
against the clock and other shooters. Shooters also fired
the FBI Bullseye Course and the APOST pistol
qualification course. Between the challenging courses of
fire and the heat of the July sun the competitors were
certainly tested to see who would win a new Taurus
PT1911 45ACP.
Champion, Joe Little, Tommy Haynes, Matt Weathers,
and David Smith. After the first bowling pin challenge
that included a sandbag carry, run, and tire pull and the
APOST pistol qualification course it looked like anyone’s
competition to win. Moving into the FBI Bullseye course
all of the competitors seemed focused and hot. In the
middle of the Bullseye course shooters were given a
break when the backstop and targets collapsed. A short
break and some new target stands later shooters were
back on the firing line completing the Bullseye course.
After scoring the Bullseye course a front runner emerged
and with one course of fire left to shoot everyone was
watching how the competition would end. The final
continued on 17

ACE Magazine 15
State Top Gun – continued

course of fire was a steel and bowling pin challenge

requiring shooters to race the clock and clear the course
with a limited amount of ammunition.
After all the courses were fired and the scores
tabulated a clear winner emerged. With a possible 475
points up for grabs Matt Weathers won this year’s
competition with a score of 422 points. Congratulations
to Matt and we hope he enjoys his new pistol. In second
place this year, winning a Ruger LCP .380, was Joe
Little. In third winning a gift certificate to Gulf States was
Hasty Hudson. The ACEOA would like to congratulate
all the shooters and thank them for competing in this
year’s competition.

Shotgun Competition.

Youth Top Shooters. Vickie Haynes Wins 22 Rifle Competition.

Top 3 Top Guns receive kits from Otis Technology. Hasty Hudson is congratulated as 3rd place Top Gun Winner.

ACE Magazine 17
State Top Gun – continued

Joe Little, 2nd place Top Gun receives his Ruger LCP .380. Matt Weathers 2010 Top Gun Winner!

Matt Weathers receives his new Taurus 1911 pistol. Break and reload!

Sporting the 2010 Top Gun Shirt! Trey, Scott and Vance managing the shoot.

ACE Magazine 19
State Top Gun – continued

Competitors Shooting combat course. Firing away!

Six strong competitors hoping for a sure shot.

ACE Magazine 21
BP Oil Spill
by Bo Willis, District 5 Associate Director

O
n April 20th 2010 one of the worst
environmental disasters in US history
began. The oil rig Deepwater Horizon
exploded killing 11 workers onboard. The rig was
located in the Mississippi Canyon of the Gulf of
Mexico in the United States exclusive economic
zone, about 41 miles off the Louisiana coast. This
tragic loss of life was only the beginning of what
would become the worst oil spill in US history.

continued on 27

ACE Magazine 25
Oil Spill – continued
The explosion of the oil rig left an open pipe 5000
feet below the surface that was spewing an estimated
1,500,000 to 4,200,000 gallons of oil a day. The
operator of the oil rig BP was unable to cap the well,
and the oil continued to flow. As the world watched, the
oil began to spread, the resulting oil slick covered at
least 2,500 square miles. This growing oil slick
prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) to close approximately 81,181
square miles of the Gulf of Mexico to commercial and
recreational fishing.
As the oil began to spread and move toward land and
the sensitive marsh areas, the affected states began to
mobilize and put into action plans to limit the impact and
try to avoid what looked like certain disaster. The
Alabama response included members of the Alabama
Marine Police, Alabama Marine Resources officers and
biologists, Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries officers and
biologists, Alabama Department of Environmental
Management, Alabama Department of Public Health
along with many local and county agencies.
The Marine Police and Marine Resources officers were
initially tasked with patrolling and searching for any oil
that may be moving into the area. Shortly after the
incident began to unfold a computer program was written
specifically for the Marine Police and Marine Resources
officers to use that allowed them to map every foot of oil
boom put into place. This information was uploaded in
real-time allowing those working at the Unified
Command Center (UCC) to see where boom was
actually placed. This allowed those at the UCC to see
where boom was needed and to identify damaged or
missing boom.
Both Marine Police Officers and Marine Resources make landfall on Fort Morgan, Dauphin Island and
Officers were called in on many other details that were Mississippi Sound areas. BP has hired crews that have
associated with the oil spill. Both agencies played a been working nonstop picking up oil on the beaches
major part in providing security for visiting dignitaries, along with skimming oil in the bays and waterways in
from the many visits of Governor Riley to assess Mobile and Baldwin Counties. Alabama Dept of
progress to the visits of both the President of the United Conservation Biologists have been monitoring water
States and Vice President of the United States. Alabama quality and taking hundreds of samples from both the
Marine Police and Alabama Marine Resources Officers sea bottom and waters themselves.
were also called in to assist Bayou La Batre PD on On July 15th the pipe was finally capped and the oil
several occasions due to protests and unrest related to stopped flowing. However this cap is only temporary to
the Vessels of Opportunity. stop the flow of oil until the well can be plugged
The oil initially impacted Alabama when NOAA began permanently. This is amazing news and is the beginning
shutting down commercial and recreational fishing in of truly cleaning up the waters and shore line of the Gulf
Federal waters. The closures immediately impacted the Coast. The environmental impact of the oil spill may not
Charter Boat industry just as red snapper season opened. be fully known for many years.
The closure rippled through all commercial fisheries. During the time the oil was flowing it is estimated that
With no incoming seafood, the Seafood dealers in the Deepwater Horizon spews every 8 to 9 days more oil
Alabama began to feel the pinch. than was spilled by the Exxon Valdez. This spill has also
The oil initially showed up on June 9th at Perdido Pass surpassed the 1979 oil spill that occurred off the coast of
in Baldwin County. Shortly afterwards the oil began to Mexico.

ACE Magazine 27
2010 JACKSON COUNTY
FFA SUMMER CAMP
SPONSORED BY ACEOA
by Scott Kellenberger, District II Director

T
he annual Jackson County FFA Summer Camp
has been sponsored by ACEOA for the past
several years. The camp is organized by J.R. Poe
of Pisgah and is staffed by local Agriculture teachers and
volunteers. This year's camp was held June 21 through
24 at Paint Rock Valley Lodge and was attended by
approximately twenty - five local students. The camp
provided classes on a wide range of outdoor subjects.
The Department of Conservation provided firearms
training with their shooting sports trailer and instructor
Don Howell. The students also had classes in the use of
map and compass and GPS use, orienteering, water

continued on 33

ACE Magazine 31
FFA Summer Camp – continued

safety, forestry and water quality, with field trips in the setting of the Lodge make the FFA summer camp a
area to see some of the practices in use. The quality of success year after year, and the ACEOA is proud to
instruction, abundant natural resources, and comfortable support it with the help of our advertisers and sponsors.

ACE Magazine 33
Quality Deer Management Tour
by Jerry Brown, President, Lake Martin Chapter QDMA
T
he newly formed Lake Martin Quality Deer
Management Association Chapter partnered with
Alabama Conservation Enforcement Officer
Association (ACEOA), The Farmers Federation Wildlife
Committees from Tallapoosa, Coosa and Clay Counties,
The Coosa County Forestry Planning Committee,
Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division and
individuals to educate hunters and landowners on habitat
Michael East, Tallapoosa County CEO returns a deer rack to the
display wall after scoring by Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater
Fisheries personnel.
Attendees stand in the welcomed shade of a large pecan tree on a hot
June day waiting for their names to be called during the drawing of door
prizes.
management and herd management for whitetail deer.
On Saturday, June 19th, 2010, a Wildlife Habitat Tour
and Field Day was held on the property of Jerry and
Genelle Brown near Hackneyville. Since the county line
runs through the yard of their home, the habitat tour took
place in Clay County and the other activities took place
in Tallapoosa County.
continued on 39
Joel Glover, Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Biologist and
Natural Resource Conservation Service Private Lands Biologist, explains
the scoring procedure for Whitetail Deer racks.
The tour group looks over an example of fawn cover while Joel Glover
explains what to look for and how to get the desired cover by prescribed
burning, disking or use of herbicides.
ACE Magazine 37
Quality Deer – continued
Ryan Shurette, USDA Forest Service Botanist, identifies different forbs
and grasses in a field of native warm season grasses during a stop on the
tour.
Tour stop included Native Food Identification and
Management, Quality Vegetation Management and
Development, and Distribution of Fawn Cover. Attendees
observed a diversity of natural foods and heard how to
obtain them from the seed bank already present in the
soil by prescribed burning, disking, and herbicide use.
Good fawning cover to protect young deer from
predators was pointed out. The same methods that
produce natural foods can also produce good cover for
fawns and other wildlife.
Featured speakers were Joel Glover, Wildlife Biologist
with Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries along
Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries personnel scoring whitetail
deer racks were: Back Row L-R Merwyn Harrison, Brett Abbot; Front
Row L-R Stewart Abrams, Brandon Howell, Andy Hughes; Right
Standing Michael East headed up the collection and display.
with NRCS Regional Private Lands Biologist and Ryan
Shurette, Botanist with the USDA Forest Service.
Scorers from the Alabama Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources were on hand to
measure deer racks for the records of Alabama Whitetail
Deer. Thirty-four racks were measured and mounted on
a wall for display. Joel Glover explained the scoring
system and the factor affecting the score.
Over 70 attendees enjoyed a free lunch, door prizes, a
vendor's display, and plenty of conversation at the
conclusion of the tour.
ACE Magazine 39
ACEOA District I Convention Top
Gun Qualification
by Wendell Fulks, District II Associate Director

istrict One held our Convention and Top Gun

D Qualification on June 12, 2010 on Mr. Bill

Snoddy’s property in Double Springs, Alabama.
What a majestic piece of God’s creation that was shared
with us by such a kind and generous man. Special thanks
to Mr. Snoddy for such a generous act.
During our convention, we enjoyed great food,
shooting sports events, and a beautiful lake for fishing,
swimming and paddle boating. We had a great turn-out
with 38 officers, wives, children, and special guests.
Chris Champion will represent our district in the state
Top Gun Competition in July. Congratulations Chris!
The ACEOA gave away three weapons. Mike Nichols
won the 22 caliber MP15 rifle as the top shooter in the
rifle competition. Bryan Fisher was the recipient of the
12 gauge shotgun by drawing. Also, by drawing, Barry
Baird won the 22 semi-automatic pistol.
Bryan Fisher wins shotgun.
continued on 45

Competitors in action!

ACE Magazine 43
District 1 – continued

Gayle Morrow and Director Ernie Stephen. Great food!

Great fun! Lt. Mike Nichols in action.

Lt. Mike Nichols wins rifle competition. Mrs. Nichols wins a gift certificate.

ACE Magazine 45
District 1 – continued

Lt. Mike Nichols wins rifle competition.

