destinations fishing today former army camp offers hunting and fall14 higginson henry.pdffw.ky.gov...
TRANSCRIPT
fw.ky.gov Fall 2014 Kentucky Afield 39
Former Army camp offers hunting and fishing today • By Lee McClellandestinations
HOW TO GET THERE
From Morganfield, take KY 56 southeast for two miles.
GPS Coordinates37.628000, -87.828600
Higginson-Henry WMA
HIGGINSON-HENRY WMA
Owensboro
Smithland
Adrienne Yancy illustration
HIGGINSON-HENRY WILDLIFE Management Area (WMA) sprawls across 5,450 acres of Union County. This area has a unique history: German soldiers captured during World War II lived there when the area was part of Camp Breckinridge. The camp, which was also used for training U.S. Army soldiers, once covered nearly 36,000 acres across Henderson, Webster and Union counties.
Today, the area is known for its hunting and fishing.
“Higginson-Henry is a wooded island surrounded by corn and soybeans,” said David Yancy, deer biologist for the Ken-tucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “The deer are in good shape there with good fat reserves.”
The area is popular with deer archery hunters, who often come from other parts of the state to camp and bow hunt.
“The late winter survey for deer on the
area was very strong,” said Area Foreman Curt Divine. “We’ve had some nice bucks taken on the area. The current state of deer is really good. We had a big mast crop this year, especially red oaks, so I expect the deer to be a little more scattered this fall.”
Except for the youth firearms season, Higginson-Henry's deer season is open to ar-chery hunting only. No crossbow hunting is allowed and hunters may take only one deer; the deer can be of either sex.
The WMA is also a prime rabbit hunt-ing destination. “We have several hunters who run dogs and they have a big time every fall,” Divine said. “We have a healthy popu-lation of rabbits on the area.”
Squirrels inhabit the many nut bearing trees on the area. “We have many hunters come out with limits of squirrels,” Divine said. “Squirrels seem to like the pecan trees more than the hickories.”
Hunters are not the only ones who
enjoy the place. The area’s 81-acre Mauzy Lake offers productive fishing for large-mouth bass and catfish. The lake is currently being raised to normal levels after being lowered during the summer to repair a culvert.
“The largemouth bass population should be huge next year as they were in close association with baitfish all summer from the draw-down,” Divine explained.
The lake holds many channel catfish up to 22 inches long. “You can also catch a lot of crappie, but you have to work to put a limit of keepers together,” Divine said.
Higginson–Henry has an outdoor learning center featuring interpretive hiking trails through various wildlife habitat types. There are also
23 miles of hiking trails. The WMA also has a shooting range for rifles only.
Due to its proximity to the Ohio River, the area also provides good viewing oppor-tunities for shorebirds and waterfowl dur-ing migrations. The area is open for water-fowl hunting. n
Lost Cr.
.60
Higginson-Henry WMA
Parking
Boat Ramp
Campground
Shooting Range
N
To Marion
Mud
dy R
un
Case
y Cr
.Anderso
n Cr.
Eagle Cr.
Mauzy Lake
Morton’s Lake
.60B
2091
2835
1176
758
950
130
141
983
56
56
2153
2091
Ben Harris Rd.
Cullen Rd.
Lynn Rd.
Dixon
Rd.
Hancock Rd.
Ben S
house
Rd.
Tina Wagganer Rd.
Seve
n Gum
s Rd.
Fire Tower Rd.
Jim Day Rd.
Salem
Ch
urch
Rd.
Deer Track R
d.
Chaly
beat
e Rd
.
Ed Ricketts Rd.
Veatch Rd.Luckett Rd.
Lake Mauzy Rd.
Jenk
ins R
d.
Morgan�eld