Pope County is a
county with diverse habitat that it known for it's excellent hunting and
fishing.
WHITETAIL DEER: Pope County has the right mix of wooded land, sloughs, river bottoms, CRP
and crop fields to produce a good population of deer. Not only are there
good numbers, but some of the deer shot in this area produce "trophy" racks.
Most of the bucks shot in this area are six and eight pointers. If property
owners pass up small deer, the end result is three year and four year old
deer with impressive racks.
Whitetail deer in the 125 to 175 Boone & Crockett point range are shot in
the area, and management tags provide ample opportunities to shoot does as
well. Slug hunters, muzzleloaders, and bow hunters are all fairly
successful in this area, with the weather, corn harvest and hunting
pressure, all factoring into the harvest each year.
TURKEY: The turkey population is thriving in our area. It was not long
ago, that they began releasing turkeys in our area. Since then they have
taken off and have established a good solid huntable population. Our area
zones 412 & 416 consistently produce nice Toms every year. I personally 25 lb. 4
oz bird in the spring of 2003. (see the picture overlooking Starbuck).
Turkeys are common in areas that have oak trees and rolling hills. They
also will be found near creek bottoms or in pastures that border wooded
areas.
PHEASANT: Pope County is one of the better counties in the state for
pheasant hunting. Our county has a lot of public land that offers good to
excellent pheasant hunting. Pope County also has a nice mix of CRP ground
in areas that have marginal soil. This combination produces a nice
population of birds. It is not uncommon to shoot your limit of 2 birds
apiece if you hunting with a good dog and hunting near good cover. Many
landowners, including myself, have converted marginal farmland into the CRP
program. This has provided good nesting cover and the tree plantings will
provide winter cover as well for the birds. In the late season the
pheasants often move to the large cattail swamps. They are difficult to
hunt, but you will often see hundreds of birds. This is one of my favorite
times to hunt, and if you work hard you will get your shots.
WATERFOWL: The Starbuck area has always been known as a great duck hunting
area, until recently. The numbers of ducks that migrate through our area is
definitely down. We have what they need (lots of sloughs, potholes, diver
lakes, large lakes, rivers) but for whatever reason the migration has
shifted somewhat. This does not mean that you can't have good shooting in
our area, but the past few years have been slow. On the other hand, the goose hunting is
very good. Pope County has plenty of geese and excellent hunting
opportunities.
Fishing
Starbuck is located on the west end of Lake Minnewaska. Minnewaska is the
largest lake in the area at 7,110 acres and ranks in the top 25 in the state
in size. It is known as a very good fishing lake for species such as
walleye, bass, northern pike, crappie and sunfish. It is lake that is not
tremendously deep, maximum of 32 feet, but has many areas that are 20 feet
or more. Minnewaska has always been a popular destination for tourists. It
is a popular pleasure boat lake, because of it's clear water and lack of
hazards. It can be busy with jet skis, and speed boats during the day. As
for fishing, the morning and evening hours have always been popular with
some diehards doing very well at night for walleyes. Here is breakdown of
the species present:
WALLEYE: Minnewaska has a reputation as a good walleye lake. It had it's
ups and downs in the 1990's but has really come around due to an increased
focus on stocking by the D.N.R. and The Minnewaska Lake Association. The
M.L.A. has been aggressively stocking walleye fingerlings in the lake for
several years and the amount of walleye caught since then has increased
dramatically. Minnewaska can be an up and down lake for walleye. Some days
you do very well and the next can be a struggle. The presence of bait fish,
weather, and fishing pressure are all factors. Nice fish are common, with a
good supply of eating size (15" to 18" inches) fish as well. Good times to
fish Minnewaska for walleye are late May and early June, around the fourth
of July, and in the fall. The winter ice fishing on Minnewaska is usually
very good, especially early ice.
LARGEMOUTH & SMALLMOUTH BASS: The bass fishing in Minnewaska is
outstanding---plain & simple. It is a top destination for major bass
tournaments. If you have the right conditions it is not uncommon to catch
30 or more bass in a day. Fish in the 3-5 lb. range are common. The
smallmouth population has really exploded and most of the fish are big.
Many anglers catch them by accident when they are fishing for walleye. Most
anglers release bass that they catch and that is one reason why
there is such an abundance, the other is quality habitat that exists in the
lake.
NORTHERN PIKE: I am not a pike expert, but I know they are
present in fairly good numbers. Pike in the 3-6 lb. range are
typical, with some
trophies caught on occasion. One popular technique is to fish near cool
water springs in the lake during the hot days of August with sucker minnows
or big crankbaits and you will catch nice pike. .
PANFISH: Minnewaska has plenty of panfish with bluegills being the primary
species, and crappie a close runner-up. The lake is loaded with sunfish,
almost to a point that it can be impossible to fish for walleye with a
nightcrawler in the summer. Some of the fish are small, but there are some
real good fish in the lake as well. The crappie population is good right
now and fish in the 3/4 lb. to 1 1/4 pound range are not uncommon.
Minnewaska is one of the top spring crappie lakes in the state, when the
fish move into The Starbuck Marina and Torgy's Bay. Perch are also present,
but are not as common as they used to be. A few nice perch are caught in
the fall and in the winter.
There are many other lakes in the area that offer good fishing including;
Reno, Pelican, Emily, Gilchrist and Amelia to name a few.