Wendell Fulks and Ernie Stephens with Top Gun Winners

ACE Magazine 47
ACEOA District II Convention 2010
by Scott Kellenberger, ACEOA District II Director
istrict Two held their convention May 7, 2010 at
D Paint Rock Valley Lodge, in Jackson County. The
weather was just about perfect and everyone who
attended had a good time.
The district Top Gun competition was held in a two
stage format. A slow fire bull’s eye course was followed
by a combat course consisting of steel poppers and
bowling pins. The combat stage pitted a pair of officers
against each other. The officer who knocked down the
most targets was the winner. Matt Weathers shot an
impressive bull’s eye target and also won his heat on the
combat course.
Tiger McKee, from Shootrite Academy, held a carbine
manipulations class for the officers after the Top Gun
shoot. Many, if not most, officers are now carrying some
variation of AR 15 rifle on duty. Tiger gave us an hour
packed with information on the most effective and
efficient means of operating this type of rifle. Hopefully
continued on 53
ACE Magazine 51
District 2 – continued
we will only get to use it on the range.
ACEOA President Chris Jaworowski was good
enough to drive all the way up from Lowndes County to
assist and take photos. Rusty and Gayle were busy at
another district down south and were unable to attend
this time. We really missed Ms. Gayle.
Leon McCamey catered a great supper for us, followed
by live music under the pavilion. It is always good to get
together with officers from different divisions and far
away counties. The ACEOA has provided me the
opportunity to meet and become friends with officers I
probably would have never met otherwise, and to me
that makes the time and effort of hosting a convention a
bargain indeed.
ACE Magazine 53
Team Fowl Best of Competition With
BP Bottom Dwellers Bang-Up
by David Rainer, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

n times of trouble, I’ve always considered it a virtue

I to maintain a sense of humor – lesson learned from

my mother, who always seems to find a reason to
laugh at almost any situation.
Take, for instance, as tragic as the Gulf oil spill
appears to be, the folks who participated in the Alabama
Wildlife Federation’s Wild Game Cook-Off recently on
Mobile Bay, couldn’t help but cook a little levity into the
situation.
While there were several dishes named in BP’s honor,
there was one dish that excelled – Team Fowl Mouth’s BP
Bottom Dwellers Bang-Up. The dish not only took the
top place in the fish category, it also was voted the best
dish in the entire competition. As one of the judges, I can
assure you that was quite an accomplishment. The
overall victory sends Team Fowl Mouth to the State Team Fowl Mouth, from left, Billy Bixler, Jamie Roussos and Scott
Finals Aug. 7 in Millbrook. Stimpson, claimed the overall prize at the Alabama Wildlife
As for the winning dish, Chef Jamie Roussos and his Federation’s Gulf Coast Wild Game Cook-Off held recently on Battle-
ship Parkway. Photo by David Rainer
cohorts – Scott Stimpson and Billy Bixler (Jay Beck, a
regular team member had a scheduling conflict) – based
the dish on pond-raised catfish, a resource that won’t be 3 tablespoons Cajun mustard
affected by the oil spill except that demand may increase 1 tablespoon lemon juice
significantly. 1 tablespoon minced garlic
All humor aside, the dish is more practically called Cajun seasoning, to taste
Blackened Catfish and Crab Cakes with Cajun Shrimp Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Cream Sauce. 1 pound lump or claw crab meat
Roussos said he blackens a six- to seven-ounce
catfish filet by coating the fish with melted butter and The preparation of the crab cakes goes like this:
blackened seasoning (he prefers Paul Pruhomme’s Combine onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic to pot
version with a little salt added) and then searing quickly with hot butter about 1/2 stick. Cook until semi tender
in a skillet set on medium high. It should take no more and add crab meat. Cook another few minutes. Cut the
than two to three minutes per side. heat and add the remainder of ingredients and
thoroughly mix.
Shape equal-sized crab cakes.
The crab cake ingredients follow:
Cover the bottom of a sauté pan with oil. Heat oil over
One-half cup green onion
medium heat.
One-quarter cup chopped parsley
Place crab cakes in hot oil and sauté 4 to 5 minutes
Three-quarters cup bread crumbs
per side or until golden brown and cooked through.
One-quarter cup yellow onion
One-quarter cup mayonnaise
For the Shrimp Sauce, use the following ingredients:
One-quarter cup celery
1.5 pounds of medium shrimp (peeled and deveined)
One-quarter cup bell pepper
2 to 3 eggs continued on 59

ACE Magazine 57
Team Fowl – continued
One-half cup yellow onion
One-half cup mushrooms
One-quarter cup celery
1/2 cup red and green bell pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup green onion
1 stick butter
1 quart half and half
4 to 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
Cajun seasoning, to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
In large sauce pot on medium high heat add butter and
garlic. Cook for a couple minutes and add peppers,
celery, mushrooms, and onions cook until tender. Add
shrimp and cook halfway. Add seasoning and flour and
cook another 2 to 3 minutes to make roux. Whisk in the
half and half and tomato paste. Roussos looks for the
consistency of a thick and creamy bisque. Stir in green
onions, let rest for a few minutes and serve.
The other teams that placed in the fish category were
Dirt and Whiskey with a crawfish boudin and black-eyed
pea po-boy and Bluegill Blues Brothers with a crab and
corn bisque.
In the game category, Dirt and Whiskey served up the
winning dish – Venison Juicy Lucy with Tomatillo Sauce.
This was a delicious take on the traditional venison
burger that was tasty and didn’t suffer from a lack of
juices, as the name implies. One of the tricks was to stuff
the burgers with pimento and cheese, but not with just
any old cheese like cheddar.
Team member Philip Davis said they use Colby and
pepper jack cheese with red pimentos, half and half and
mayonnaise to make the stuffy. He also suggests forming
the venison burgers and then put them in the fridge to get
them nice and cold before adding the stuffing.
The burgers are then skillet-fried to retain the juices.
The tomatillo sauce is made by combining the
minced tomatillos with minced red onions, minced
jalapenos (charred and peeled), a teaspoon of lime juice
and a teaspoon of sugar. Combine and spoon over the
hot burgers.
The winners put the burger and sauce on
pumpernickel bread, which really added a savory
sensation to the dish.
In second, a very close second I might add, in the
game division was CCA Alabama’s Mama Mia Lasagna,
followed by Team Buckshire’s Venison Chim Churri.
The winning dish in the fowl category was Team
Buckshire’s Boudin-Stuffed Quail with Mango Sauce. I
tried unsuccessfully to get the recipe, but the name of the
dish pretty much spells it out.
Second in fowl was Dirt and Whiskey’s Smoke Quail
and Fried Green Tomato Panini, followed by Choctaw
Bluff’s Wild Turkey Pookytaya.
Of course, there were plenty of serious moments at the
cook-off, as well. AWF Executive Director Tim Gothard
was busy signing up attendees for a database of potential
volunteers to combat the effects of the oil spill.
Gothard said the wild game cook-offs have been a big
part of AWF’s outreach effort for the past 15 years. AWF,
established in 1935, has 30,000 members and sup-
porters. Gothard said the group’s mission is to be an
advocate for the wise use and responsible stewardship of
our native wildlife resources.
“Our cook-offs serve three primary purposes,”
Gothard said. “It’s an opportunity for our members to
interact and our guests to learn more about the Alabama
Wildlife Federation. Second – and the one that got this
whole thing started – to show as responsible hunters and
anglers that we properly utilize the game and fish we
take, and that it makes great table fare. The cook-offs
also generate funds to support our conservation work in
three areas – conservation education, resource steward-
ship and hunting and angling heritage.”
ACE Magazine 59
Hunting With Children
Lessons Taught and Lessons Learned
by Jerry L. Fincher, District II Associate Director

fondly remember following behind my Dad as we

I stalked the hardwood ridges of North Alabama in

search of squirrels. We hunted squirrels because, at
that time, there were no deer in our area. On rainy days,
Dad would sometimes let me stay home from school to
hunt because wet leaves make no noise, but usually, we
would walk as quietly as possible through the ankle-deep
layer of dry leaves, stopping periodically to let the woods
calm down and watch for movement in the trees. Dad
used these pauses to teach me how to handle a firearm
safely, identify tree species, walk quietly, cross creeks,
identify cut cones and nuts, and a million other things a
boy needs to know.
Once I grew up and had a son of my own, I followed
my Dad’s lead and would take my son hunting as often
as possible. I remember grabbing a diaper, a bottle, and
a 22 rifle and slipping off with him stuffed in a
contraption that kept him strapped to my chest. By the
time he was two, I was holding the gun and aiming while
he pulled the trigger. As he grew larger, we expanded the
scope of our hunting to include other species. Finally, we
St.Clair County. In spite of hunting hard on the property,
graduated to deer.
we saw and killed a total of two deer the entire season.
My son’s first deer would not be considered a trophy
The day my son killed his deer, the wind was blowing
to anyone but us. It was a spike taken off a food plot on
about twenty miles an hour and the temperature was
Lowndes WMA. It was covered in ticks and gut shot
hovering around eighteen degrees. We were hanging
twice. However, it was a thing of beauty to us. If someone
from two trees so small that our ole-man stands were
had come along after he harvested the deer, I’m sure
threatening to slide down the trees at any moment.
they would have thought we were a little touched. We
Although this sounds dangerous, it really wasn’t. The
were hugging, laughing, and rolling all over the food plot.
small tree diameters only allowed us to climb a few feet
I’m not sure if our enthusiasm that day stemmed from his
off the ground. We were facing opposite directions
harvesting his first buck or from our relief that it was
preventing me from seeing the plot when my son, said,
finally over.
“Dad there’s a deer on the field.” I asked what it was, and
Prior to that day, we had hunted in an area of St.Clair
he replied that it was a buck. I told him to shoot when the
County with very few deer. This made for long, cold,
deer turned broadside to him.
boring days. The previous year, even though my son’s
At the report of the rifle, I turned to see antlers
knee was swollen to the size of a football and he was
moving through the cut over behind the plot. The deer
running a high fever, we had driven three hours in order
ran a short distance before going down, shot behind the
to attend the youth hunt on Lowndes WMA. In short, I
front shoulder.
was forcing the issue and turning what should have been
After we climbed down and thanked God for both
a great time into a chore.
My son’s second buck was taken on a hunting club in continued on 63

ACE Magazine 61
Hunting With Children – continued
sending us the deer and keeping us from falling out of
our stands, I asked my son what he was thinking when
he first saw the deer. He replied, “Well, I was thinking he
sure is big, but before that, I was just praying that the sun
would go down so we could go home.”
The two hunts just described ended well, but that’s not
why I told them. Like all Dad’s worth their salt, I had
wanted my son to kill his first deer at an early age, and
he had, but at what cost. I had set about trying to help
him accomplish that goal by doing all the wrong things.
Looking back and considering everything I put him
through, it’s a miracle that he still loves to hunt.
You want to leave a child wanting more, not
remembering a negative experience. After reflecting on
those early deer hunts with my son, I have identified
several lessons learned about hunting with children. I
only wish that I had learned them earlier. If you are a new
Dad or just a Dad new to hunting, I believe that reading
the next few pages will make your hunts with children
more enjoyable for both of you. If you are an old hand at
hunting with kids, you have probably already come to
the same conclusions.
The first lesson is to ease them into it. Doing too much
too soon will do more harm than good. You may be the
type of guy that likes to hunt from daylight to dark, but
expecting a five or six year old child to sit still for hours
is like expecting the front pew in church to fill up first; it
just isn’t going to happen.
Another lesson, closely related to the first, is to make
the child comfortable. Make sure that the child has
clothing that fits and is compatible with the weather.
Make sure that he or she has a warm, dry, safe place to
sit, some type of rest for their rifle, bug spray if it is hot,
and something to snack on. In addition, make sure they
are using a weapon which fits them and with which that
they have practiced before the hunt. A good food plot
to attract deer, a comfortable shooting house to hide
the movement of little hands and feet, a couple of
Snickers bars, and an electronic game to pass the slow
time will make the experience much more enjoyable for
everyone involved. If a permanent blind is not available,
a folding chair and a rifle rest works well. Last but not
least, ALWAYS BRING TOILET PAPER! Cutting off their
fruit of the looms is expensive and hard to explain to
their mother.
The third lesson is to make sure that there is a high
probability of success. Success doesn’t necessarily mean
harvesting an animal, but you should be fairly certain
that you will at least see something. You wouldn’t take a
kid fishing in a lake with only one fish in it, and by the
same token, you shouldn’t take a child deer hunting
where he or she will not likely see deer. A child’s
attention span is shorter than the line for people who
think they should pay more taxes, or one of those Taco
Bell dogs without legs. You may not harvest an animal,
but as long as something shows up, the trip will be a
success. You should always have a good pair of
binoculars around, and, for God’s sake, do not make a
child which has never taken a buck pass on a small buck
unless you are fairly certain a bigger one will show itself.
Probably the most important lesson is to focus on the
process not the product. In other words, make the trip the
adventure. I’m glad that my Dad started me out hunting
squirrels instead of deer. We didn’t have to worry about
scents, talking out loud, or taking a side trip to
investigate a beaver lodge. In short, teach them about all
that the outdoors has to offer. Harvesting an animal may
not be nearly as interesting to the child as finding a
beaver-chewed limb, a stream worn rock, or following
the tracks of a fox or raccoon. If you are really lucky, you
may even find an arrowhead or a fossil. If you do, please
let the child keep it; you can find one for you later.
I know that earlier I advocated the use of shooting
houses and food plots and explained the need for using
them, and they have their place, especially in the
beginning. However, if your hunt always consists of
nothing more walking from the pickup to the blind, you
are missing out. Using food plots to the exclusion of
scouting is a recipe for creating a shooter not a hunter.
There is nothing wrong with shooting a deer coming to a
green field, but it can’t compare to the feeling of
accomplishment experienced by locating a buck’s
bedding area, food sources, travel corridors and
harvesting it there.
I learned the hard way to always be positive. If you tell
someone not to think about pink elephants, it is
impossible for that individual not to visualize a pink
elephant. Instead, use positive terms to tell them what
you want them to do. For example, my son had a
problem flinching when shooting a rifle, the result of
shooting on a trap team. So, I kept telling him not to
flinch. I might as well been saying, “O.K. now flinch!”
This cost him several nice bucks. I finally learned to say,
“Concentrate on your crosshairs and apply slow steady
pressure on the trigger.” He wasn’t the one who needed
training; I was.
Unless you like being in the dog house, you must
learn the next lesson well. Never, ever, under any
circumstances give a child’s game away! Sometimes time
constraints will make you want to donate game to a
needy family rather than take it home and clean it. If
after showing it off and processing it you would like to
give it to someone else and the child agrees, let the child
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ACE Magazine 63
Hunting With Children – continued
give it away. If you give away game that you harvested
without taking it home, showing it off, and eating it, the
child may not like it, but he or she will probably forgive
you. On the other hand, if you give away game that the
child had a hand in harvesting, you will live to regret it.
You will belittle his or her accomplishment and deprive
them of the joy of showing it to the rest of the family.
Believe me; the guilt felt afterwards will be much more
costly than any processing fee.
The last lesson that I will touch on is one that affects
the adult as much or more than the child. You should
always try to share the experience if possible. As the child
gets older, the tendency is to move farther apart until
finally you are hunting separately. Two years ago, I
underwent some minor surgery on my right arm that left
me unable to shoot a bow. This resulted in the best
hunting season I have ever known. Although I was
unable to shoot and did not harvest a deer, I could climb
a tree and hold a camera. My son and I scouted together,
and I filmed his hunts. Sharing his hunting experiences
was more satisfying than I could have ever imagined.
This concept of sharing the hunt doesn’t only apply
to hunting with children. Hunting with others allows
you to build memories and relive them long after the
hunt has ended. It keeps the social aspect of hunting
alive and reduces the competitive nature exhibited by
many modern hunters. When hunting is reduced to a
competition, we all lose. Sometimes there may be
reasons other than fellowship to stay close to your
hunting partner. I once left my Dad by himself after
repeatedly telling him that the rule on the property was
eight point or better. I returned to find him proudly
displaying a cow-horn spike. Smiling he said, “I made
sure that his antlers were at least eight inches long just
like you said.” My only defense was that he was
seventy eight.
In summary, remember that the true prize of hunting is
in spending time with the people you love and teaching
them about God’s creation and the traditions of the sport.
Harvesting an animal is simply gravy, so don’t cheat
yourself. I’ve heard it said that if you teach your child to
hunt, you will never have to hunt your child. I’m not
suggesting that simply taking a child hunting will override
all of the negative influences that face the youth of today,
but you must admit that it is a great place to start. Just
keep in mind the mistakes that I made, don’t repeat
them, always keep a camera handy, and take a child
hunting. They don’t bite, well, not very hard anyway.
ACE Magazine 65
“State of the Bay” Remains Strong
Part One of Two stories on the Gulf Oil Spill
by David Rainer, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

apt. Joey Abruscato was in the midst of cleaning

C speckled trout he’d caught in Mobile Bay recently

when a visitor approached the fish-cleaning table
at Dauphin Island Marina.
“I was cleaning fish at the marina and the catfish and
pelicans were hanging around just like they normally
do,” Abruscato said. “A lady from Indiana, I think from
Evansville, was taking pictures. She came up to me and
said, ‘I thought all these pelicans were covered with oil.’
I just kind of looked at her. Then she said, ‘The national
press has done y’all a lot of injustice because the view
from up there is that everything is covered in oil.’”
At a “State of the Bay” gathering of concerned
outdoorsmen and women at the Delta Fish House on the
Battleship Parkway (Causeway), Abruscato expressed
his concerns about the effects of the Deepwater Horizon
oil spill on coastal Alabama and the need for anglers,
hunters and people who love the outdoors to return to
their favorite endeavors.
“You hear all the doom and gloom – and not to
undermine it because it is a bad deal – but we need to go
out and do what we need to do – boat, fish, sail,
whatever,” he said. “Don’t let this prevent you from doing
what you like to do. Since the oil spill, it’s been a dark
cloud over me, over all of us. It’s been depressing is all
I’ve got to say. Then I decided to go out and do what I
love to do and that’s go out into the bay, whether to
guide or just fish with friends. I’m not making light of this,
but it’s time to go fishing.”
Other than being one of the captains in A-Team
Fishing Adventures charter service with his brother
Bobby and Chip Duepree, Joey also is a pilot boat
captain.
“Between the pilot boat and fishing on charters or with
friends, of the 101 days (of the spill), I’ve probably been
on the water 91 or 92 days of that,” Abruscato said. “The
fishing is great in Mobile Bay. I’m seeing the things you
would normally see in July. There are a lot of trout.
There’s not as many people fishing, but there are plenty
of fish out there. So I encourage you to do that.
“I even talked to people who pull nets for bait, like the
Jemisons and Chief down at (Dauphin) island and
they’re seeing things in the nets that you’re supposed to
A group of pelicans affected by the oil spill preen their feathers after
going through the rehabilitation center in Theodore. After going through
a cleaning process and stabilization period, the birds were released
along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Photo by Billy Pope
see. They haven’t seen any oil. So don’t let this prevent
you from doing what you love to do.”
Getting back to the perception that all shore birds
along the Gulf Coast are covered with oil, Ken Rice,
former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, addressed
that fallacy.
Rice, who now directs the efforts to rehabilitate the
wildlife affected by the oil spill out of the Unified
Command in Mobile, said as bad as it, it’s not that bad.
“To date, as far as bird impacts, we’ve had about 350
alive oiled birds,” he said. “Overall, we’ve had about 750
birds impacted. When you think about it, that’s a small
number. You don’t want to lose any, but it’s not a large
number compared to the overall makeup for this area.”
Rice has a long history in dealing with the aftermaths
of oil spills, including the enormous Ixtoc spill in the Bay
of Campeche, as well as the spills that occurred in the
wake of Hurricane Katrina.
“The thing I can tell you is there is life after oil spills,”
Rice said. “It will come back.”
Rice also praised the efforts of the organizers of the
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ACE Magazine 69
“State of the Bay” – continued
event on the Causeway, which included the Mobile
County Wildlife and Conservation Association, CCA
Alabama, Alabama Coastal Fishermen’s Association,
Alabama Wildlife Federation, Delta Waterfowl, Ducks
Unlimited and Committed for Waterfowl. Rice said that
because the government can’t take care of all the
resources, people need to get personally involved.
“I’m glad to see all these groups come together like
this,” he said. “These non-governmental organizations
mean so much to efforts like this.”
When Rice joined the effort to mitigate the oil spill, his
mission was to stop or reduce the impact to wildlife and
habitat.
“My first fear was, ‘Oh, my gosh, all of these clean-up
contractors are coming in here,’” he said. “They’re
coming into sensitive areas and are going to do far more
damage than the oil. You’ve seen the boats out there.
And this was not the most ideal time for an oil spill.
You’ve got sea turtles coming down the coast to nest.
You’ve got all these bird rookeries, so there’s a lot of
activity.”
Rice and his crew immediately set up a wildlife hotline
(866-557-1401) with a goal to respond as quickly as
possible with a goal of one hour.
“We’ve got three rehab facilities for birds, one in
Gulfport, Miss., one in Theodore and one in Pensacola,
Fla.,” he said. “We’ve also got turtle issues. For any
marine mammal issues, we’ve got facilities in Gulfport,
Fort Walton Beach and Panama City.
“The other aspect is the sensitive lands – all National
Seashore and the wildlife refuges like Bon Secour, St.
Mark’s and St. Vincent’s. How are you going to protect
these areas with all these people on the beach? What we
established was people called resource advisers. These
advisers tell the clean-up crews where to walk and where
the wildlife is likely to be. We have people walking in
front of the machinery to make sure no turtles or other
wildlife are run over. As far as I know, there hasn’t been
one turtle egg broken.”
Rice said although oil on the beach is unsightly and
causes much damage to the tourism industry, it is a
much better place to deal with the contamination than in
other areas.
“Ideally, the beach is a pretty good collection place for
oil if you want to compare it to our estuaries, our
marshes,” he said. “I told the captain as the oil was
starting to come ashore between the west end of
Dauphin Island and Petit Bois, that this is a goal-line
stand. If you want to see photos of what you see in
Louisiana, then let that oil get through. It’s going to get
all the rookery islands, Portersville Bay and get into the
marshes. We’re going to have real problems.
“From day one, we’ve tried to get the oil before it got
into those sensitive areas. If it gets on the beaches, we
can clean that up. Yes, it does affect tourism. But if it
gets in a marsh area, what you don’t want to do is go in
there and do more damage than good.”
Despite the loss of animals during the spill, Rice said
those victims will further the research into the effect of
contact with oil. All the carcasses have been saved so
that necropsies can be performed and determine exactly
what caused their demise.
“We’re going to have some residual tar ball incidents
and things like that,” he said. “You’re going to have oiled
birds for a few more weeks. But things will gradually
taper off. Things will get back to normal. We’ll get to our
fisheries and everything else. We will be here until things
get cleaned up. I’ve told BP and other folks that they
need to be responsible for everything that has occurred
to the environment. But they’re not responsible for
everything out there. There is natural mortality. That’s
why we document everything and it will all come out. But
it will take years.
“If there is anything positive that comes out of this spill,
it’s the amount of research going into it. We’re looking at
toxicity and dispersants used. This is one of the largest
spills ever. They’ve never used the volume of dispersants
before. We don’t know. What we do know is that oil is a
hydrocarbon and it will break down in time. We’ll know all
these things, but it’s going to take some time.”
ACE Magazine 71
Dauphin Island Sea Lab Monitors
Gulf Ecosystem
Part 2 article on Gulf Oil Spill
by David Rainer, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Now that the well has been capped at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, boats rigged to skim oil are anchored with no activity expected. Meanwhile,
the vessels of opportunity that deployed the miles of boom along the Alabama Gulf Coast are now taking up the material, which will stored should
another spill affect the area. Photos by David Rainer

or the past 40 years, Dr. George Crozier has been capacity to deal with an influx of oil of this magnitude

F monitoring the amazing ecosystem called the Gulf

of Mexico from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. He’s
witnessed the peaks and valleys, usually dished out by
Mother Nature, but also from human interaction.
And, Crozier admits he played a role in what he now
believes was an overreaction to impact of the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill.
The Gulf of Mexico, Crozier insists, is accustomed to
dining on oil tidbits. However, when the well was not
capped soon after the disaster, he feared the Gulf’s
would overwhelm the ecosystem. Not to minimize the
impact of the spill, he realizes now that restraint would
have been the better course of response.
“This is not and never was the death of the Gulf of
Mexico,” Crozier said of the spill, estimated at 4.9 million
barrels. “That’s a simple fact. And I have to admit that in
the initial stages of this I and everybody else contributed
to the problem.
“We created the disaster beyond the bounds that it
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ACE Magazine 77
Dauphin Island – continued
should have been articulated. Hindsight is as cheap as
dirt.”
For the last two months Crozier has been making
presentations to groups like Rotary clubs, Kiwanis clubs
and other groups and now is fully aware of the impact
the media coverage created.
“I even went to Gulf Distributing, the beverage
people,” he said. “People all along the I-10 corridor are
very concerned. They have seen problems with their
business. I told them the weekend before for the first time
in probably 15 years I drove from I-10 to Gulf Shores in
less than 30 minutes. So don’t tell me it hasn’t had an
impact on business on the Gulf Coast.”
As anyone who has spent any time on Gulf beaches
knows, tar balls wash up on the beaches from time to
time, indicating oil seeps into the Gulf from the sea floor
on occasion.
“Here’s the beauty of what we’ve seen so far,” Crozier
said. “We know the Gulf, especially the north central Gulf
has the capacity to deal with the oil spill. The most
recent report indicates that the Gulf receives 500,000
barrels of oil every year from natural seeps at 600
different sites. So there is a microbial community out
there and the Gulf of Mexico eats oil like we eat pretzels.
We had the capacity to deal with it from the beginning.
Ixtoc (Bay of Campeche) was a huge spill that impacted
a 100 miles of the south Texas Coast. Most of the people
who worked on the Ixtoc spill told us that within three
years essentially the ecosystem was recovered in that
period time.”
Crozier, however, doesn’t want to give the impression
the oil spill hasn’t had and will continue to have a
significant negative impact on life in and along the Gulf
of Mexico. Some toxic components will affect the Gulf for
years and will have to be closely monitored.
“What we’re looking at is possibly three to five years
here,” he said. “This is the goofy thing about scientists –
in about a 30-second period of time, the local scientists
will turn from a hair-on-fire, wild, environmentally
concerned scientist to the curious scientist. You want to
say you’ve got Jekyll and Hyde here. What we think we
think we’re dealing with is we’ve dodged a bullet,
perhaps. But the north central Gulf of Mexico is not
500,000 barrels from 600 seeps all over the Gulf. It is
one place in the Gulf, 60,000 barrels a day, poorly
estimated and poorly understood.
“The second thing, this was some of the crudest stuff
I’ve ever seen and there was methane gas. One of the
clichés that came as a shock to me was ‘water and oil
don’t mix.’ That’s true if it’s vegetable oil. It’s not true of
crude oil. Crude oil is composed of three to four broad
classes (of components) and the worst of them are
soluble in water. As soon as the stuff hit the water 5,000
feet below the surface, benzene and other toxic materials
in this family are going into solution the moment it hit the
ocean 5,000 feet down. So a lot of that didn’t get to the
surface, so it wasn’t measured at the surface.”
Crozier said some of the toxic components
disappeared in the water column on its way to the
surface, but there is a great deal of uncertainty about
how much is still out there and how that will affect the
ecosystem in the future.
“The good news is the things that were soluble are not
bio-accumulated,” he said. “They will kill eggs and
larvae. Dr. Bob Shipp (head of Marine Sciences at the
University of South Alabama) thinks we’re going to have
a hit on the snapper population before they enter the
harvest. What we’re assuming right now is we’re going to
have a limited harvest in 2012, because the babies are
getting hit with these toxics in our part of the Gulf.”
Crozier said ecosystem studies started when an LNG
facility was proposed off the Alabama several years ago
will help marine scientists better understand the impact
of the oil spill. The research sites start in Mobile Bay and
end 35 miles south of Dauphin Island.
“We will know, hopefully within a couple of months, if
the samples we are taking are showing the impacts at
those sites 35 miles south of Dauphin Island,” he said.
“We will be able to give some projections of the problem
at that point in time.
“What we’ve seen on the island, Mobile Bay is going
to be much more appreciated after this. The river flow,
as little as it is right now, has protected Dauphin Island,
Petit Bois Island and, to some extent, Horn Island. The
water that exits the bay turns right because of the
rotation of the earth. Even we haven’t been able to screw
up the rotation of the earth, yet.”
continued on 81
ACE Magazine 79
Dauphin Island – continued
Soon after the magnitude of the spill became
apparent, BP started applying dispersant on the surface
and at the wellhead 5,000 feet below the surface.
Crozier immediately expressed his concerns, which
continue today.
“When it gets to the surface, the sun breaks down a lot
of the components of crude oil,” he said. “The microbial
community that eats the oil has lots of oxygen to do that
with. At the surface, a lot of good things can happen. We
can boom it. We can skim it. If you boom it successfully,
you can burn it. But if you use dispersant, and those who
play poker will love this, you’ve gone ‘all in’ on the
microbial community. The tools of skimming, burning
and natural oxidation have been damaged. I will tell you
that the science behind dispersant use is logical. The
idea is that if you make little tiny droplets, the bacteria
can get at it more easily. The concept here is going to
lead and has successfully led to the rapid degradation of
the oil.
“We seem to be over the hill on the surface. The
problem I’ve had since they started applying dispersant
5,000 feet down, it formed a microscopically small
droplet, but it became neutrally buoyant. So that means
it’s stuck somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. And no one
has been able to tell me yet where are the toxic
components.”
Crozier said anyone who has ever had an aquarium
knows that after detergent is applied, the aquarium must
be rinsed repeatedly before the fish are reintroduced. He
sees a correlation with the use of the dispersant Corexit.
“The detergent nature of the Corexit is as big a
problem as any component,” he said. “The membranes
of the phytoplankton, the zooplankton and the eggs
could be disrupted. It’s always the eggs and babies that
are always affected by this – the adults not so much. If
the larval white shrimp don’t show up in the grass beds
in the Delta and the bays in December and January,
we’ll know there was a problem with the young. I don’t
think there is a problem with adults. It’s always the eggs
and babies that are vulnerable.
“But the ecosystem is very resilient. I hope I make that
clear. The comparisons to Exxon Valdez are not valid.
It’s very cold up there. We have, obviously, a warmer
climate so everything happens faster here. We also have
an extraordinarily complex ecosystem. In other words, if
one species was severely impacted, another one would
take its place. We have a very resilient, very flexible
ecosystem.”
While the beaches can be easily cleaned, Crozier
contends any effort to clean the marshes, grass beds and
oyster reefs would be a big mistake.
“We’d better leave them alone and let the natural
system do that,” he said. “Beaches are dry land, at least
at low tide. Mostly they grow tourists. And they will come
back. I guarantee you that the beaches from the
Panhandle to the Mississippi barrier islands will be fine
next year.”
Crozier does expect the Gulf’s adaptation to the oil
spill to take a significant amount of time.
“I think we’re going to have to deal with enormous
uncertainty over the long haul,” he said. “We’re going to
see some impact on the young-of-the-year, whether it
be shrimp or red snapper or whatever. There are going
to be problems in a couple of years. We’re going to see
a diminishing of our normal catch. I think that is
possible. We will be able to tell you within a couple of
months. We will be able to make some semi-intelligent
prognostications.
“The challenge for us – the community from the
Mississippi River to Cape San Blas (Fla.) – is we’re going
to have to do something to restore the confidence of the
country in Gulf seafood. There have not been issues of
fish kills from the oil spill. Fish are not stupid. Because
the pressure is off, I expect fishing to be good
everywhere. The issue of contaminated or tainted fish is
a long-term issue of uncertainty that the scientific
community and the government regulatory agencies will
be struggling to deal with. Meanwhile, for the immediate
future, there is simply no reason to be concerned about
the fish.”
In other good news, the catch-and-release restrictions
in Alabama coastal waters north of Dauphin Island and
west of Dauphin Island Bridge have been lifted. After
fish, shrimp and oyster samples were collected and
tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the
normal bag limit was re-instated for fish and shrimp. The
restrictions on crabs are still in place. The Alabama
Department of Public Health reopened the private oyster
reefs for harvest effective 6 a.m. on August 10. The
public reefs remain closed to oystering by the
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for
management purposes.
ACE Magazine 81
ACEOA District III Convention
by Jeff L. Makemson, District III Director

he District Three Convention was held on June 12, gracious host opened up the lodge to us and allowed us

T 2010 at the Westervelt Hunting Lodge in Aliceville,

Alabama. Westervelt Lodge is one of the last large
hunting plantations from the old south, with 10,000 acres
of land sprawling along the Tombigbee River in Pickens
County, west Alabama. The first organized deer hunt was
held at the lodge on November 30, 1951, when deer were
sparsely located throughout the state. They were on the
front line and instrumental in promoting deer manage-
ment and deer hunting in Alabama many years ago. The
to use their rifle and shotgun shooting range, prepared
and served an outstanding meal and even set up our
badminton net for the attendees and children.
Thirty-seven officers, wives, and children attended the
event. Congratulations goes out to Joe Little (Asst. Dist.
III Director) for winning the top gun event for District III,
but most likely all will remember fast-footed Freddie
continued on 87

ACEOA Dist. III members and children Freddie Ingram and family getting ready for ACEOA Dist. III members preparing to play
enjoying badminton. some fun shooting. silly summer santa drawing.

Freddie Ingrams wife who won top female

ACEOA Dist. III members and family enjoying Grady Bobo (Marine Police Officer in gun. Does Freddie look a little nervous?
some fun rifle practice. Demopolis) prepares his son to shoot.

ACE Magazine 85
District 3 – continued
Ingram. Freddie shed his shoes to participate in the event
and put on a show for us all. Trust me; you don’t want to
get in a foot race with him. While the events kept
everyone busy, we also made time to socialize with old
friends and make new ones.
After a great meal of steak and grilled chicken, awards
were presented to the children and wives for the top gun
scores. They were presented with ACEOA Medals for
their accomplishments. Attendees then drew raffle
tickets for a silly summer Santa drawing. Numbers were
called out and the winner could choose to open a
wrapped gift or pick a gift that was already opened and
claimed. One could only loose their gift twice, whatever
gift they chose after the second loss, they got to keep.
Some of the gifts were nice and needless to say, some
were not. It really led to an interesting and very fun event.
Dwight’s father-in-law got stuck with a pair of superman
underwear (he was app. 70 years young). Everyone
seemed to want the Coleman cooler and cooking pots.
All attendees and their families got a gift, of some sort,
and had great fun in the process.
The big ACEOA Membership winners were Jarrod
Poole (shotgun), Elliott Waters (pistol), and Mike Nelson
(rifle). However, all attendees enjoyed great friendship,
fine food and awesome fun. Special thanks to ACEOA
President Chris Jaworowski for attending, and assisting
with the convention and helping make it a huge success.

ACEOA members getting ready to compete for Children top gun winners. Dist. III Dir. Jeff Makemson and Asst. Dist.
top gun. III Dir. Joe Little raffling door prizes.

ACEOA Dist. III winners of firearms L-Jarrod

Poole, Elliott Waters, Mike Nelson, and Dist.
III Dir. Jeff Makemson

Good Job. Great Job.

ACE Magazine 87
 Kid’s Corner

acob Hollingsworth, age 11, and Caleb Walls, age 8, are sons of Elmore

J County Conservation Officer Heath Walls. Both boys enjoy outdoor

activities. The boys are really into shooting sports and archery and also
love to go camping, hunting, fishing, and searching for Indian artifacts. They go
fishing routinely in the family pond and also at Lake Martin. In May they were
invited to go fishing in a pond managed by a family friend.
As typical siblings, they both argued about who caught the most and the
biggest fish but both agree they had a great time. The fish are fed regularly so
the boys caught 20 bream all weighing over a pound. After this fishing
experience the boys cleaned the fish on their own for the first time. It won't be
long before these boys are able to do the fishing experience all by themselves
but their dad is going to enjoy taking them for as long as he can!!

Tell us about your favorite hunt or fishing trip!! Kids ages 16 and under may submit.
Please send entries for Kid’s Korner to rusty_morrow@yahoo.com

ACE Magazine 91
Blue Springs, Catfish and Kids
by Ken White, Freelance Journalist in Alabama

s the Saturday morning dawn of Memorial Day catfish cooperate, beginning with the first casts but then

A weekend began to break over Blue Springs State

Park, Sgt. Aurora Thomas of the Alabama
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
the fishing begins to wane as the sun climbs higher in the
sky. The air temperatures also begin to climb, reminding
everyone that summertime is here. The good news is
Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries was already many of the families attending make an entire day out of
on the road from his home in Eufaula. Having already the event continuing to fish or swim in the afternoon.
held a very successful youth fishing event earlier in the The waters of Blue Springs are some of the clearest,
year for the Eufaula area youth, Thomas could feel it was coldest spring waters you will find in south Alabama. On
going to be another good day. This was the day of the a hot summer day they sure are a welcome respite from
Blue Springs State Park Youth Fishing Rodeo and it continued on 97
would turn out to be a wonderful day as 134 youth
registered for the event.
This fishing rodeo has become a fixture the last few
years at Blue Springs State Park and is highly anticipated
by area youth. This event brings youth from many of the
small towns and communities in the surrounding four
county area and gives them a chance to experience our
great outdoor world. The youth are divided into three
age groups (0-6, 7-9 and 10-13 years of age) which level
out the competition. Registration opens at 7:00 AM and
there is no cost for the youth to participate. The adults
are allowed to assist the youth with their casting and
landing of the fish the youth catch but are not allowed to
fish with or for the youth.
The fishing begins at 8:00 AM with the weigh-in
following at 10:00 AM. The two-hour fishing event may
seem short, but it is just the right amount of time. The Ivanna Irvine – 2 1/2 Yrs. with Mike Irvine (Columbia, AL).

Andrew Meyers – 10Yrs. - “Waiting for the siren and that first cast” 7-9 Yrs. Winner Cheyenne Starling.
(Eufaula, AL).

ACE Magazine 95
Blue Springs – continued
the heat.
Following the close of the fishing competition the
weigh-in is held and everyone enjoys a lunch of hot dogs,
chips and cold sodas. It is then time for the recognition
of the event sponsors and the winners of each age
division. The boy and girl having the highest weight in
each of the three age groups are awarded a bicycle for
their efforts. No one really loses at this event as each
youth participating will leave with a door prize.

Winners in the age groups are as follows:

0-6 Years: 1st Place C. J. Morris 18.14 lbs.

2nd Place Kyle Meyers 8.13 lbs.
3rd Place Isaih Meyers 7.13 lbs.

7-9 Years: 1st Place Cheyenne Starling 20.00 lbs. 10-13 Yrs. Winners Antonio Toney, Cassandra Gifford, Ryan Tomlin.
2nd Place Westin Walker 11.10 lbs.
3rd Place Cody Stratton 10.10 lbs.

10-13 Years: 1st Place Cassandra Gifford 17.50 lbs.

2nd Place Antonio Toney 13.20 lbs.
3rd Place Ryan Tomlin 9.00 lbs.

Big Fish: Cassandra Gifford 5.70 lbs. (Catfish)

Smallest Fish: Daniel Grantham 0.01 lbs. (Bream)

If you ever wonder if these events are really worth the

effort then wonder no more. Cassandra Gifford won the
10-13 Years age group at the Eufaula event, which had
been held earlier. She also won the Blue Springs event.
She had Sgt. Thomas place all the names of the
contestants in a hat and a drawing was held for the

C.J. Morris 0-6 Yrs. Winner.

continued on 99

Cassandra Gifford with Abby Odom, winner of the bicycle. Officers Joe Carroll and Larry Doster handle the weigh-in.

ACE Magazine 97
Blue Springs – continued
bicycle she had just won. Abby Odom was the proud
winner of the drawing. Such a display of sportsmanship
is a shining example of what these events mean in so
many different aspects of a young person's life. It is why
Sgt. Aurora Thomas, Sgt. Mike Heath, Lt. Chris Lewis,
Officers Joe Carroll, Larry Doster, Nate Foster, Richard
Hartzog, Randy White, Blue Springs State Park manager
Terry Carter, park attendant Mark Jernigan and volunteer
cook Stephen Hanners all gave of their time and efforts
to make this such a huge success.

The crowd gathers for the door prize drawing.

ACE Magazine 99
Nonresidents Now Have Available $10 Annual Pier License
Out-of-state visitors to the Alabama coastal waters are
now able to purchase a reasonably priced license to fish
the public piers on inside waters and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Alabama Legislature recently passed House Bill
386, which establishes a nonresident public pier fishing
license for an annual fee of $10. The legislation also
changes the annual expiration date of public pier fishing
licenses and saltwater pier fishing licenses to August 31.
Alabama residents can still purchase an annual pier
license for $5.
The public piers include Gulf State Park Pier and
Fairhope Pier. Dauphin Island Pier is landlocked and no
fishing is available. Residents and nonresidents are
required to purchase a fishing permit at Gulf State Park
Pier in addition to the pier license.
“A lot of people from out of state were not using the
piers when they found out the cost of a nonresident
saltwater fishing license,” said Major Chris Blankenship,
head of Enforcement with the Alabama Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources' Marine Resources
Division. “This gives visitors a lower-cost alternative to
use the piers.”
For most nonresidents, the annual Alabama saltwater
fishing is $45. For Louisiana, the fee is $90, the same fee
charged to Alabama residents in Louisiana.
Alabama residents and nonresidents possessing a
current saltwater fishing license, and residents and
nonresidents under age 16, as well as residents age 65 or
over are exempt from the pier license requirements.
Residents and nonresidents are required to purchase a
fishing permit at Gulf State Park Pier in addition to the
pier license.
“The new pier license will remove a hurdle for many
visitors to enjoy the great fishing offered at Gulf State
Park Pier,” said Conservation Commissioner Barnett
Lawley. “It was important that we make this outstanding
facility, the longest pier on the Gulf of Mexico, available
to everyone at a reasonable price.”

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources promotes wise stewardship, management and
enjoyment of Alabama's natural resources through five divisions: Marine Police, Marine Resources, State Parks, State
Lands, and Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries. To learn more about ADCNR visit www.outdooralabama.com.
David Rainer
Outdoor Writer
Alabama Dept of Conservation and Natural Resources
(251) 945-6889
(251) 454-6543
www.outdooralabama.com

ACE Magazine 103

Mussel Creek Camp for Kids
Succeeds In Connecting Youth
to Nature
by George Wacha, Publisher, The Greenville Standard
ifteen years after it began, the Butler County
F Forestry Planning Commission enjoyed hosting
another successful camp for kids - this time with
30 students in the three-day, two-night event. The 2010
Natural Resources Youth Camp was held at Mussel Creek
Hunting Lodge.
The camp is located approximately five miles north
and west of Sherling Lake up Alabama Hwy. 263 at a
facility leased and maintained by a hunting club.
“We began holding annual youth camps 15 years ago
at Camp Cohasset, southwest of McKenzie in Conecuh
County,” said Paul Hudgins, Butler Work Unit manager
for the Alabama Forestry Commission. “Within two years
we increased the camp in size to 30 kids. This project of
the Butler County Forestry Planning Commission
involves sixth grade children selected by their school's
administrators, science teachers, and counselors to
attend the program, which is all privately funded and free
to the kids. Only students from within Butler County are
selected, from all four schools - Fort Dale Academy,
Greenville Middle School, Butler County Magnet
School/Georgiana School and McKenzie School.”
Hudgins said to the best of his knowledge, this is the
only free camp of its type in Alabama.
Paramedics from Greenville Fire Department also staff
the event from start to finish, providing first aid as
needed.
Participants take part in 18 individual training venues
all involving natural resources, and ranging from
continued on 109
ACE Magazine 107
Mussel Creek Camp – continued
orienteering wild animal track identification to archery,
rifle range shooting, skeet shooting with a shotgun, and
primitive black powder rifle shooting.
“We hold competitions in all of the areas, and also
have animal biologists with animal demonstrations,”
Hudgins said. “Classes are held on tree identification,
water quality, wildlife habitat, first aid, hunter safety and
ethics, and many other areas as well.”
“Its amazing how many kids have never been in a
creek before,” said Rusty Morrow, editor of ACE
Magazine, the quarterly publication of the Alabama
Conservation Enforcement Officers Association. “Some
of them have never been in anything more than a pool or
the ocean, but during the camp, they all have had the
opportunity to get in a creek and enjoy being at one with
nature.”
And the response from the students - all benefactors
of the generosity from the sponsors, has been positive
too.
“I think that the camp was awesome,” said Michael
McNeil, 12, a student from BCMS/Georgiana School. “I
learned how to trap animals, and enjoyed shooting guns,
plus I made several new friends. I would encourage all of
continued on 111
ACE Magazine 109
Mussel Creek Camp – continued

my friends - if they had the chance to come - to attend

this camp, because it is the chance of a lifetime.”
Tommy Atkins, part time Alabama game enforcement
officer and primitive/black powder firearm instructor,
said he travels all over the state to teach his craft, and
the Mussel Creek Camp is one of the best in his opinion.
“I just love to see the reaction on the children's faces
when they load the muzzle of a firearm themselves, and
then shoot it, much like back during the Civil War,”
Atkins said. “They have a better appreciation for what
the pioneers had to do.”
Sponsors of the event include: Alabama Forest
Forever License Plate Grant, Tim O. Craig, attorney;
Pioneer Electric Cooperative, Inc.; First South Farm
Credit, Butler County Bank, Terrell Enterprises, Inc.;
Butler County Farmers Federation, Bank Trust,
Alabama Conservation Enforcement Officers
Association, Inc.; First Citizens Bank, Greenville Kiwanis Club, Hartley and Hickman, attorneys-at-law;
Firefighters Association, Butler County Soil and Water Mussel Creek Forest Services, Alabama Treasure
Conservation District, Camellia City Civitan Club, Cleve Forest Association; Georgiana Timber Co., Inc.; and
Poole, Snellgrove Agency, Richard Branum, Greenville Alabama Power/Rayonier-Alabama Treasure Forest
Cash and Carry, Industree Timber, Inc.; Greenville Association-County Chapter.

ACE Magazine 111

Renew Our Rivers – Smith Lake
Clean-up
by Ernie Stephens, D-1 Director

enew Our Rivers on Smith Lake took place on Several of our officers were able to participate in the

R June 17-19, 2010. This year the event focused

on removing Styrofoam along the shoreline of
the Clear Creek tributary. Fourteen tons of Styrofoam
was removed this year.
clean-up this year. This is another example of how
diverse a Conservation Enforcement Officer is. Our
officers are continually protecting and improving
recreational hunting, fishing, and boating opportunities.

continued on 117

ACE Magazine 115

Renew Our Rivers – continued

ACE Magazine 117

ACEOA
District IV Top
Gun Convention
by Heath Walls, District IV Assistant Director

he 2010 District IV ACEOA Convention was held at

T the Southern Sportsman Lodge in Lowndes County

on May 22, 2010. Approximately thirty-five people
attended. All officers and their families had a great day of
shooting sports, good food and fellowship.
The shooting sports and competitions took up a large
portion of the day. We had events for all ages. The kids
got to learn from our officers, most of whom are skilled
shooters, while having a great time. My son Caleb shot
skeet for the first time and hit two of his three clays. The
adults also get to experience a day of competition and
camaraderie which was evident in all of the laughter and
friendly jokes.
continued on 123

Hasty wins with his sure shot!

Love those door prizes! Marissa wins the shotgun!

ACE Magazine 121

District 4 – continued

All in all, we could not have asked for a better day.

Having the opportunity to associate and bond with co-
workers and their families outside of the work
environment is always a win-win situation. Marissa Lee
won the D-4 Top Gun competition but passed it on to her
alternate Hasty Hudson. Marissa was unable to compete
for Top Gun on July 30 because of a prior commitment.
Winners of the 22 rifle competition were Caleb Walls
(youth boys), Jasmine Jaworowski (youth girls), Caleb
Conner (men’s), Gayle Morrow (women’s). Chris
Jaworowski won the shotgun competition.
Our gratitude goes to the Southern Sportsman Lodge
for the use of their facilities and to Rusty and Gayle
Morrow and Grady Myers for putting it all together. We
are already looking forward to next year’s ACEOA
Convention.

Marissa Lee (Top Gun), Hasty Hudson (2nd place), Chris Jaworowski Tarrel Conner, winner of member gun drawing.
(3rd Place).

Jasmine takes a shot for the youth event.

ACE Magazine 123

ACEOA Top Gun Convention for
District V and VI
by Vance Wood, District V Director

n May 8, 2010, District V and

O District VI held a joint ACEOA

Convention and Top Gun
Competition at the South Alabama Gun
Club in River Falls, Alabama. A lot of
fun and fellowship was enjoyed by
approximately forty members,
associate members and family
members that attended.
District V Top Gun was awarded to
CEO David Smith and the District VI
Top Gun went to MPO Tommy Haines.
Other District V award winners were
MPO Jeremy Alford for shotgun. Daniel
Boutwell won both the rifle competition
and the drawing for a Smith and
Wesson 22 semi-auto target pistol.
District VI winners were CEO Mike
Cox for shotgun, CEO Jason
Sutherland for rifle, and CEO Don
Reaves for the drawing of the Smith
and Wesson 22 semi-auto target pistol.

continued on 131

ACE Magazine 129

District 5 – continued

ACE Magazine 131

Waterfowl Season Outlook Encouraging
Prospects for a quality waterfowl season in Alabama
remain good as hunters prepare for the early teal and
goose seasons across the state.
David Hayden, waterfowl expert with the Alabama
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources'
Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division, said the
number of waterfowl in North America has risen
slightly and weather will be the driving force for
Alabama's hunters.
“Teal numbers are still good, like they were last year,”
Hayden said. “If we can have some weather to get some
migration and we can get them to stop and stay a while,
we should have a good early season.”
The special teal season is set for Sept. 11-26 with a
daily bag limit of 4 and a possession limit of 8.
The overall waterfowl count for the upcoming season is
encouraging with a welcome increase in pintail numbers.
“Duck prospects are real good,” Hayden said.
“Numbers are similar to last year, but the numbers for
some species are up. Bag limits are the same except for
pintail. It's gone up from one per day to two per day. If we
get the weather, we're looking for a real good season.”
For the regular waterfowl hunting, the seasons for
ducks, coots and mergansers are Nov. 26-27 and Dec.
4-Jan. 30.
The liberal bag limit remains in effect. Hunters may
take 6 ducks per day with no more than 4 mallards, only
2 of which may be female. The bag limits on other
species are: 3 wood ducks, 1 mottled duck, 1 black
duck, 2 redheads, 2 pintail, 2 scaup and 1 canvasback.
The daily limit on coots is 15 per day with 30 in
possession, while the merganser limit is 5 per day, only
2 of which may be hooded mergansers. The possession
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources promotes wise stewardship, management and
enjoyment of Alabama's natural resources through five divisions: Marine Police, Marine Resources, State Parks, State
Lands, and Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries. To learn more about ADCNR visit www.outdooralabama.com.
David Rainer
Outdoor Writer, Alabama Dept of Conservation and Natural Resources
(251) 945-6889, (251) 454-6543
www.outdooralabama.com
limit on mergansers is twice the daily limit.
Waterfowlers get their first opportunity in the field with
the special Canada goose season, which runs Sept. 1-15.
The bag limit is 5 per day with 10 in possession. In
Escambia and Monroe counties only, a special
snow/blue goose season is set for Oct. 30 through Nov.
14 with a daily bag limit of 5 and possession limit of 10.
“If folks have the opportunity to hunt geese, we hope
they will take advantage of it,” Hayden said. “Hunting
keeps the geese wary of man and helps keep them away
from public places where they won't be a nuisance. We
also have the start of our regular goose season later in
September, so that gives people a second opportunity to
hunt geese early.”
The regular goose seasons are Sept. 25-Oct. 6 and
Dec. 4-Jan. 30. The daily bag limit is 5 with no more
than 2 Canada geese or 2 white-fronted geese. The
possession limit of 5 shall include no more than 4
Canada geese and white-fronted geese in aggregate.
The use of non-toxic shot is required for waterfowl
hunting in Alabama. A valid hunting license and state
and federal waterfowl stamps are required, as well as a
Harvest Information Program (HIP) permit. Shooting
hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset
statewide except for the area of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta
north of Battleship Parkway, west of Alabama Highway
225, south of the CSX Railroad tracks, and east of the
west bank of the Mobile River. In that area of the Delta,
shooting hours are one-half before sunrise until 12 noon
Monday through Thursday. Friday through Sunday
shooting hours will be one-half hour before sunrise until
sunset.
ACE Magazine 135
Kayak Fishing Becoming New
Mainstream
by David Rainer, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

liding through the water virtually without a sound,

G Mike and Heather Ros eased up to their favorite

fishing spot in Weeks Bay and tossed a live shrimp
near the pier.
As the bait settled to the bottom, Mike watched as
speckled trout and redfish swam almost close enough to
touch. Obviously, the couple was not on a typical fishing
trip as no conventional vessel would allow such
proximity to the target species without spooking the fish.
They were sitting atop 14-foot kayaks - a fishing method
that continues to attract more and more participants.
Although he has fished all his life, Mike insists it has
never been the same since he caught his first fish out of
a kayak.
“You're never more at one with the water than you are
in that kayak,” he said. “Until you get down to that level Stability is a key factor in choosing a fishing kayak and Mike Ros can
and get that close, you've never felt fishing. You're right battle a nice redfish while sitting sideways in his kayak.
there with it and the fish is in your lap. It's kind of a
primal thing to fight with a fish in your lap. It's really cool
to fight and land him at your feet.” “The longer a kayak is the faster it is, basically
In 2006 Mike and Heather were introduced to kayak speaking. You really want to have that length because as
fishing by Ken Styron, who was a boat captain at the you're pulling on the paddle the boat is not trying to turn.
time running a billfish trips. The longer it is, the straighter it will go and the harder
“Ken would come in and go out into (Mobile) bay at you can pull to make it go faster. For me, 14 feet is the
night in his kayak and catch a lot of fish,” Mike said. optimum length with as much capacity as possible. For
“That sparked my interest in the kayaks. That's when I a big guy like me, the weight capacity needs to be 500
started doing research and figured out it was something pounds so I can bring everything I need - fishing tackle,
I needed in my arsenal. I've always fished piers in small ice chest and cast net.”
boats, so it was a natural progression to a boat that When outfitting a kayak for a fishing excursion, Ros
doesn't require any gas.” recommends a minimalistic attitude.
After doing a great deal of research and testing, Ros “Everything has to be on a small scale,” he said. “You
settled on a sit-atop kayak that fit his frame. need a small cooler for your bait or ice, a small anchor
“I'm not the smallest guy in the world so I don't fit in a with a trolley system to allow me to orient in the current.
small kayak,” he said. “I had to get something that would The anchor can slide up and down the length of the boat.
fit me. I still paddle everything I see. If I see a new design Basically it's two pulleys that is like having a cleat that
I try it. I'm still looking for the best thing out there. For a moves on the boat.
guy my size, there aren't many boats that I can fish out “And I recommend you spend your money on a good
of. A 140-pound person will be stable in a certain boat, seat. You don't want to skimp on the seat because you're
but when I get in it at 245, it's not going to be stable. You going to be sitting in it awhile. You don't want any back
need to do your research on what you want and what
you're going to do with it. continued on 141

ACE Magazine 139

Kayak Fishing – continued
Heather Ros fights the fish with one hand and nets the nice redfish with
the other during a recent trip in Weeks Bay.
issues. And that is different for every person. My wife
hates my seat and I hate hers. Every seat feels different,
so research, research, research.”
Ros considers stability the No. 1 factor when choosing
a fishing kayak.
“As far as a fishing boat that you want to feel
comfortable in, you never, ever want to have to worry
about flipping over,” he said. “That should be the furthest
thing from your mind. There are several models out there
that turning over will never cross your mind. You want a
boat that you will fall off of before it flips over.
“And don't buy a boat that's rigged out to the hilt. You
need to custom fit everything. It'll take you five or six
trips to figure out where you need your life jacket, your
landing net, your anchor, or where you need your pliers.”
As for life jackets, Ros said he always wears one when
in the Gulf or fast-flowing river systems. When he travels
with a group in relatively shallow water, he makes sure
it's within quick reach.
“You can also get one of the automatic types that
inflates, but you need to get the one that only inflates
after you're under 2 feet of water,” he said. “You don't
want the one that inflates when it gets wet because it'll
blow up when you least expect it.”
When it comes to fishing tackle, Ros prefers spinning
gear because of the ease of using live bait, although he
said there are quite a few people who use baitcasting
equipment.
“The main thing is you want a rod with a long handle
to keep your reels out of the saltwater while you're
paddling,” he said. “I use a 6-6 or 7-foot rod with 12- to
20-pound test. I like to free-line shrimp. The main thing
is I like to match the hatch. You've got to be perceptive
about what they're eating, and you use the smallest
amount of rigging you can have. If you don't need a
swivel, don't use it.”
For people with no kayak experience, Ros said the
technique is relatively simple.
“Learning to paddle is easy,” he said. “You can look
on the internet and find instructions on how to do it.
Really, a 3-year-old can do it. Basically, you want to pull
the paddle toward you instead of swatting with it. If you
swat, you're going to make the boat turn. You are going
to have to put in some seat time to get your technique
down pat. You're going to feel more comfortable than
you think right off the bat, but an hour into it, you're
going to realize there are a lot of things you don't know,
especially when you start fishing out of a kayak. Just
don't expect to run out there and catch a 20-pound
redfish on your first trip.”
Ros obviously launches as close as he can to the area
to be fished, but he has paddled up to 3 or 4 miles to get
to a certain spot.
“The whole deal is you have to be able to paddle
there, catch the fish and then get back,” he said. “If you
go out in the Gulf and catch a shark, you may stay
hooked up for two hours. Then you have to paddle back,
a lot of times against the current. If you catch a big fish
and want to keep it, you have to drag the fish back. So
it can turn into a real marathon if you're not careful.
“I know about a guy who was in his kayak off Cabo
San Lucas and caught a 350-pound blue marlin. It
dragged him 18 miles but he landed the fish. He got a full
IGFA (International Game Fish Association) release in
his lap.”
Within the last couple of years, numerous kayak
continued on 143
Heather shows off the redfish that took a live shrimp near one of the
many docks that line the shore.
ACE Magazine 141
Kayak Fishing – continued
fishing clubs have popped up on the Gulf Coast and Ros
considers kayak fishing a part of the mainstream.
An easy place to get introduced to kayaking is at 5
Rivers' Bartram Landing on Battleship Parkway, where
kayaks and canoes are available for rent, as well as
expert instruction.
“They will point you in the right direction,” Ros said.
“They've got enough experience that when you walk in
they can see about what you're going to need.”
To get into kayak fishing, the initial investment will
likely be more than $1,000, but Ros insists that outlay
must be put into perspective.
“You slide that thing in the water and you don't have
to worry about anything,” he said. “It's just so refreshing
and relieves so much stress.
“You're not buying a piece of plastic, you're buying
freedom.”
For those who may not have seen the news,
Conservation Commissioner Barnett Lawley has decided
to alter the regulations regarding coastal areas in state
waters that had been closed to fishing. Those areas are
now open to catch-and-release fishing only.
ACE Magazine 143
ACEOA Sponsors Talladega County
Youth Event
by Jerry Fincher, D-2 Assoc. Director

n July 24th, 2010 ACEOA and the Talladega

O County Hunter Education Association held the 3rd

Annual Talladega County Youth Conservation
Day. The day included competition-style events
including a 20 gauge shotgun and clay target station, a
22 rifle station, a sling shot station, an archery station, a
casting station, and a 3-D archery range. Participants
were also provided the opportunity to fish in a 35 acre
stocked lake and fed a delicious meal straight from the
grill of the land owners and ACEOA supporters Bill and
Kerri Gaston of Gaston Construction in Sylacauga.
Although the mercury hovered around the century
mark for most of the day, the event still drew
approximately 80 participants. Bass Pro Shops gifts were
continued on 149

ACE Magazine 147

Talladega Youth Event – continued
awarded to the winners in each division, and a great time
was had by all in attendance. I would like to personally
thank ACEOA for providing the funding for the event,
allowing us the opportunity to introduce Alabama's youth
to the shooting sports and hunting and fishing in a safe
and successful manner. I would also like to thank
Alabama DCNR employees Officers Jason Bassett,
Officer Greg Gilliland, Retired Officer Don Howell, and
his wife and department employee, Ginger Howell and
the host of Talladega County Hunter Education
volunteers who braved the heat to help make the day a
success. I also need to thank Piggly Wiggly of
Childersburg for donating food items. The manager, Mr.
Wesson, has donated to every event that we have held
for the last four years.
A special thanks is in order for the Gaston family and
Gaston Construction. For the second year, the entire
family helped set up for the event, worked the event,
cleaned up afterwards, and opened their hearts and home
to all in attendance. If everyone supported conservation
the way ACEOA and the Gaston family does, the future
of hunting and fishing in Alabama would be secure for
generations to come.
ACE Magazine 149
Yellow Catfish
by David Rainer, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
en Weathers is looking for a few good
K catfishermen. Actually, more than a few would be
better to deal with what the Alabama Wildlife and
Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) biologist considers a threat
to native fish populations in two waterways in southeast
Alabama.
The culprit is the flathead catfish, also known as
yellow cat, Opelousas and shovelhead cat. The current
state record for flathead is 80 pounds and they have the
potential to cause damage to certain river ecosystems,
according to Weathers.
The rivers of concern are the Choctawhatchee and the
Pea. The Choctawhatchee is one of the last free-flowing
Biologist Rob Andress holds one of the 32 flathead catfish Wildlife and
Freshwater Fisheries found in the Choctawhatchee River during
sampling in May. Photo by Ken Weathers
rivers in Alabama. It runs from Barbour County all the
way to Choctawhatchee Bay near Destin, Fla. The
Choctawhatchee is a coastal river that is relatively
shallow and slow-flowing with deep cuts and deep holes.
In the Geneva area - one of the major spawning sites for
gulf sturgeons - Weathers said the holes can be 30 feet
deep. The stained, tannic water of the Choctawhatchee is
not as fertile and doesn't have the fish populations that
one would find in a river like the Alabama.
“There's still a good many fish because it doesn't get
a whole lot of fishing pressure,” Weathers said. “It's a
relatively rural area with not a lot of access. People love
to float the river because it's scenic. But if you go above
Spann's Landing, you have to drag your boat most of the
year. Even around Geneva in the summer, it would be
hard to get a bass boat in there without dragging
bottom.”
The Pea River, also a popular river to float, joins the
Choctawhatchee at Geneva. However, Weathers said the
Elba dam should provide a barrier for any flathead
encroachment up the Pea.
Weathers said the first questions about flatheads in the
Choctawhatchee came from the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation (FWC) in the late 90s. Weathers said he
had no information about flatheads in the Choctawhat-
chee and accompanied FWC biologists on an electro-
continued on 153
It’s obvious from the photo how the yellow catfish picked up the
nickname of flathead. Photo by Ken Weathers
ACE Magazine 151
Yellow Catfish – continued
fishing trip to find the species near the Alabama line.
Although no flatheads were recovered on that trip,
subsequent sampling convinced the Florida biologists
that the flatheads were coming from Alabama.
“Florida contacted us again in 2001 and said the
flatheads had to be coming from Alabama because the
closer they got the state line, the more they found,”
Weathers said. “We went out and shocked all around and
where the junction of the Pea and the Choctawhatchee
and all we found were speckled bullheads, channel cats
and one big blue. Anywhere you find speckled bullheads
you're not going to find flatheads because that's one of
the flathead's favorite foods.”
Weathers and his colleagues sampled again in 2007
found a few flatheads and the numbers increased
significantly in the 2009 sample.
“Last year we found a good number of flatheads and
a few big ones,” he said. “We pulled the otolith (ear)
stones and found they were fast-growing flatheads that
you would expect to find in an expanding population. We
went back this year in May. We picked up 32. Two were
young of the year and the other 30 ranged from 2
pounds to 38 pounds.”
Weathers said it appears the train trestle just north of
Geneva is the current demarcation line for the flatheads.
None came from above that area, but plenty were
captured around the trestle and the deep holes with
structure to the south of the trestle.
“Anywhere there was a deep hole from 12 to 24 feet
with debris in it, there were flatheads,” he said. “There's
a big bend in the river with a lot of trees and stuff in it and
there were plenty of flatheads in that stuff. They like to
lay in the deep holes under structure. Once we got past
the junction of the Pea and the Choctawhatchee, we
found plenty. That's where we found the bigger ones.
“And, we didn't find any speckled bullheads this time,
which is a pretty good indication that there's a fairly
substantial flathead population. We still found a good
many sunfish, redbreasts and stuff like that. But
flatheads are eating machines. They're voracious
feeders. They'll eat any fish they can get in their mouth,
but they usually prey on the fish that stay in the current
a little more because they are current-oriented fish.”
Spotted bullheads, redbreasts, spotted suckers and
redhorse suckers are the most common species in the
flathead diet.
“We are concerned about the flathead population
because it could be a big impact on the sunfish fishery,
especially the redbreast fishery” Weathers said. “There
have been several cases in Georgia and Florida where
introduced flatheads have really decimated the redbreast
fishery.
“The flip side of that is there are fishermen who target
the flatheads. And you really do have to target them to
catch them. If you think you're going to cast from the
bank and use worms on the bottom, you're not going to
catch them. You pretty much have to use live bait and
fish around structure and deep holes and cut-in banks
where they like to lay there and hide. And you've got to
use the proper tackle to catch one of these big ones.
You've got to have some line big enough to pull them out
of the holes and things before they get wrapped around
a stump or tree.”
Weathers said the flathead is not native to the
Choctawhatchee so the species had to be introduced to
the waterway. Now that they're in the watershed, he just
needs more people to take advantage of the fishery.
Flatheads make excellent table fare and the quality of
the meat doesn't diminish as the size increases, a
drawback in other catfish species. Because flatheads
and blue catfish are not native to the Choctawhatchee
and Pea Rivers, the daily bag limit of one fish, 34 inches
or longer does not apply to these rivers.
“Even if we go in there and try to shock them and
eradicate them it would be impractical,” he said. “I don't
think we could get rid of them if we tried. So we would
really like to see more of a harvest going on for flathead
to keep that population down. With an expanding
population we're seeing reproduction now, so they'll be
moving up the Choctawhatchee and up the Pea.
“I'd like for people to know more about them and
target them more and harvest more so there wouldn't be
a problem with the sunfish fishery. They just need to get
some good tackle. It should be a lot of fun.”
ACE Magazine 153
Butler County Fishing Event
by John Bozeman, D-6 Director

O
n June 5th, 2010 the VFW
Club in Greenville, ACEOA,
Fred's and the Butler
County Sheriff's Department
hosted a youth fishing day at the
VFW Lake. Around thirty youth
attended the event. Refreshments
included hamburgers, hot dogs,
chips and drinks. The fishing was
great as most all youth caught
many fish. Most all youths were
able to win a door prize during the
lunch break which was a rod and
reel set.

ACE Magazine 157

2010 Eufaula Youth Fishing Rodeo
by Ken White, Freelance Journalist in Alabama, Photos by Ken White May 15, 2010

he Eufaula Youth Fishing Rodeo was held during frenzy levels as everybody tries to get that one last BIG

T the month of May at Hillside Ranch just north of

Eufaula on Gammage Road. A good group of
youth attended and they had a great time catching a
cat. At 10:00 AM the final blast brings the fishing to a
close and it is time for the weigh-in. The conservation
officers handle the weigh-in, other volunteers get the hot-
mess of catfish and even a bream or two. Some got into dogs and chips ready and drinks poured while the
a little different action as the bass were active as well and division-winner and door prizes are sorted and displayed.
even a turtle or two could not resist the chicken livers Once the weigh-in is complete, it is time for a quick meal
that proved to be great bait. and then the awards presentation.
The Hillside Ranch is a great place to have this event
as the owners, Ken and Jeri Ludlam, make sure continued on 163
everything is absolutely pristine. The lake sits in a
beautiful spot as a small spring-fed creek feeds it and
large pines and plenty of green grass surround it. This
makes it perfect for the families to come, select a great
site and set out the rod holders and chairs for a great
morning of catfishing.
The members of the Alabama Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources attending the
event got the registration going at 7:00 AM and they
had a line waiting for the tables to open. Breaking the
competition levels into three different age groups
makes it a lot more fun for all the youth and levels the
competition field. The good-natured competition gets
going when the siren sounds at 8:00 AM until the fishing
comes to a close at 10:00.
Once the siren goes off denoting the final five-minutes
remaining of fishing time, it seems the fishing reaches Crowd Shot.

Getting the scales hung can be a challenge in the field. Sgt. Aurora Thomas, Officers Stacy Lush, Randy White and volunteer
Angie Myers get lunch ready to serve.

ACE Magazine 161

Eufaula Youth – continued

Taking the top honors in the different age divisions

this year were:

0-6 Years: 1st Hannah Haney 13 lbs. 02 oz.

2nd Kyle Myers 10 lbs. 05 oz.
3rd Grace Haney 9 lbs. 06 oz.

7-9 Years: 1st Lauren Norton 10 lbs. 12 oz.

2nd Janita Searcy 8 lbs. 07 oz.
3rd Loren Garlits 7 lbs. 12 oz.

10-13 Yrs: 1st Cassandra Gifford 14 lbs. 03 oz.

2nd Amber Sanders 13 lbs. 01 oz.
3rd Austin Ware 12 lbs. 03 oz.

Big Fish: Janita Searcy 4 lb. 10 oz. Catfish

Smallest Fish: Josh Sanders 4 oz. Bream It's a good'un.

Special thanks go to Sgt. Aurora Thomas of the

Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources and members of the conservation
enforcement division for their great efforts in making this
event happen. Also, it would not be possible without the
generosity of folks such as Ken and Jeri Ludlam who
make the pond of Hillside Ranch available for this youth
event.
It takes a lot of hard work and a fair share of dollars to
make an event like this happen. Without the help of local
businesses and individuals it would be almost impossible
to succeed. Even then it takes special help from groups
such the Alabama Conservation Enforcement Officers
Association to bring the final dollars and the final prizes
to insure success of the event. The men and women who
10-13 Yrs Winner: Cassandra Gifford
continued on 165

0-6 Yrs. Winner: Hannah Haney 7-9 Yrs. Winner: Lauren Norton

ACE Magazine 163

Eufaula Youth – continued
comprise the membership of the ACEOA can stand
proud. They know they not only can “talk the talk', they
absolute do “walk the walk”. Because of this a lot of
young people in southeast Alabama get to know the joys
of our outdoor world.
While Sgt. Aurora Thomas has made this a primary
event for Eufaula he cannot get the job done without a
lot of help. Making the trip to Eufaula to help on this
Big Fish Girl Winner: Janita Searcy.
event was Lt. Mike Pollard, Sgt. Keith Mann, Officers
Thomas Blair, Chuck Riddle, Stacy Lush and Randy
White (retired but still helping out). These men did a
great job of interacting with the youth and made this an
event the youth will always remember - for all the right
reasons.
Big Fish Boy Winner: Josh Sanders.
ACE Magazine 165
Bankhead Kids Fishing Derby
by Ernie Stephens, D-1 Director

n June 5, 2010 the annual Bankhead Kids Fishing

O Derby took place at the Black Warrior Work Center,

located in the scenic Bankhead National Forest. In
conjunction with the Bankhead National Forest, Division of
Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, ACEOA, and other
local sponsors made this an exciting, fun-filled day of fishing
for kids and their families. Eighty community youngsters
participated in this year’s event making it a big success.
ACEOA gave away T-shirts to each youngster
participating in the event. Most of the kids put them on
immediately. In addition to free fishing, the day featured
good food, fun contests and prize drawings. Prizes were
awarded for the Kids Casting Contest and for the Biggest
Fish Contest. Every child fishing at the derby received a
continued on 171

ACE Magazine 169

Fishing Derby – continued
free goodie bag provided by the event’s local sponsors
and donors.
This community event would not be possible without
the support of several key sponsors and volunteers.
These include the Bankhead National Forest, the
Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural
Resources, the Winston County Commission, Winston
County Natural Resources Council, Alabama Conser-
vation Enforcement Officers Association, Sipsey Strut-
ters Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, the
Double Springs Lions Club, and individual donors and
volunteers. The Bankhead National Forest staff extends
a BIG thank you to all who support the event and for all
who participated!
ACE Magazine 171
Early Signs Successful for Eastern
Indigo Partnership
by David Rainer, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
ith the rebirth of viable stands of the majestic
W longleaf pine in south Alabama, one of the
denizens of the longleaf ecosystem is being
given another chance to mount a comeback.
The Eastern indigo snake, a protected and threatened
species throughout its range, disappeared in Alabama in
step with the loss of longleaf stands. Attempts by Dan
Speake of the Alabama Cooperative Wildlife Research
Unit at Auburn University, to repopulate the non-
venomous snakes met with some early success.
However, over time, a viable population was not
established, probably due to habitat degradation around
the release sites.
Since then, longleaf reforestation efforts have
intensified and wildlife biologists decided another
attempt to restore the Eastern indigos to Alabama
might be in order. After several years of preparation,
Eastern indigos were recently released in the Conecuh
National Forest, which has the longleaf habitat suitable
for the snakes.
Mark Sasser, wildlife biologist with the Alabama
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’
Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries
Division, said 17 juvenile eastern
indigos were released in two
phases.
“We did what’s called a soft
release, where half of the snakes
were released into two- to three-
acre enclosures,” Sasser said.
“They were released into the
enclosures as an experiment to
see if maybe they would imprint
on the area and stay there. The
plan is to leave them in the pen
for two to four months before
allowing them to escape.
“Then we had what is called a
hard release - the others were
released in the forest in close proximity but outside of the
pens.”
Two weeks after the release, Auburn graduate
students monitoring the snakes have reported that the
farthest a snake has moved from the release site is a little
more than half a mile.
“They’ve accounted for all the snakes,” Sasser said.
“They were hatched in the lab, raised in the lab and fed
in the lab, and the students have already witnessed one
Eastern indigo eating a copperhead and another eating a
gray rat snake. This shows these snakes are hard-wired
as predatory animals.
“The question in some of the research peoples’ minds
is will these snakes be able to adapt to the wild and feed
on their own. Apparently the answer is yes. The fact
they’ve already been witnessed feeding on snakes in the
wild in the first week is a very good sign.”
Sasser and fellow wildlife biologist Roger Clay
surveyed the areas in 2005 and 2006 where Speake had
released indigo hatchlings and came up without a single
continued on 177
ACE Magazine 175
Indigo Partnership – continued

indigo sighting.
“When we were unable to find any indigos to prove
that a population existed, the next step was to move into
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Indigo Recovery Plan
that called for captive breeding of wild snakes to try to
re-establish a viable population,” Sasser said.
Sasser talked with Craig Guyer, Auburn professor and
herpetologist, and Jim Godwin, zoologist with the
Alabama Natural Heritage Program at Auburn, to
determine if another repopulation attempt was feasible
and if they were willing to partner in the project.
“Mark came to me to see if we would be interested in
doing a pilot study to determine if the Eastern indigo
could be reintroduced into Alabama,” Godwin said. “We
did a pilot study and decided that conditions at Conecuh
National Forest were appropriate to do another release.
The major cause we believe that led to the demise of the
snake in the state is habitat alteration. Down in Conecuh
there has been some very good longleaf restoration
taking place. We decided we could attempt another
reintroduction project.”
When word got out that another release was planned,
partners started joining the effort in short order.
“That’s when we began the captive breeding program
at Auburn using wild snakes that Georgia let us have and
helped us capture,” Sasser said. “We started catching
snakes in ’07 and the first hatchlings were in ’08, so Jim Godwin of Auburn University, left, and Mark Sasser of the Alabama
these were snakes that were almost two years old when Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division release an Eastern indigo
they were released.” snake in Conecuh National Forest. The Eastern indigo snake has blue-
The partners involved in the restoration work include black color with slick scales for a smooth appearance.
Alabama DCNR, Auburn University, the U.S. Forest
Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Project
Orianne, a private conservation organization specifically on because they’re easy to get are lab mice.”
focused on the Eastern Indigo. The indigo snake’s role in the longleaf pine ecosystem
“Also the Georgia Department of Natural Resources is both as predator and prey.
was involved by providing the wild snakes for the captive “They are very opportunistic feeders,” Sasser said.
breeding program,” Sasser said. “Because the Eastern “They’ll feed on just about anything from small
indigo is a federally listed species, we obtained approval mammals, frogs, lizards and other snakes. They are
from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to capture six immune to snake venom. They feed on rattlesnakes and,
gravid (egg-carrying) females from each population. obviously, copperheads - just about any animal they can
After Auburn University collected the eggs in the lab, grab and swallow. They are a prey item as well for
these females went back to Georgia and were released at animals like hawks and owls.
their capture sites. The next year we went back and “The Eastern indigo is an important part of that
caught other females. Zoo Atlanta has now taken over ecosystem and we want to bring them back in Alabama.
some of the rearing of the hatchlings, so it has been There are populations in Georgia and populations in
added as a partner in the last year. If any one of our south Florida. There are a very few reports at Eglin Air
partners hadn’t been on board, it wouldn’t have Force but very negligible. The population is obviously in
happened. This is a definite example of how partnerships trouble in the Florida Panhandle and an effort will be
like this can make something happen.” made by Florida and Project Orianne to re-establish a
Godwin said in two years about 75 snakes have been population there.”
hatched at Auburn. Those who think they may have encountered an
“They are kept in individual containers,” he said. Eastern indigo snake in the wild are asked to call Sasser
“They are given daily care. Indigo snakes will eat just (334-242-3863) or Clay (251-626-5474). Sasser did
about anything. Keeping them fed is a challenge
because they eat so much. The base prey we fall back continued on 179

ACE Magazine 177

Indigo Partnership – continued
say that identifying the snake, which can reach 8 feet in
length, could be difficult for the average citizen.
“Upon sight, a black snake running through the
bushes, it’ll be difficult to tell,” he said. “Upon closer
observation, the black pine snake is more of a black-
brown and may have lighter markings around its tail. A
black racer is more slender. The Eastern Indigo is a
shiny bluish-black and the scales are real smooth. The
black pine has keeled scales, a ridge running down the
scales so it doesn’t have as smooth a look.”
Sasser said the partnership will continue to release
snakes in Conecuh at least for the next several years in
a continuing effort to establish a viable population.
Godwin said the effort should be considered a long-
term project.
“What we are thinking is that we will be releasing 30
to 60 snakes a year over a period of 10 years, but we’re
not sure we’ll be able to do that,” Godwin said. “We know
we will lose some of them. A hawk will catch one, or one
will get run over or succumb to disease. There are all
sorts of dangers for snakes.
“To overcome those dangers we need a large number
of snakes out there. The major roadblock is getting
enough snakes in this one spot over a period of years,
and having enough out there so they will be able to
mature, find mates, breed, lay eggs in appropriate places
and hatch out more snakes. We just need to get enough
animals out there so all of these natural processes can
take place.
“I do think we’re off to a real good start.”
ACE Magazine 179
Corps of Engineers Host Youth
Catfish Rodeos
by Kelli Little, Alabama River Lakes Ranger

n June 5, 2010, the Corps of Engineers, Alabama This year the ACEOA gave away a lifetime fishing

O River Lakes Project hosted two Annual Youth

Catfish Rodeos. One was held at a Corps of
Engineers pond in Millers Ferry and one was held at a
Lowndes Wildlife Management Area Pond. The fishing
rodeos are free and get great participation from local
youth. There were approximately 130 kids (under 16) at
each rodeo.
license at each event. Hannah Rogers and Abigail
Mitchell were the big winners. These fishing rodeos are
a great way to promote outdoor recreation. The
ACEOA will also be giving out a lifetime hunting
license at a Corps of Engineers Youth Dove Shoot in
Lowndes County.

Nice
Stringer!
Abigail Mitchell wins the Lifetime Fishing License donated by ACEOA
at Millers Ferry.

Small
Hannah Rogers, winner of the Lifetime Fishing License, poses with
fish
Chris Jaworowski, ACEOA President. Event took place at Lowndes
award.
Co. Management Area Pond.

ACE Magazine 183

Pike County Fishing Rodeo
sponsored by ACEOA

15 on this stringer!

Officer Jinright handing out prize.

Happy little girl.

ACE Magazine 187